Africa

 

Africa she cannot part
Her home is in my heart
You tore me from my love to have me hated
Chained on a slave ship I was degraded
Sent to harsh toil in a foul wicked land
Whipped and beaten by an arrogant hand
Mothers raped, children sold on the auction block
I was made like an animal another of the stock
But in my soul through soft whispers we spoke
We never forgot her despite our iron yoke
Shine on Africa shine on so all can see
I will fight for I must be free
I am not a slave but a prince noble and grand
I am from Africa cannot you understand
See my skin dark brown it is not a shame
You hate my spirit; you’ve but your evil to blame
Africa, they brought me here to bind me in a cage
I have awoken, you will learn my rage
Shine on Africa fulfill our destiny
There will be no peace until you are one with me
Africa such are the lessons you teach
Africa you sweetness is now within reach

 

 

 

The Truth of Dixie

 

I am the master of the plantation
The cornerstone of the confederate nation
The Negro he was my slave
I worked him hard from cradle to grave
Now emancipation has come our way
I hear some people say
Forty acres and a mule
Oh on, not in the land I rule
This is my land how do you dare
I stole it from the Cherokee fair and square

 

 

To Sylvia

 

Playing rhythm guitar
Missing a string
Having a kingdom
Without a king
A brand new morn
And there is no sun
Heaven on a clear night
Not a single star in sight
That’s how life would be
To me
Without you
But the guitar strums sweet
The kingdom is complete
The sun shines rosy and grand
And heaven is just how it’s planned.

 

 

Mumia

 

Mumia lives in a place that should not exist
A result of a mockery they call a trial
The world proclaims injustice, many insist
Still the system is in defiant denial
I do not glory in the death of any man
Yet how much we can take?
We rise against oppression to do the best we can
Day after day you inflict us with your lies
The cause for justice we will never forsake
Allmighty God, He hears our cries
Allmighty God, Him you cannot fool
Or shut him out with your actions cruel

So Mumia lives, three stone walls and an iron gate
These are the manifestations of America’s hate
When you want us to kill for the flag we are brothers all
Come serve your country that is the call
And in return you make us sit and wait
Herded in your ghettos you try to educate
And when we act on the lessons you teach
When we speak our mind and practice free speech
You send in the police, the FBI and CIA
And heroes like Mumia are taken away

An honest day in court
Is what we require
That would retort
And quench this fire

Instead Mumia sits condemned on death row
In a tormented existence that few do know
A political prisoner an unwilling symbol
You can bind the man but not the soul
Mumia these words I write
And promise never to give up the fight

 

 

 

Jazmin From Haiti

 

Haiti had a quake
Unforgiving
And nobody could make
A living
So they brought Jazmin
Out of his cage
To work in
The warehouse for minimum wage
And he is happy
Jazmin from Haiti
For all it is worth
It’s better than eating dirt