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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Guest Post: Cornelius Eady's "Tearing Down the Master's House" & Michael Brown

Cornelius Eady, Distinguished Poet and Playwright, Co-Founder of Cave Canem.
Photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Cornelius Eady
offers his song, "Tearing Down the Master's House" (which you can hear here; lyrics below photograph), the The New York Times timeline "Michael Brown's Shooting and its Immediate Aftermath in Ferguson," and the following statement: 

“Tearing Down The Master's House” was written in response to the shooting by police of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and the protest which followed. It is less about violent response than the belief that the true solution to a racist society is a dismantling of the system that feeds it. Despite the results of the 2016 election, I still firmly believe that progress moves forward, however messy, not back. From the streets of Ferguson came “don’t shoot,’ then “Black Lives Matter.” This is what happens when people decide to rewrite the script.

Photo by Jamelle Bouie

Tearing Down The Master’s House

Words and Music: Cornelius Eady

A half-loaf is better than no loaf
You do you think you are?
A bad attitude and a frank opinion
Won’t get you very far
The Nat’l guard wants you off their yard
But I was too busy
Tearing down the master’s house

There’s two sides to every riot
Whom do you think you are?
If you don’t believe it, come down and try it
They’ll kiss your hair with stars.
The Pastor said to keep a cool head
But we were too busy
Tearing down the master’s house.

Summertime and the living is cryptic.
Where do you think you are?
The streets are broken but they never fixed it
The old crow didn’t fly far.
The men at the gate will ask you to wait
But we’re all too busy
Tearing down the master’s house.

CE: Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Beats, Vocals
Robin Messing: Vocal
Charlie Rauh: Electric Guitars
Concetta Abbate: Violin

With: Max Abrams, Saxes
Saxes arranged by Max Abrams    



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