I Got The Power

When I don’t have anything to say, I don’t speak

They say the meek shall inherit the earth, I’m not meek

Don’t let anything hold me back, I’m not weak

Just because I come out at night, does that make me a freak?

I will never give something to someone that I wouldn’t keep

I am the one who leads the herd, I’m not a sheep

Nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream, so I don’t sleep

I don’t need nothing or no one to make me whole, I am complete

When I get knocked down, I quickly get back on my feet

I continue to educate myself because I know my worth

Know I was put here to do great things since my birth

August 17th, 1994, is when I blessed the earth

Leave my impression everywhere I go, I claim my turf

I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see

Amazing grace how sweet the sound who saved a wretch like me

But I am made in the creator’s image, so a wretch I couldn’t be

I am in charge of my faith, I control my destiny

Knowledge is the power that unlock doors, so I hold the key

Never been a loser in my life, I got the victory

What goes around comes around, 360 degree

In other words, I live by the law of reciprocity

You got another thing coming if you think you’re stopping me

I lead by example, that’s my philosophy

People talk behind my back, but that don’t bother me

As a matter of fact, I give a shout-out to my haters

Your negativity toward me only makes me greater

You can face your problems now or you can face them later

I am going all the way up like an elevator

I got the power to uplift

I got the power to make moves

I got the power to inspire

I got the power to improve

I got the power to go all the way to the top

There is no limit to the power I got

I got the power!!!

Poem: AKEEYLAH LARONDA WATKINS was born August 17, 1994, on Chicago’s South Side at Michael Reese Hospital. When Akeeylah was six months old, Akeeylah’s mother, Sheronda, packed the both of them up and moved to south Minneapolis. When Akeeylah was two, they moved to the Skyline in Saint Paul’s Midway. Shortly after Akeeylah turned three years old, her mother purchased a home in Frogtown and they have lived there ever since.

Photo: GORDON PARKS, Muhammad Ali, Miami, Florida. Courtesy The Gordon Parks Foundation and Minnesota Museum of American Art. ©The Gordon Parks Foundation.