"We'll just have to get guns and be men"

"The End of Silence", by Elaine Brown, former Black Panter Party chairperson.

Have you ever stood
In the darkness of night
Screaming silently
You're a man
Have you ever hoped that
a time would come
when your voice could be heard
In a noon-day sun
Have you waited so long
'Til your unheard song
Has stripped away your very soul.

Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

Has a cry to live
When your brain is dead
Made your body tremble so.
And have unseen chains
Of too many years
Hurt you so bad 'til you can't
Shed tears
Have so many vows
From so many mouths
Made you know that words
Are just words
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

You know that dignity
Not just equality
Is what makes a man a man
And so you laugh at laws
Passed by a silly lot
That tell you to give thanks
For what you've already
Got
And you can't go on
with this time-worn song
That just won't change the way
You feel.
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

You don't want to think
You just want to drink
Both the sweet wine and the gall
You been burning inside
For so long a while
'Til Your old time grin
is now a crazed man's smile
And the goal's so clear
And the time so near
You'll make it or
You'll break the plow
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

Yes it's time you know
Who you really are
And not try whitewash the truth.
You're a man you see
And a man must be
Whatever he'll be or he
won't be free
If he's bound up so tight
He'll hold back the night
And their won't be no light
For day
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men.