I've had this special relationship with the hoodie
You see we both go way back
I wear it whenever I'm scared and afraid
Of another midnight attack
I got this feeling you and I
Didn't think much about it when we got dressed
We didn't have an agenda
Didn't know people would become obsessed
About the kind of clothes we chose to wear
On the day of our respective assaults
We were just trying to be ourselves
No plans to be in the ignored victim vaults
You went to grab a snack
You didn't think you'd be shot
As the kid in the hoodie
Who was black
I have been in your shoes
In a different sort of way
Although mine were high heels
And I got to live to see another day
When I dressed like a lady
With lip gloss and nice clothes
I didn't think I would end up the hospital
Traumatized and decomposed
There was no reason for the District Attorney
To ask me what I was wearin'
Because it has nothing to do with the fact
That I can't stop the nightmarin'
Since the public tends to blame the raped girls
For how we choose to look pretty
I learned put on the hoodie real quick
So I can be safe in this city
When I hear the pundits suggest
That Trayvon's clothes were an invite for violence
I have a few questions to ask
To break some heavy silence
Clear it up for us
Because, it all seems very confusing
Blaming the ones who suffer violence
Is hardly humane or amusing
Is there a dress code to stay above the ground and not assaulted
A perfect way he'd be alive
Girls could thrive
And we wouldn't be the ones faulted
So maybe if on that night we traded places
I was in a hoodie and he was all dressed to the nines
Then maybe he'd still be alive
And my body would still be mine
I don't understand those who blame the victims
For the content of their outer attire
Or why the girls raped but dressed pretty
Are branded by the system a liar
I expected to meet with
A person that I trusted
You assumed to walk safely home
No reason to be busted
If you're saying criminals target a particular manner of dress
And not women, girls, and young men of a certain race
Then why isn't it okay to shoot men in suits
Who look like executives from JP Morgan Chase
Usually I am a big supporter of the laws of self-defense
Unless you've been there you, don't know what happens in fight or flight
But if you get out of your truck to target somebody
Claims of self protection doesn't add up quite right
So, when we dress like this
To avoid repeating our fate
Understand hoodies and skin color are not a license to kill
High heels and being a girl are no excuse to rape
I'm not trying to steal any focus from the gravity of this case
Just humbly adding a story to the injustice pile
If we are going to have a country fair to gender and race
Seems it's going to take a while
So let us try to stick together
Collectively raising our voices
So all the rapists and racists
Learn to make some different choices
Dear Trayvon, could you ask God for me
If there's a safe place for high heels in heaven
I'll bring all of my hoodies for you to wear in peace
I have like six or seven