In a brief interlude on the 1972 record Ghettos of the Mind, Bama the Village Poet expresses exactly this internalized oppression of the inhabitants of the ghetto. Maybe the ghetto lives in the hearts and souls of its residents. It becomes more than just a physical location made of asphalt, brick, and concrete. It becomes a mentality, a culture that keeps people in place, their heads bowed, with an invisible hand. In the end, resignation and oppression become part of their DNA.
