LIFE AND LIVING By Jasen Sousa
LIFE AND LIVING
The invisible enemy
that preys on people in the inner city.
Can’t be complacent
to the unjust ways of
institutional discrimination.
The land of the people, by the people,
has been taken over
and is under the control of the corporation.
Politicians who run for office
get their campaign money
and are able to win elections
from corporate donations.
Companies are allowed to break the law
and it causes grave devastation.
It’s supposed to be illegal for tobacco companies
to target children,
yet near every place of education you will see advertising .
They are allowed to do it
and defy authority
to get your kid hooked at a young age
and create brand loyalty.
The tobacco company would like to keep it simple
and only target adults,
but teens are the biggest spenders,
without us there would not be profitable results.
To have you smoke the same brand until you die of lung cancer
is every cigarette makers dream.
Companies have even taken over our schools,
spend eight hours learning about a logo
illuminated on a Pepsi or Coke machine.
When you’re old
you will drink the same soda you drank as a boy,
but that’s only if you’re lucky
and don’t live in East St. Louis, Illinois.
A place you won’t be able
to locate on the map.
It’s a city with obsolete services,
and it’s 98% black.
Pretty whack.
It isn’t fair
when 80% of the population
lives on welfare.
For these residents Hell is not a place you go,
Hell is right here.
Schools are over crowded,
kids are graduating that can’t read or write.
Diplomas from ghetto high schools
don’t lead to a better life.
It’s mental and it’s physical,
this land is supposed to be indivisible,
but it’s creating living conditions
which are barely livable.
Did you know that the waste
from products companies make
is placed in neighborhoods
with people who have the poorest looking face?
The truth is out there,
but no one will believe you.
When you have a job
that doesn’t allow you to live comfortable,
that’s when you turn illegal.
Let’s send politicians and corporations to jail
and let criminals be forgiven.
Poverty exists because it’s easier to make a life,
then it is to make a living.
Taken From
Almost Forever By Jasen Sousa (Written between age 22 and 23)
©
The invisible enemy
that preys on people in the inner city.
Can’t be complacent
to the unjust ways of
institutional discrimination.
The land of the people, by the people,
has been taken over
and is under the control of the corporation.
Politicians who run for office
get their campaign money
and are able to win elections
from corporate donations.
Companies are allowed to break the law
and it causes grave devastation.
It’s supposed to be illegal for tobacco companies
to target children,
yet near every place of education you will see advertising .
They are allowed to do it
and defy authority
to get your kid hooked at a young age
and create brand loyalty.
The tobacco company would like to keep it simple
and only target adults,
but teens are the biggest spenders,
without us there would not be profitable results.
To have you smoke the same brand until you die of lung cancer
is every cigarette makers dream.
Companies have even taken over our schools,
spend eight hours learning about a logo
illuminated on a Pepsi or Coke machine.
When you’re old
you will drink the same soda you drank as a boy,
but that’s only if you’re lucky
and don’t live in East St. Louis, Illinois.
A place you won’t be able
to locate on the map.
It’s a city with obsolete services,
and it’s 98% black.
Pretty whack.
It isn’t fair
when 80% of the population
lives on welfare.
For these residents Hell is not a place you go,
Hell is right here.
Schools are over crowded,
kids are graduating that can’t read or write.
Diplomas from ghetto high schools
don’t lead to a better life.
It’s mental and it’s physical,
this land is supposed to be indivisible,
but it’s creating living conditions
which are barely livable.
Did you know that the waste
from products companies make
is placed in neighborhoods
with people who have the poorest looking face?
The truth is out there,
but no one will believe you.
When you have a job
that doesn’t allow you to live comfortable,
that’s when you turn illegal.
Let’s send politicians and corporations to jail
and let criminals be forgiven.
Poverty exists because it’s easier to make a life,
then it is to make a living.
Taken From
Almost Forever By Jasen Sousa (Written between age 22 and 23)
©