They look at us like broken glass

like every step we took was built to crash

head shakes sad eyes damn that’s tough

but they don’t really know us

They see a number a case a file

don’t see the nights we couldn’t smile

don’t hear the silence in that cell

or how a young mind learns to live in hell

They call it sympathy but that ain’t it

that’s distance dressed up a little bit

cause understanding means you feel that pain

means you see the storm not just the rain

We ain’t just stories for people to tell

we survivors of a place that tests you well

where respect is everything time moves slow

and you either stand tall or get swallowed whole.

I been there cold walls 23 and 1

missing my people missing the sun

young and reckless chasing a name

not knowing freedom ain’t part of that game

But listen

we ain’t stuck where we fell

Every scar got a story every loss got a lesson

every dark night building future blessings

you might be locked but your mind still free

and that’s where change really starts to be

They don’t gotta get it we do

We know what it took just to make it through

and one day them same eyes that doubted your way

gon’ watch you rise got nothing to say

So to the ones still sitting behind that gate

feeling forgotten wrestling fate

you more than that moment more than that bid

more than the things you once did



Stay solid. Stay sharp Don’t lose your name

Cause when you walk out you won’t be the same

Not broken not done not what they see

but a man who turned pain into destiny