Be Punk

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all right here’s the deal i’m a punk

all right punk’s not good it’s not bad

just what i am i’m a punk

and you know what the world needs more

of us that needs more punks and i’ll

tell you why we need more punks you know

punks are people and people that

actually know who they are

that’s the first rule but funny thing is

there are no rules there’s no rules to

punk

punk is nothing except for who i am who

i want to be

who i am today you know what that might

change tomorrow and that’s the thing

it’s fluid it changes so you know what

let me change for a second

hairs up hair down still a punk

black white red yellow still a punk

the thing about punks is you still know

who you

are who am i today i’m a doctor

i’m a punker what does that really mean

what does punk really mean

is it really just about being who i want

to be it really is

because you know what there’s boxes and

people get put into boxes

all the time and guess what punks do we

think outside the box

a box confines us a box keeps us in and

we want to be

let out let your freak flag fly just be

who you are

be the person you want to be today

because you know what that’s

so you got to think about how punk

started punk started because it was a

i don’t know it was a change it was a

change in the way that music was

actually being

you know played to the individuals out

there punk stripped it down it didn’t

take those

large solos and those big arena you know

rock anthems that were being played and

made them into simple

stripped down three chords everybody in

your face

angry at the world music and the thing

is

music is what makes the world kind of

spin around in its own way and it lets

us express

ourselves in a way so we can say hey

here’s who i am here’s what i stand for

and punk took everything looked at it

and punched it in the face and said

here’s what we are we stand for this we

stand for being individuals

standing up for what we believe in that

may be against what everybody else

believes in

people want to put things down on punks

and say this is what you are

and we say nope this is who we are we’re

our own individuals we are

the people that we want to be

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so the community who are the punks i

mean i’m a punk

you’re probably a punk but don’t even

know it but there’s lots of punks around

us that you might not even realize they

don’t have to have

spikes in their hair or you know pins in

their face

punks basically stand up and they say

i’m doing things

differently once again i’m thinking

outside of the box

so you got people like elon musk you may

not like him

but that guy thinks outside the box

that’s pretty punk

you got people like rosa parks who said

enough is enough

i’m not standing for this i’m gonna sit

in fact and this is pretty pumped

because you’re not going to tell me

where i consider what i can do

or john lewis who marches across a

bridge

and says you can’t stop me because we’re

going to overcome because

that’s pretty punk so you can find

multiple examples of people in the

community

that are punk that you may have never

thought about but think about it

all the punks do and the simple things

they have is they have a rebellious

spirit in their mind

they think of ways to make change and

that’s what punks are

always about change because it’s always

a transition it’s always a change

so the reality is you know what punks

it’s might not be who you like there’s

all kinds of punks

there’s hardcore guys there’s the gutter

punks

there’s those guys that are emo there’s

all the guys who actually look at

you know skate punk and the reality is

we’re all punks together we’re in this

collective

and the thing about us no matter what

your belief is even if you don’t agree

with that person

one thing that punks always do they look

at it as a community and they always

pick each other up

you might look at the pit and realize

there’s this violent activity taking

place people

slamming into each other and from the

outside perspective it looks chaotic

but when a person goes down no matter

what their belief is

if you’re there and you’re watching

those same people on stage and you’re a

punk

you pick that person up and that’s

community that’s what punk really is

it’s community it’s a community of

individuals that are together who are

all

separate but actually together because

they all believe in

themselves and they have the ability to

express themselves

and when one goes down we pick them up

the pit

you’re down we pick you up

so when you’re out there in a community

and you’re looking for what you got to

do

say you see individuals blocking traffic

say you see that there’s folks out there

that seem to make your day

get thrown off in some way well they’re

being punk

they’re standing up for what they

believe they’re being who they need to

be

so instead of actually trying to take

them down

pick those people up from the pit give

them a hunk give them away but remember

pick them up you don’t have to agree but

just pick them up

so really how am i a punk you know

so there’s all these boxes people want

to put you in

they want to actually box you in and say

you have to be this type of person

so i always wanted to be a doctor i

happen to be a physician

but i also have to plan a punk rock band

at the same time

and you know it’s actually pretty cool

that i have the opportunities

to play in bands

and do whatever i want it’s

me being me and not doing what you

expect me to be

if they say well you’re this

african-american guy and you can’t be in

a punk band

or that you’re in a punk band you can’t

be a doctor

the question is why can’t i do what i

want to do

i want to be me i want to do what i want

to do if i want to walk on these rocks

and take a chance i’ll take that chance

and if i fall

it’s me falling it’s me falling on my

own terms me making my own risks and

taking them

and not doing the safe thing that you

think i should do

that’s being punk why do you have to be

locked into

the same old drab mundane

nine to five buttoned up laced up

this is what you do if inside you want

to be

the tooth fairy be the tooth fairy if

you want to be the person that

writes video games you do that but you

know what reevaluate anything you’re

doing so that you can become the person

that you want to be

and that’s being punk i’m the person

that i want to be

it makes me happy and i think more punks

out there means

more happy people so we got to have more

punks

so the reality is you should be punk

i mean i can’t tell you what to do right

because if i told you what to do and you

did it then it wouldn’t be punk right

but you got to be punk it’s that weird

weird you know

dichotomy of telling you what to do and

telling you not what to do

i’m just trying to help you to be who

you are open up to be

the person that you really want to be

open your mind up be more free

think outside of the box make yourself

more happy punks are more happy look at

me i’m happy

you should be happy too so you got to be

punk

so punk’s a constant reevaluation of who

you are

who you want to be one day you may be

that person that flies the freak flag

the next day you may not

but that’s on you to actually find the

punk inside of you

and let it out punk’s a fluid transition

always it’s never static it’s not

something that’s rigid

punk is fluid like everybody in the pit

moving around in circles

listen to that tune that gets you moving

punk is

always going to be in flux

always for change looking for change in

the world

around you and personally for you

that’s what punk is it’s change and

we’ve always got to make some changes

so it’s time for me to be punk

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oh

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when you see someone you know

you