You brought us here aboard your ships

 

And introduced us to your whips;

You used them well across our hips

And left so many in the dip.

 

On blocks you put us to be sold;

You kept the young-destroyed the old.

We gave you scientist skills untold;

We gave you poets so brave and bold.

 

Our language soon you took away

By cutting tongues out day by day;

If to your God I knelt and pray,

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There’s not one word I know to say.

 

You raped our sisters and our wives

And by the rope you took our lives;

You’ve told your children lies and lies

And hurt them much by truths denied.

 

We nursed your young and cooked your food;

We plowed your land behind your mules;

We try to live by all your rules-

Still you don’t want us in your schools.

 

We rode the back while on your bus

And worked for you from dawn ‘til dusk;

Would you have done the same for us,

Without ever making a fuss?

 

We sing and dance to warm your heart

While you still keep us far apart;

We gave you jazz, your only art,

And you’ve condemned it from the start.

 

We’re “boy” when young-“uncle” when old;

Never a “man” the story goes;

You took our blues, our very soul,

And changed the name to rock and roll…”

 

In sports, we hold your banner high

While your anthem speaks a lie;

We take your insults with a smile

And hide our feelings deep inside.

 

Your constitution says we’re free,

But we know better, you and me;

Integration is incomplete

‘Cause you don’t want it obviously

 

We’ve been with you through thick and thin,

Yet you don’t want to let us in;

With en-e-mies your time you spend

While they just lay to do you in.

You say we want too much, too fast,

When from the start you made us last;

The mys-te-ry, it must be vast,

How we survived our rugged past.

 

In capitalizing, you excel,

But you defied Black Power yells;

You wonder why your youth rebel-

They want to save us all from hell.

 



You thought you knew us one and all,

But now you find you didn’t at all;

We heed your law and order call

Though it was never meant for all.

    

We’ve waited, O so patiently

While struggling deep in poverty;

We’ve hoped and prayed on bended knees-

Believed in Chris-ti-an-i-ty.

 

We helped you make your trips in space;

We helped you win the lunar race;

To look into a bigot’s face

Just leaves me more and more amazed.

 

We know there’s good among the bad,

But man for man it’s kinda sad;

Although sometimes you make us mad,

We’re still the truest friend you’ve had.

 

The last one hired-the first one fired;

In all your wars, we’ve fought and died;

When will you ever re-al-ize

We need each other to survive?

 

Tell me…What else do you want from us?

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