We don't want pity,
I love my people,
We take our sorrow,
and sing it pretty,
Calling up tomorrow,
to be a better day,
We turn insult into song,
We been singing the blues since psalms,
We define the meaning of strong,
overstand the lies, rejuvenate bad news,
Turn our pain into tools,
calling up a better way,
We don't suffer fools,
We turn the hate you spit with spite,
into jewels,
Turn havoc into calm,
Let you see where love rules,
We been singing wrongs into Civil rights,
lamentations for the lives we lose
E V E R Y N I G H T
Calling up the strength to fight!
We been down in the belly of the beast,
stared the devil in her face,
Saw the value of our lives decrease,
As if you could ever pay or replace,
What a life is really worth
When stolen by a thief,
Who thinks his manifest destiny,
is the very earth, and air, we breathe,
What is worst?
Than a thief who takes a life
And doesn't care,
Than a thief, who believes his own lie,
Than a liar who believes her own words,
Than a man who exalts himself so high,
Than a man's claim that he's greater,
Than God he insists,
Than a soldier who falls on her own sword,
We heed the battle song and resist,
Calling up the help of the Lord!
We conquered oceans and seas,
and survived,
We out lived your biological manmade disease,
And survived,
Fought a War to end slavery,
Been hung from trees, and are still alive,
won acts of valor for our bravery,
fought In every American War,
We knocked out Jim Crow,
Turned his blood into balm,
We, who have been singing the blues
since psalms,
We know these lyrics by heart,
We don't need your permission to kneel,
for those slain martyred,
Whose voices are forever stilled,
We sing a new song for the slaughtered,
Not your slave anthem!
We give God the oblations,
As justice is held for ransom
We heed the calling,
Can you hear it?
We pour out libations,
for the fallen,
Calling up their spirits.
Victori © Sept 16, 2016
