Eighth of ten poems written by the late and great Nigerian Poet Ikeogu Oke

Oke, Ikeogu

English

VCU Scholars Compass

  The Dame of Liberty Ikeogu Oke  Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Special Issue If I Ruled the World:  Putting Hip Hop on the Atlas Volume 6, Issue 2, Winter 2019, pp. 206 – 207 DOI: https://doi.org/10.34718/1v43-3903  1Oke: The Dame of LibertyPublished by VCU Scholars Compass, 2019   206 Journal of Hip Hop Studies The Tupac Shakur Memorial Poems/Songs   Ikeogu Oke  A Sequence  No. 8: The Dame of Liberty   (For Rap Music, to the Memory of Tupac Shakur)    Our towers scrape the sky; Their roofs ascend on high; And so high should our rating be, As the people of liberty.   Chorus: And we’ve raised before the sea            The Dame of Liberty:      To be rapped or sung,    A gorgeous gift that seems to be               the other stanzas rapped   A taunt for folks like me.  But she’s a torchbearer for real, Shining her light for us to see How we all need to heal From the wounds of slavery.  Repeat chorus.  Yes, I lived in her land of the free, And wondered, “What’s in it for me?” I thought of her freedom’s bounty, And wondered when my share would be.  Repeat chorus.  And, yes, our hope to be free remains Distant for their unseen chains.  2Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Vol. 6 [2019], Iss. 2, Art. 17https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol6/iss2/17    207 Journal of Hip Hop Studies “Give me liberty, or give me death!1” I cried out, and they gave me death.  Repeat chorus.  And that’s how our nation stumbles, Its deeds against its beliefs; Yes, that’s how she stumbles, Among our many griefs.  Repeat chorus.  Our lives remain dark or in the shadow; Our prospects are still dim or shallow; In this land of life we can hardly breathe; To the cradle of our freedom our nation brought a wreath.  Repeat chorus.  Great Dame of Liberty, Towering before the sea, When will your torch we all see Shine for folks like me?  Repeat chorus.  February 27, 2018   1 “Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation from a speech delivered by Patrick Henry, an American attorney, orator and planter, to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. 3Oke: The Dame of LibertyPublished by VCU Scholars Compass, 2019

The Dame of Liberty

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&amp;context=jhhs

The Dame of Liberty

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