Violent Criminals (2026) By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

Bear witness
To Amerika’s fear
When niggas unafraid
Of pulling triggers draw near

It’s clear
That power in their eyes
Means keeping people of color
Divided and terrorized

This is why
By means open and subliminal
They keep a state of siege
On those they call violent criminals

Our skin tones
Brand us with crime
To keep Reds confined Blacks doing time
And Browns behind border lines

This is why
They make games of doing harm
To darker people
While keeping us disarmed and misinformed

Amerika has
A fanatic obsession
With keeping plenty guns
In white folks’ possession

It was by arming societies
Of white settlers
That they overran and stole
Australia, South Afrika and Amerika

Native existence and resistance
Was criminalized
The basis of infatuation
With violent crime in white minds

The only time
Y’all support seeing us armed
Is when we’re wearing your uniforms
Or causing other colors harm

This fits the image
They project of us
That we’re only criminals
While no one is protecting us

They want Buffalo Soldiers
Killing their foes
This keeps Amerikans
Sleeping comfy in their homes

But let us unite
To defend our own communities
They claim we’re a danger
To national security and unity

In other words
A threat to white power
With no regard for who
Will defend us and ours

Especially when we
Challenge their impunity
Who else gonna serve and protect
Our necks and our unity

They called our struggles of the ’60s
Criminal violence
The label a weapon of repression
Aimed to keep their victims silent

The two World Wars
Dealt dark people new cards
Trained to fight armies of whites
Showed niggas with guns can even odds

This is how the Third World
Won liberation
A united fight
Against the imperialist white nations

So they ramped up police
Banned us from nukes took our guns
But glamorized us killing each other
As all fun

So in turn
As violent criminals we’re portrayed
A self-fulfilling prophesy
To keep us all locked away

Only as their slaves
Do we not make Amerika nervous
That’s why they call us
Killing their foes “Armed service”

To deny our right
To project our homes and children too
Is what Amerika means
When they brand us violent criminals