What Stephen Lawrence has taught us

We know who the killers are,

We have watched them strut before us

As proud as sick Mussolinis,

We have watched them strut before us

Compassionless and arrogant,

They paraded before us,

Like angels of death

Protected by the law.

It is now an open secret

Black people do not have

Chips on their shoulders,

They just have injustice on their backs

And justice on their minds,

And now we know that the road to liberty

is as long as the road from slavery.

The death of Stephen Lawrence

Has taught us to love each other

And never to take the tedious task

Of waiting for a bus for granted.

Watching his parents watching the cover-up

Begs the question

What are the trading standards here?

Why are we paying for a police force

That will not work for us?

The death of Stephen Lawrence

Has taught us

That we cannot let the illusion of freedom

Endow us with a false sense of security as we walk the streets,

The whole world can now watch

The academics and the super cops

Struggling to find the definition of institutionalised racism

As we continue to die in custody

As we continue emptying our pockets on the pavements,

And we continue to ask ourselves

Why is it so official

That black people are so often killed

Without killers?

We are not talking about war or revenge

We are not talking about hypothetics or possibilities,

We are talking about where we are now

We are talking about how we live now

In this state

Under this flag, (God Save the Queen),

And god save all those black children who want to grow up

And god save all the brothers and sisters

Who like raving,

Because the death of Stephen Lawrence

Has taught us that racism is easy when

You have friends in high places.

And friends in high places

Have no use whatsoever

When they are not your friends.

Dear Mr Condon,

Pop out of Teletubby land,

And visit reality,

Come to an honest place

And get some advice from your neighbours,

Be enlightened by our community,

Neglect your well-paid ignorance

Because

We know who the killers are

This poem was written for Channel 4 News and will be performed by Benjamin Zephaniah on the 7pm bulletin tonight