[Intro – Spoken] How many times can history change clothes before we stop pretending we don’t recognize it? Used to be rope and trees. Now sometimes it’s pavement, a traffic stop, a bedroom, or a family standing over a grave still asking what happened. [Verse 1] They used to hang us from trees and bring the whole town out Children standing underneath while the grown folks gathered ’round Take a picture by the body send the postcard out of town Everybody knew who did it still nobody made a sound Black skin hanging in the daylight justice nowhere to be found Then they tell us that’s the past like the past stay underground But a wound don’t stop existing just because you hide the scar And a country don’t erase it just by saying we’ve come far How many names got buried that we never learned to say? How many mothers lost their sons and never saw a judgment day? So when another Black body turn up hanging somewhere strange Don’t get mad because we question it History trained us that way. [Hook] How many names before the names become a number? How many mothers gotta bury another son? How many times we hear “Wait until we know what happened” while the family spends forever trying to learn what happened? How many names? Say ’em slow. Make ’em human again. How many names? They were somebody before the world remembered how they died. [Verse 2] Eric couldn’t breathe George said it too Tamir was twelve years old with his whole life left to do Philando in the driver’s seat Breonna sleeping in her home Walter Scott was running off still never made it home And I know every badge ain’t evil that’s never what I said But a uniform can’t be a curtain when somebody ends up dead If you serve and you protect then accountability protects you Cause justice ain’t disrespect and truth should never threaten you Every traffic stop shouldn’t feel like a father needs a plan “Keep your hands where they can see ’em” before they even reach the man Imagine teaching that at nine before you teach him how to drive Trying to raise a confident Black boy while teaching him how to survive That’s a weight people don’t feel when they ain’t carrying the fear You see lights inside the mirror We see every name we hear. [Hook] How many names before the names become a number? How many fathers gotta bury another son? How many times we hear “The investigation’s coming” then the cameras disappear before the answers ever come? How many names? Say ’em slow. Make ’em human again. How many names? Cause a case might get closed while the family’s still living in it. [Verse 3] Kendrick Johnson in a gym mat official ruling said accident Family kept asking questions cause to them it wasn’t adding up Different examinations different conclusions entered in Years later still a mother wanting truth about her kid Then Nolan Wells eighteen years old Fourth of July Horn Island Federal wilderness protected by this country Went there with his friends but he never came back from it Two days later found him and the questions started growing Cause undetermined manner undetermined Still they don’t know it And I’m not gonna call it murder if the evidence ain’t shown But don’t tell that grieving family they should quietly move on This happened around land the federal government protects So why should Washington be distant when the family needs respect? Congress asked for federal eyes to independently review it But a mother shouldn’t need a movement just to ask what happened to him And where’s the highest office just acknowledging his name? You don’t need a murder charge to recognize a family’s pain A President don’t need a verdict just to tell his mother, “We hear you” Don’t need to know who caused his death to say, “We’ll make sure this is clear too” Don’t say federal when you’re protecting it then local when somebody dies If the country claims the land Then somebody federal should be asking why. [Bridge – Beat Drops Low] Don’t give me conspiracy. Give me evidence. Don’t give me rumors. Give me records. Keep the cameras. Keep the timeline. Keep the witnesses. Keep asking. Cause forgetting is how history gets permission to repeat itself. [Final Verse / Outro] And don’t remember them only by the way they died They laughed they loved they dreamed they had somebody by their side Kendrick was somebody’s baby Nolan had a future too George was more than pavement Breonna more than breaking news Every name became a symbol after somebody lost a life But before America debated them Somebody kissed them goodnight So when we say their names it ain’t because we worship pain It’s because somebody’s gotta make sure they don’t disappear again [Final Hook] How many names before we stop adding numbers? How many families gotta carry this alone? How many times can someone lose somebody then spend the rest of life trying to prove that something’s wrong? How many names? Say ’em slow. Make ’em human again. How many names?
