Anthony Leonard Pierre "Modern Legalized Slavery (138)" - Song Credit (translator)

"Modern Legalized Slavery (138)" by Anthony Leonard Pierre

Song taken from the album "The Revolution Mind" - Cd: (3/30/2015)
Vocal performance by Anthony Leonard Pierre
Music by Obeah Akkompong band


"Modern Legalized Slavery (138)" - Song lyrics (translator):

The job most BLACKS do
is worse than
traditional “slavery”
‘cause … in traditional “slavery”
You work like an animal
expecting nothing substantial
and the little SALT that is needed
for DAILY  SURVIVAL
has been - provided
for You.
Mi dey workin’ everyday
work, work, work
an’ nuh work nah done
to rebuild I  Home.
Fit profile ... a only one profile Mi ‘ave
an’ si Mi yah - ready fe work!

Modern legalized
 liberalized “slavery”
Blacks have become
“RENTED  PRODUCTS”
because, a minimum wage
is SET to insult OUR intelligence
from that wage
You have to
pay rent - buy food and
see - to the welfare of a Fam’ly
the “slaverising” of Our labour
comes when
You have to WORK this week
to catch-up
on the LAST two months’ bills
thus using the gadgets of society
as a bait
to keep YOU at the grinding wheels
the non-benefit of this task
forces many
into other means of survival
no wonder
so many are prostituting themselves

satisfying a societal lust
while the basic is without reach
turn to
drugs and other forms of
flat - foot - hustling
just to EXIST.
Work, work, work
an’ dah work nah done
to elevate I  Own.
Rent raise, telephone sky-high, bus fare gone-up
food - Mi soon a’fe nam out’a de’neighbour’s garbage
light bill gone way too high an’de heat soon cut-off
everyt’ing gone-up
suh how comes Mi only get ONE raise.

Note: HUSTLING
is a risky way - of survival
because:
they have TACKED on their labels of
socially acceptable and unlawful
and as
makers - keepers
and enforcers of
THEIR racist laws
they have ensured themselves
the right to do wrong
by We
Blacks then
END-UP in dungeons
wasting Their most formative years
while ‘they’ an’ the “uncle toms”
have all - ‘the good jobs’
‘dey’ - an’ - de - “uncle tom - negroes”
have ALL~L - ‘the good jobs’
Mi dey workin’ everyday
work, work, work
an’ nuh work nah done
to rebuild I  Home.
Bonus when?
didn’t you make a profit every week
suh why Wi a’fe wait
till once-a-year
an’ even den - it nuh guarantee.

To further insult
YOUR  Intelligence
and bite away at YOUR  Pride
a raise is given - YES!
but that never seems
to match the rising cost
of everything else:
a presumed change in
spending habit
and an impatient move
in class-status
is blocked in mental utopia
as higher deductions
from the paycheck
slides and insults You
backwards
to start the dream - over
again
oh, they explain
it’s because You are launched
into a higher tax-bracket
that’s to balance the budget
they proclaim
SHIT~’OUSE
the rent already too high
and if You miss one payment
You’ll find Yourself amongst the ‘dogs’
on the street
WITH  NO - COMMUNITY  SUPPORT
- TO  HELP  YOU  ALONG -
the utility bills
which You are trapped into using
have never failed on arriving
MONTHLY an’ on time
the Baby-sitter needs an increase
She TOO ... has a Fam’ly
but You are to feel rewarded and grateful
because ... at least
YOU have - “a pay check”
and that means You - Blacks
have come - a long way
a long way from
TRADITIONAL  “SLAVERY”.

A’who a’ FICA?
suh if Mi never sick all’a last year
why Mi a’fe pay more insurance dis year
dem a’guh gi’Mi back Mi money
an’ de’interest too?

WHO  THE  FUCK
THEY  THINK  THEY’RE  FOOLING
WHO - DO - THEY - REALLY - THINK
THEY’RE  FOOLING?
Work, work, work
an’ dah work nah done
to elevate I  Own.

They’ve replaced the chains
with their bills of utilities
[and with their treats of supply
of such services]
they continue to CRACK
their whips.
Mi dey workin’ everyday
work, work, work
an’ nuh work nah done
to rebuild I  Home.
Uniform allowance
suh why dem tax it
a’ naked dem want Mi com’a work naked!

Note: the interest tacked-on
onto any transaction
continues to keep YOU
at their mercy
and the threat
of their “dollar-collector”
isn’t that
just like an overseer
girting onto a jugular?
oh yes
least We forget
there is - the social security number in the u. s. of a.
  the national insurance number in Jamaica
in any, industrialized country
there is - a NUMBER

always there
to keep You SHACKLED in pace
that way:
BINDING  YOU -- LEGALLY
all Your days
as prostitutes to their “SLAVISH” shit~stem
while they continue
as CAESAR “pimperizing”
to live-off
the EXPLOITATIVE  FAT of the Land.
Mi dey workin’ everyday
work, work, work
an’ nuh work nah done
to rebuild I  Home.
How Mi gwan get experience
if yuh or sumady nuh hire Mi
how yuh reach whey yuh dey - ever consider dat!

The jobs most BLACKS do
is worse than
traditional “slavery”
‘cause in traditional “slavery”
You work like an animal
expecting nothing substantial
and the little SALT that is needed
for DAILY  SURVIVAL
has been - provided
for You.
Work, work, work
an’ dah work nah done
to elevate I  Own.
fit profile ... a only one profile Mi ‘ave
an’ si Mi yah - ready fe work!

Modern legalized
 liberalized “slavery”
Blacks have become
“RENTED  PRODUCTS”.
Strike nah help a’ting
dat dey raise was fe’de union boss dem
ask anybody if Dem si a cent a’iee
a’use dem union bwoys dem a’use Wi yah.


Check out:
Anthony Leonard Pierre's Song lyrics, Profile & Discography on Reggaediscography