I'd encourage you to listen to the song and read through the lyrics before diving into the post.
It happened last night but I’m shook this mornin’
A Zimmerman wanna-be almost Trayvoned me
The rage and sadness, I’m afraid my blackness
Though beautsiful might put me in a grave wit’ maggots
But maybe that’s the only way I rest in peace
Gotta hide from the internet and TV screens
‘Cause I’m gettin’ overwhelmed with the way we bleed
And the hate that radiates straight from DC
I been through enough and I’m ready to quit
I don’t wanna explain my pain to no prick
No mic no stage I’m ready to stay hid
But when I go to run away the fire gets lit
Deep within my skeleton I’m yellin’ at the heavens
I am not a prophet why you givin’ me these visions
Wounds is still healin’ I ain’t ready for the mission
But none of my excuses extinguishes the conviction
Maybe all the agony that couldn’t destroy me
prepared me for the battle that is set before me
Maybe there’s a reason I’m young Black and pissed
Maybe that’s exactly what we need in a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made…
We sprayed dat champagne Obama in ‘08
Progress is never permanent workin’ to maintain
A brotha in the office but they murdered Trayvon Martin
Sandra Bland and Eric Garner
We got out on the corner
Marchin’ and protestin’ like Washington 63
Or Donald Trump’s America 2017
Man this here is discouragin’
I’m in need of some nourishment
‘Cause my faith isn’t flourishin’
Maybe this is a test
Maybe I fear Goliath but David’s a better bet
Maybe I be forgettin’ the Spirit of God lives
inside of this carcass with power to resurrect
Maybe I’m Queen Esther
May I never forget
I live and die with my people
I was made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
1 - A Time Like This
It happened last night but I’m shook this mornin’
A Zimmerman wanna-be almost Trayvoned me
I wrote this song early morning, after waking from a nightmare. In real life, the previous evening, I was picking up a friend who lives in an upper-middle class neighborhood. As I was standing outside of her house, her neighbor aggressively marched in my direction, asking me what I was doing in the area, telling me I looked suspicious. I was dressed in casual clothes, leaning against a tree, playing on my cell phone. He said he was part of the neighborhood watch. He demanded I tell him where I lived and why I was there. I refused to tell him where I live. I was fuming with anger but trying to play it cool, as I thought about the fact that Trayvon Martin was killed under similar circumstances. Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman was also a member of the neighborhood watch and confronted him because he believed he looked suspicious. I didn’t want to escalate the tension since the man’s posture and tone was prepared for a physical altercation. Thankfully, he eventually left me alone, but when I went to sleep that night, I kept thinking about it. I had a nightmare in which I re-lived the interaction, but in my dream, the outcome was different. As the man attacked me in my dream, I jumped awake, breathing heavy and afraid.
The rage and sadness, I’m afraid my blackness
Though beautiful might put me in a grave wit’ maggots
But maybe that’s the only way I rest in peace
Gotta hide from the internet and TV screens
‘Cause I’m gettin’ overwhelmed with the way we bleed
And the hate that radiates straight from DC
As much as I love being black, it is often a mental and emotional rollercoaster. I go back and forth between rage and sadness. Not only am I constantly mindful of my own wellbeing, but my heart is perpetually broken by the nonstop reports of hate crimes and police brutality against black people in America. It is literally robbing me of my rest, as illustrated in the opening lyrics of the song. Some days it seems “maybe [death is] the only way I rest in peace”. I’ve felt this way for years, but that feeling has increased with the new wave of bold bigotry that came with the election of Trump. Ignorance is frequently broadcast and encouraged directly from the White House. Hate “radiates straight from DC”.
I been through enough and I’m ready to quit
I don’t wanna explain my pain to no prick
No mic no stage I’m ready to stay hid
But when I go to run away the fire gets lit
Deep within my skeleton
Speaking out against injustice can be exhausting and dangerous. For years I’ve been trying to educate people through my poetry and music, but this is often met with criticism and hostility. At times I want to give into despair. At times I want to quit speaking out, and try to enjoy life as much as I can, hidden from the public eye. As tempting as this is, my convictions will not allow me to remain silent. The image of a fire being “lit deep within my skeleton” is an allusion to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah also was tired of confronting injustice. His critics were hostile. When he spoke the truth, his audience tired to kill him. “Hear me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of my adversaries. Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life” (Jeremiah 18:19-20). Eventually, Jeremiah decided the task was too difficult. He no longer wanted to be a voice of truth and justice in a nation filled with lies and injustice. He resolved to stay quiet, but it didn’t work. The conviction in him was too strong and would not tolerate his attempt to stop speaking the truth of God. “If I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).
