chained
Who were whipped and beaten
Who dreamed of being white
And feared their heritage
Who told the world enough is enough
Who broke the shackles and the bonds
Who lead the lost, the young, and the broken
Who led us from slavery to a place of peace
Who educated and nurtured us
Who told the world enough is enough
For my people who suffered the Jim Crow laws
Who trudged through the ashes of their dreams
Who fought for equality all their days
Who paved the road to equal rights
So that we did not have to suffer this fight
So that we could read,write, and grow
Who stood up and announced we had a dream
Who think thug life is better than going to school
Who have broken the bones of their brothers and sisters
Who have broken the hearts of their mothers
destroyed the faith of their fathers
Who are steeped in a bittersweet, addictive power
Who are addicted to control
Who weep over miles of tombstones
Who are but wraiths of their former souls
Whose hope has been taken
Whose armor has been stripped away
Who have been beaten and battered
Who watched their parents fall
Who have waited for brothers and cousins who will never
Whose tears are never seen
Whose lives can be deleted in a blink of an eye
Who have reached out with hope
Who have stood on a corner
Who have been beaten and battered
Who grow up and dream of a place where they are safe and
Who put their heart and soul in the hands of another
Who are found in ditches with their throats cut
Who go to sleep and never wake up
Who are judged because of their skin
Who gave up one day and took their own lives
For the people who weep over the dead, rotten bodies of
Who told me Iâd never be anything because I was black
And mocked the way I talked
Whose words shattered my dreams into a thousand pieces
Who encouraged me to read
Who disciplined and refined me
Who stood up to my teachers and told them they were
Who rebuilt and structured my dreams
Who painted them on a never ending canvas
The single mother raising her children all alone
The father whoâs there to watch and help his child grow
The children who want to grow up and be
doctors,cooks,nurses, and firemen
Whose lives were spent reaching equal rights
Who will never cease to grow
