Labels

Musicians can be philosophers and vice versa. The ancient wisdom about our being a spiritual entity inside a temporary, material body has been reiterated by modern-day rap artist Prince Ea, who has done it so creatively using the Internet. Excerpts from Prince’s YouTube presentation, “I am not black; you are not white”:

I am not black. I mean, that’s what the world calls me, but it’s not  me

I didn’t come out of my mother’s womb saying, “Hey everybody, I’m black.”

No, I was taught to be black and you were taught to call me that

Along with whatever you call yourself. It’s just a label.

See, from birth the world force feeds us these labels

And eventually, we digest and accept the labels, never ever doubting them

But there’s one problem:

Labels are not you, and labels are not me

Who we truly are is not skin-deep

See, when I drive my car, no one would ever confuse the car for me

Well, when I drive my body, why do you confuse me for my body?

It’s my body—get it? Not me.

Let me break it down:

Who we truly are is found inside

These labels will blind us from seeing people for who they are

When there’s division, there will be conflict—and conflict starts wars

(Where) it’s always us versus them

So the answer to war, racism, sexism, and every other -ism

Is so simple that every politician has missed it:

It’s the labels—we must rip them off!

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