Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Shots rang out on my street today
Three Black yoots lay dead
shot inna dem head
And dem madda ban har belly an bawl
And dem madda ban har belly an bawl
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Black Uhuru did seh
di yoots of Eglington
won’t put down dem Remington
di yoots of Brixton they have their
45 Smith & Wesson *
But I Afua Cooper seh,
di yoots of Halifax won’t put down
dem scorpion
di yoots of Dartmut
well familiar wid dem glock
Annada one die inna di miggle passage
Annada one die inna di miggle passage
And mammy ban har belly an bawl
And mammy ban har belly an bawl
Here in Halifax
some call it Hellafacts
capital of Nova Scotia
New Caledonia
New Scotland
Albion-ia
Halifax
the shiny white city on the hill
the promised land
the New Jerusalem
our children die
we ask why
As a madda ban har belly an bawl
As a madda ban har belly an bawl
The pastor cry out loud
“peace in the East
put down the guns,
save our sisters and sons”
The police chief seh
“arrest is not the ansa,
we have to get to the root of the matter”
The social worker step up
“we know the ansa
it is social isolation
educational marginalization
economic deprivation
that is the cause of this situation
time to write another dissertation”
No, we do not want this new Jerusalem
let us step up into Mount Zion
Zion train is coming our way! **
Black Uhuru seh
di yoots of Eglington
won’t put down dem Remington
di yoots of Brixton they have their
45 Smith & Wesson
And I Afua Cooper seh
di yoots of Halifax won’t put down
dem scorpion
di yoots of Dartmut
carry dem gun beneath dem shut
How dem get the guns?
How dem get the guns?
Canada has gun control
How dem get the guns?
Shots rang out on my street today
three Black yoots lay dead
shot inna dem head
Annada one killed inna di miggle passage
Annada one murdered inna di miggle passage
Annada one died inna di miggle passage
And mammy ban har belly an bawl,
And mammy ban har belly an bawl!
Mammy ban har belly an bawl
She seh
“mi wash belly
mi only pickney
mi wash belly”
Shots rang out on my street today
three Black yoots lay dead
shot inna dem head
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
Boyakka! Boyakka! Boyakka!
* “Youths of Eglington” is a song by Black Uhuru
** “Zion Train” is a song by Bob Marley
Afua Cooper’s “Shots Rang Out on My Street Today” Copyright © 2020 by Afua Cooper, from Black Matters. Used with permission from Fernwood Publishing: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/black-matters)