I’m yellin’ at the heavens
I am not a prophet why you givin’ me these visions
Wounds is still healin’ I ain’t ready for the mission
But none of my excuses extinguishes the conviction
Maybe all the agony that couldn’t destroy me
prepared me for the battle that is set before me
Maybe there’s a reason I’m young Black and pissed
Maybe that’s exactly what we need in a time like this
I am not a prophet. I always struggled in school. I’ve never considered myself hyper intelligent or spiritual. I’ve never studied social justice or civil rights in a formal setting. I don’t have a masters or doctorate degree. I am not an ordained minister. I hold no office, title, or formal leadership role. Plus, as a young black male, I have a lot of personal baggage and pain in my heart concerning racial issues, white people, the police, America, and the church. I do not feel qualified to be in the position I’m in. I have a million excuses as to why I’m not cut out for this. But for some reason, God has given me some wisdom, some songs, some poems, and some influence. Despite feeling unqualified, I’ve begun to realize that my experiences and perspectives are an important contribution to racial dialogue in American. Listening to the voice of the oppressed, to those without formal rank or institutional power, listening to the young, black and pissed, is “exactly what we need in a time like this”
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made…
The first chorus is hinting at my belief that each person was born in a particular time and place for a reason. This theme will be further fleshed out and revealed as the song unfolds.
We sprayed dat champagne Obama in ‘08
Progress is never permanent workin’ to maintain
A brotha in the office but they murdered Trayvon Martin
Sandra Bland and Eric Garner
We got out on the corner
Marchin’ and protestin’ like Washington 63
Or Donald Trump’s America 2017
Although the election of Barack Obama held tremendous historical significance, I believe it gave a false impression about the progress made concerning the state of race relations in America. Some held Obama’s presidency as the symbolic end of institutional racism. With a person of color occupying the highest office in the nation, many whites and minorities alike “sprayed dat champagne” with a tad too much optimism. During Obama’s years in office (2008-2016), racial tensions increased in part due to widely publicised cases such as Trayvon Martin (2012), Sandra Bland (2015) and Eric Garner (2014). In each of these instances, a black american’s life was unjustly lost (two at the hands of police), and no one was held responsible or went to prison. Incidents like these caused many Americans to protest institutional racism and police brutality. Most significantly, the organization Black Lives Matter formed in 2013 and held countless demonstrations throughout the later years of Obama’s presidency. This brought the nation back down to earth, as we realized there was still much work to be done on the road to equality. This truth was only emphasized with the inauguration of Trump in 2017, a sobering reminder that millions of Americans still enthusiastically support politicians and policies that are unabashedly bigoted, exclusionary and prejudice towards people due to race, religion, gender and so on.
Man this here is discouragin’
I’m in need of some nourishment
‘Cause my faith isn’t flourishin’
Maybe this is a test
Maybe I fear Goliath but David’s a better bet
As discouraging as things have been in America recently, my faith compels me to shift my focus from the size and strength of the problem, to the unmatched power of love, truth, and God. The story of David and Goliath is a fight to the death between a giant and brutal man, Goliath, and David, a scrawny shepherd boy. Any sane person would put their money on Goliath. David’s courage seemed foolish considering the size of his enemy, but David understood that his strength did not come from the size of his muscles or the sharpness of his weapon. David’s fearlessness was a result of knowing he was aligned with the truth and justice of God. David says to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” (1 Samuel 17:45). In the end, David is victorious over Goliath, despite what seems to be insurmountable odds. Standing for the justice of God is always the better bet.
Maybe I be forgettin’ the Spirit of God lives
inside of this carcass with power to resurrect
For the person of Christian faith, the scriptures teach us that the very same spirit and power that lived inside Jesus, and raised him from the dead, is alive in us. If we possess a power that can bring the dead back to life, there is no evil or injustice that should make us cower. This lyric is referencing Romans 8:11, “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
Maybe I’m Queen Esther
May I never forget
I live and die with my people
I was made for a time like this
Queen Esther was a courageous woman in Jewish history. She lived in a time of great injustice. Genocide was about to be committed against her people and she had the choice to hide her racial identity, or risk her life by challenging her husband; the very King who ordered the genocide. Esther’s cousin Mordecai wisely suggested that there may be divine purpose for her existing among such injustice. He encouraged her to act out of courage and hope instead of fear, but he also reminded her that taking the cowardly route would not actually spare her life. If you turn a blind eye to injustice, it will eventually catch up to you. Mordecai warns “ Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:13-14). Esther’s courage saved her people. I am also reminded that if my people die, I die, if my people live, I live. I also feel fear, but am determined to speak out of courage and hope, believing that I was set in this particular time and place to combat the injustice I see. This truth inspired the theme of this entire album and the lyrics of this chorus in particular.
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time like this
Made for a time
Maybe there’s a reason I was made for a time like this
Grace and Peace,
Micah