I say it to you

Duke Ellington and Lena Horne have been

On my mind all this time

Billie Holliday and Etta James 

Have remained on my play list

All this time 

I know there can be silence 

I know there can be reductiveness

I say it to you

Duke Ellington and Lena Horne have always been on my mind all this time

Langston Hughes and James Baldwin

Had their rivalry and matters it matters 

They were true to themselves and their art

I say it to you

Stay true to yourself 

Because in the end it doesn't matter

What you amounted to only what you leave behind.