Children of Diaspora - LowKey, Mai Khalil

Don’t you wonder what became of the children of diaspora?

Those that innovated in their ways and their vernacular

Those that saw their traces in the faces of the massacred

I wonder what became of them, tell me what became of them.

I wonder what became of them, tell me what became of them.

I wonder what became of them, tell me what became of them.

I wonder what became of them, tell me what became of them.

Lost in this city of fog rarely seen by the sun

Just 'cause you’re both but neither doesn’t mean that you’re none

Never captains of the ship but they mistook us for some

Passengers

Now we’re stuck here singing soul music from diaspora

Your hosts can’t relate to your sense of dislocation

The type of pain that cannot be contained in a dissertation

«Diaspora» the reason that the terrified are setting fires

«Diaspora» the reason they couldn’t jeopardise Zephaniah

Considered as a compliment if your beauty is fetishized

Your history is power, that’s the reason some are petrified

Colonial mimic, mascot crying behind a mask

Or a man with amnesia trying to find his past

Anthony Walker never had a weapon but they still got him

Stephen Lawrence never had a weapon but they still got him

Mark Duggan never had a weapon but they still shot him

They call them first world diaspora problems

Don’t you wonder what became of the children of diaspora?

Those that innovated in their ways and their vernacular

Those that saw their traces in the faces of the massacred

I wonder what became of them

Tell me what became of them

Zoha Hadeed was a child of diaspora

So fear not, fear not

Edward Said was a child of diaspora

So fear not, fear not

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no, no, no, no, no, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no, no, no, no, no, no

Since the middle passage either sink or you swim

Bleach the pigment of skin and pray its privilege trickling in

Are we missing the link?

Diasporas the reason MJ did to his nose what they did to the sphinx

And why Marley made the most classic of art

The reason Gabby Douglas didn’t put her hand on her heart

The reason Malcolm Little changed his name to X

The reason the President’s melanin remain a threat

Ahmed made a clock, they arrested him and mangled his name

But the root of the word is to thank and to praise

Racism manifests in many cancerous ways

We must rally for change in these most tragic of days

Cos Emmett Till didn’t have a weapon, but they still got him

Tamir Rice never had a weapon but they still shot him

Alton Sterling never had a weapon but they still shot him

They call them first world diaspora problems

Don’t you wonder what became of the children of diaspora?

Those that innovated in their ways and their vernacular

Those that saw their traces in the faces of the massacred

I wonder what became of them

Tell me what became of them

Nina Simone was a child of diaspora

So fear not, fear not

Frantz Fanon was a child of diaspora

So fear not, fear not

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no, no, no, no, no, no

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no

Pledge no allegiance to the flag, no, no, no, no, no, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no, no, no, no, no, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no

We never bow to the Queen, no, no, no, no, no, no