They don´t want us to be who we´re supposed to be
But we are who we are
And that´s the way that it´s going to be
They don´t want to see the further proof

And it´s hard to find it hidden right in front of you
Oh we, oh we

And they´re showing us to fight for every struggle
Never ever let them put you in a bubble
And the brimstone will rain from our fire
Tell me if that is what you desire

Control, control, control
Control, control, control
They want control of we
And they want control over me
Over me

We´ll keep on surviving
They keep on fighting us down
But we´ll keep on surviving
Even though they push to the ground
We´ll keep on surviving
They keep on fighting us down

That same bullet killed Lumumba
That same bullet stole Fred Hampton´s thunder
That same bullet put Sam Cooke six feet under
That same bullet took Medgar Evers out
Bobby, another Kennedy split the Nation of Islam up into enemies
That same bullet traumatised would-be men
Turned would-be revolutionaries into Barbie and Ken
That saw Peter in a heater, we lost so many leaders

Many niggas turned on time and times
Afraid to get shot down like Malcolm X in the auto bomb
That same bullet took so much young black potential
Just cause they´re black, they´re perceived as a threat
In containing their power, the premature death
Some just walk down the street, some for resisting arrest
Some at home in their beds, some just for taking a breath
Or for daring to dream, or for having success
This construct is tricky, it was made for a few
If you don´t hold the peace, they´ll come after you too
That same bullet is for population control
And we´ll all have to face that dark night in the soul

If you gonna walk what you saw
If you haven´t been told, you gon have to have faith
??
That same bullet tries to control the appeal
And men like Huey Newton and his man Bobby Seale
That same bullet even shot at Bob Marley
For preaching One Love as a single authority
And that bullet doesn´t have to be literal
They´ll try to take a man down just for being political
Assassinate character with the click of their thumbs
Like a gun, make the people go deaf, blind and dumb
So overcome that we content with the crumbs
I keep reminding my sons that´s how business gets done

And reminding my daughters to watch for verbal assassins
Should they decide not to cash in
They like puppets, they control with strings, levers and pulleys
And if seduction don´t work then they´ll be back to bully

Control, control, control
Control, control, control
They want control of we
And they want control over me
Over me
Control, control, control
Control, control, control
They want control of we
And they want control over me

Over me

We´ll keep on surviving
They keep on fighting us down
But we´ll keep on surviving
Even though they push to the ground
We´ll keep on surviving
They keep on fighting us down