Cota Não É Esmola

Quota Is Not Charity

There are many things they didn't tell you in school
Quota is not charity
Try being born black in the favela and you'll see
What happens to black and poor doesn't appear on TV

Oppression, humiliation, prejudice
We know how it ends when it starts like this
Since she was little, working hard to help her parents
Taking care of children, cleaning the house, and more

It's noon, she takes a shower and walks to school
No money for the bus
Her mother used it earlier to buy bread
And now that she's tired, she wants a ride on the bus
But being black and poor, the driver shouts: No!

And that's just the first door that closes
No bus, already tired, but she hurries
She arrives at school, another gate closes
You're late! You won't enter the history class
Wait, sit there, it's almost time
Wait a little longer and enter the second class
And make sure not to be late again, the principal says

She gets to the classroom, now the sleep is creeping in
And she won't sleep, slowly she's learning that
If the fare is 3.80 and you have 3 in hand
She interrupts the teacher and says, 'then there won't be bread'

And the friends who laugh at her every day
Laugh more and humiliate her more
What would you do?

She's tired of humiliation and doesn't want school anymore
And at Christmas, she cried because she didn't get a ball
Time passed and she grew up
Now on the street, she's the black girl with the smelly armpits
Who straightens her hair to feel accepted
But it's no use, everyone rejects her

Now she's grown up, she wants to study a lot
Finishes school, the workbook, there's still the entrance exam
And her mouth dry, dry, not a drop of saliva
She'll pay for college because black and poor don't go to USP
That's what the teacher who taught at school said
That everyone is equal and that quota is charity

Tired of charity and without the money for college
She still wakes up early and cleans three apartments in the city center
Try being born black, poor in the community
You'll see how different the opportunities are

And don't come and tell me this is victimhood
Don't blame me to cover up your racism!
And don't come and tell me this is victimhood
That this is victimhood, that this is victimhood, that this is victimhood

And don't come and tell me this is victimhood
Don't blame me to cover up your racism!
And don't come and tell me this is victimhood
That this is victimhood, that this is victimhood, that this is victimhood

There are enslaved nations
And murdered cultures
It's the voice that echoes from the drum
Come together, come here
You too can fight, hey!
And learn to respect
Because the black people came to revolutionize

Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Revolution

Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Don't let our voice be silenced, no!
Revolution

Thousands of us are born every time one of ours falls
Thousands of us are born every time one of ours falls, yeah
Thousands of us are born every time one of ours falls
Thousands of us are born every time one of ours falls
And it's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga samurai!

It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga
It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga
It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga
Open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga samurai!

It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga
Open, ghetto swordsman, nigga
It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga
It's with an open chest, ghetto swordsman, nigga samurai!

Let's go to the corner where the clock stops
And in silence, the heart races
Let's reign like Zumbi, Dandara
Odara, Odara

Let's go to the corner where the clock stops
In silence, the heart races
Odara, Odara, hey!

Try being born black, poor in the community
You'll see how different the opportunities are
And don't come and tell me this is victimhood
Don't blame me to cover up your racism

There are many things they didn't tell you in school
Quota is not charity!
Quota is not charity!
Quota is not charity!

I said: Quota is not charity!
Quota is not charity!
Quota is not charity!
Quota is not charity!

There are enslaved nations
And murdered cultures
It's the voice that echoes from the drum
Come together, come here
You too can fight
And learn to respect
Because the black people came to revolutionize
Quota is not charity!