i was once at the forefront of the movement teaching my brothers teaching sisters of their pride up in arms up in arms up in arms i said i told them gentrifying bastards we won t lay 200 years ain t but two things have changed it s safe to say i ve had a price upon my head bobby seale and i have made important progress it s safe to say that my glory has fled up in arms up in arms up in arms i say here comes the baddest man your eyes have ever graced politicians never see the brown boy starving like malcolm x and martin king marcus garvey in 65 there was a climate for the riots it s 89 and i m seeing deja vu again the police are always saying why this senseless violence but they ll light the spark and we ll be dry brush in the wind up in arms up in arms up in arms i said tell me bobby hutton that policeman still gets paid the cia has stumbled on a ghetto potion it s in my lungs and it s numbed my black emotions my lips are dry my skin is ashy i need lotion i ve still got my gun but i ain t got sense of purpose now i feel weak i feel weak i feel weaker than i have before ain t god an army marching in with me through hoover s door it s getting late i better find some place where i can sleep my pillow debts i ve left unpaid on these west oakland streets up in arms up in arms up in arms i said this crackhead s pistol pointed at my face 1