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