My Beloved Island Stay Strong

We held down our communities,
During the 60's and 70's,
Black affluence was familiar to me,
Riding down Straight Path, 
feeling the summer breeze.

Wyndanch was an empire of sorts,
The intrinsic pride you could not abort,
11798, the Montaukett land,
When the Black Diaspora swept in to rule again.

We were there even if other villages tried to hate.
We were there even if our white counterparts tried to berate.
Building 2 story houses, the ones that they had.
They couldn't control us and they stayed pretty mad.

LIRR was ours,
So our power was true,
They couldn't erase us and this much we knew.
We were segregated,
And I lived way down Mount,
But I knew what our history was all about,
In the 80's meeting the god Rakim,
In Larry's . . . Man I couldn't believe it was him.

Yet the government still tried to destroy and disgrace,
Throwing crack and guns in the young people's face,
Hemming up mad kids,
The murder rate was high,
Corrupting the schools,
But we would still survive.

The Venettes danced and gave us some hope,
Black entrepreneurs like Shell Gas made us feel real dope,
Crowned with gold and the churches even had lyrical style,
Yet they used Central Park to say we were wild.

But the town still grew, advanced and soared,
We paid high taxes just to keep it secure,
A land that was ours and owned by right,
Yet the disparities in our village became such a fight.

Then 9/11 blew in like the wind,
Filling up our cemeteries we had to begin again.
The monster of gentrification tried to slip in, some wanting to put Wyandanch Day to an end . . . 

In 2020, we laughed at the idea of COVID,
Said ginger ale and crackers will hold it,
Until this governmental fury continued to blow,
Hitting Wyandanch and other small towns on the low.

So sitting on FB looking at my page today,
Seeing the passing of Bishop and Paco makes me feel enraged.
Our numbers are growing,
And this seems like madness,
If their planes crashing in towers couldn't kill us, this isn't our end, just sadness. 

All I can say is Wyandanch, NB, Brentwood please stay strong,
CI, Hempstead, Roosevelt we are above it all,
Huntington I see that y'all are in a fight,
Stay home, let it pass cause this just ain't right.

A virus won't destroy our great legacy.
Strong Island which means so much to me.