A Song For Assata Chords by Common

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ [Gm] _ In the spirit of God, in the spirit of the [G] ancestors, [Bb] in the spirit of the [Eb] Black Panthers,
[G] in the spirit of Assata Shakur, we make this [Eb] movement towards freedom [Gm] for all those who
have [G] been oppressed and [Bb] all those in the struggle.
[F] Yeah, yeah, [Gm] check it.
There were lights [Bb] and sirens, [Eb] gunshots firing, cover your eyes [Gm] as I describe a scene [G] so violent,
it seemed like a [Bb] bad dream.
She laid [Eb] in the blood puddle, [F] blood bubbled in her chest, [G] cold air brushed [Bb] against open
flesh, [Eb] no room to rest.
[G] Pain consumed [Gm] these refs, shot twice with her hands up, police [Bb] questioned [G] but shot before she answered.
[G] One Panther lost his life, [F] the other ran for his, [Ebm] scandalous the police were, as they kicked
and beat her, [C] comprehension, she was beyond, [Gm] trying to hold on [G] to life.
She thought she lived with no arm, that's what it felt [Bb] like.
Got to the hospital, [Eb] eyes held tight, they moved her [G] room to room, she could tell by
the light, hair cupped tight, [Bb] she's a bed, through her skin [C] they bit, with guns to her
head, every word she [G] got hit, who shot the trooper, [Bb] they asked her, [Eb] put mace in her eyes,
[F] threatened to blast her, her [G] mind raced till things [Bb] got still, opened [Eb] her eyes, [Gm] realized
she's next to her best friend who got killed, she got chills, [Bb] they told her, that's where
[Eb] she would be next, hurt mixed [F] with anger, survival [G] was her reflex, they lied [Bb] and denied,
visits from [C] a lawyer, but she [G] was building as they tried to [Gm] destroy her, if it wasn't
for this German nurse, they would have [Eb] served her worse, I read the [F] sister's story, knew
that it [G] deserved a verse, I wonder what [Bb] would happen if that would have been me, [Eb] all of
this just sneakity, freestyle, [Gm] dick talk.
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Gm] _
_ [G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [C] _
_ [G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ [G] _ _
It [Gm] seemed like the middle of the night when Law [Eb] awakened her, walkie [Gm] talkies crackling,
not saying where [G] they taking her, though she [Bb] kinda knew, what made the [Eb] ride peaceful was
the trees [F] and the sky was blue, [G] arrived to Middlesex [Bb] prison about 6 in [Cm] the morning, uneasy
as [G] they pushed her to the second floor, in a cell, [Gm] one cot, no window, [Bb] face of hell,
[C] put in the basement of a prison with all [Gm] males, in the smell of misery, ceilings, toilets,
and [Eb] centerpiece, she exercised, paint, and began [G] to breathe, two years [Gm] in a hole, her
soul grew weak, away from people so long, [G] she forgot how to speak, she discovered [Bb] freedom
is an unspoken [Cm] sound, and a wall [Gm] is a wall, it be broken down, found peace in the panther,
she went on [C] trial with one of the brothers, [G]
she had a child with the founders, they would
[Gm] feed her hope, and she'd lose [Eb] her seed, held tight [Gm] knowing the fight would live through
[C] the seed, in need of [Bb] a doctor, from her stomach [Eb] she'd bleed, out of this [G] situation, a girl
was deceived, separated from her, left to [Cm] mother the revolution, [G] and locked taped to attack hate,
cause federal [Eb] estate was built for a [Bb] black fate, [D] her emptiness was filled with beatens and court [G] dates,
they [Bb] fabricated cases, hoping one would [Eb] stick, and said she [C] robbed places that didn't [G] exist,
in the midst of threats [Bb] all her life, and be encased with [Cm] Aryan whites, through dark halls of hate,
she carried [Gm] the light, I wonder what [Bb] would happen if that would have been [Eb] me, all of this just so [C] we
could be free, yeah, [G] I often wonder what would happen if that would have been me, all of this
just so we could be free, so dig it, [Gm] I'm the candle [Eb] of [Gm] science, _ [G] listen [Bb] to my [Eb] love of _ [Gm]
science,
your power [Bb] and pride [Eb] is so _ [G]
beautiful, may [Bb] _ god bless [Gm] your soul,
_ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [F] _
_ [G] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [Gm] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [G]
yeah, from North [Bb] Carolina, her grandmother [Eb] would bring, news, [C] she had a dream, [G] her dreams always
meant what [Gm] they needed them to mean, [Eb] what made them real was the action in between,
[G] she dreamt that Assata was [Gm] free, in their own house [Eb] in Queens, the fact that [C] they always came
true was the thing, Assata had been [Bb] convicted of a murder, she couldn't have done medical evidence,
[Gm] she couldn't have shot the gun, it's time for her [Bb] to see the sun from the other [Eb] side,
time for a [G] daughter to be by her mother's side, time for this beautiful [Gm] woman to become soft [Cm] again,
time for her to [G] breathe, and not be told how or when, [Gm] she untangled the chains that [Bb] escaped the
pain, how she broke out of prison I could never [G] explain, and even to [Bb] this day, they try to get
to her, but [Cm] she's free with political asylum,
we
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [F] _
_ [G] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [C] _ _ [F] _
_ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [Bb] ain't
_ [Cm] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [G] _ _
[Gm] I
_ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [Dm] _
_ [Gm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [G] _
_ _ [Gm] _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [G]
bless
about [Bb] freedom and [Gm] asking me about freedom.
_ [Bb] _ [Eb] I'll be honest with you.
[F] _
[G] I know a whole lot [Bb] more about [Cm] what freedom [F]
isn't [G] and about what it [Gm] is,
because I've [Cm] never been free.
[F] I can only [G] share my [Gm] vision with you [Eb] of the future, [G] about what freedom is.
_ _ [Eb] The way I [F] see it, [G] freedom is [Bb] the right to grow, [Cm] is the right [G] to blossom.
Freedom is the right to be [Eb] yourself, [G] to be free.
_ _ _ _ [Eb] _ [Cm] _ _