Black Masculine Disturbed

This is a powerful essay from SeeingBlack.com on the construction of the Black Macho image in the 60s and 70s and the queering of Black masculinity that was the presence of Luther Vandross.

Alice Walker

At the moment of crisis I realize that, because my hands are bound, I can not adjust my glasses, and therefore must tilt my head awkwardly in order to locate and focus on a blue hill. . . . I notice there is a blue hill rising above and just behind the women and their naked-bottomed little girls, who now stand in rows fifty feet in front of me. In front of them kneels my little band of intent faces. Mbati is unfurling a banner, quickly, before the soldiers can stop her. . . All of them--Adam, Olivia, Benny, Pierre, Raye, Mbati-- hold it firmly and stretch it wide. RESISTANCE IS THE SECRET OF JOY! it says in huge block letters. There is a roar as if the world cracked open and I flew inside. I am no more. And satisfied.
--Possessing the Secret of Joy

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his "proper place" and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His 'education' makes it necessary..."
- Carter G. Woodson

Real Love-Mary J. Blige

[Puffy]
Yes indeed once again
For those who don't know
What the sounds of the youngest DJ in charge
Ron G
I wanna say whassup to Mary
And this that uptown classic

Give it to 'em
Take 'em uptown to the Polo Ground
Take 'em uptown to the Polo Ground
Take 'em uptown to the Polo Ground
Take 'em uptown to the Polo Ground

[Mary]
We are lovers true and through
And though we made it through the storm
I really want you to realize
I really want to put you on
I've been searching for someone
To satisfy my every need
Won't you be my inspiration
Be the real love that I need

[1] - Real love
I'm searching for the real love
Someone to set my heart free
Real love
I'm searching for a real love

Oh when I met you I just knew
That you would take my heart and run
Until you told me how you felt for me
You said I'm not the one
So I slowly came to see
All of the things that you were made of
And now I hope my dreams and inspiration
Lead me towards a real love

[Repeat 1]

I've got to have a real love
Love so true and oh, baby
I thought that love was you
I thought you were the answer
To the question in my mind
But it seems that I was wrong
If I stay strong maybe I'll find a

[Biggie]
Look up in the sky
It's a bird, it's a plane
Nope, it's Mary Jane, ain't a damn thing changed
Kickin' ill flava with the Teflon Don
Record shop getting props
She got it goin' on
So what's it gonna be?
The real one, the fake one
Ya need a minute to think for whom ya better take
What up? My time is up
Peace out to brooklyn
Helpin' daddy-o hey yo, bring the verse in

[Mary]
So I try my best and pray to God
He'd send me someone real
To caress me and to guide me
Towards a love my heart can feel
Now I know I can be faithful
I can be your all and all
And give you good lovin' through the summertime
Winter, spring and fall

[Repeat 1]

You see I'm searching for a real love
And I don't know where to go
I've been around the world and high and low
And still will never know
How it feels to have a real love
Cuz it seems there's none around
I gotta end it in this way
Because seems he can't be found

[Repeat 1]

[Repeat 1 until fade while:]
[Puffy]
It's that flavor
That's what I'm talking about
Ain't no other way to explain it

Everything-From A Star is Born

I want to learn what life is for
I don't want much, I just want more
Ask what I want and I will sing
I want everything (everything)
I'd cure the cold and the traffic jam
If there were floods, I'd give a damn
I'd never sleep, I'd only sing
Let me do everything (everything)
I'd like to plan a city, play the cello
Play at Monte Carlo, play Othello
Move into the White House, paint it yellow
Speak Portuguese and Dutch
And if it's not too much
I'd like to have the perfect twin
And who'd go out as I come in
I've got to grab the big brass ring
So I'll have everything (everything)
I'm like o child who's set free
At the fun fair
Every ride invites me and it's unfair
Saying that I only get my one share
Doesn't seem just
I could live as I must
If they'd give me the time to turn the tide
Give me the truth if once I lied
Give me the man Who's gonna bring
More of everything
Then I'll have everything
Everything

Woman in the Moon-From A Star Is Born

I was warned as a child of thirteen
Not to act too strong
Try to look like you belong bur don’t push girl
Save your time and trouble
Don't misbehave
I was raised in a "No You Don't World"
Overrun with rules
Memorize your lines and move as directed
That’s an age old story
Everybody knows that's a worn out song
But you and I are changing that tune
We're learning new rhythms from the woman
I said the woman in the moon
Little sister, little brother
Keep on pushin'
Don't believe a word about
Things you heard about
Askin' too much too soon
’Cause they can hold back the tide
But they can never hold the woman in the moon
I believe there's a best of both worlds
Mixing old and new
Recognizing change is seldom expected
As I long suspected
They believed that strange was a word for wrong
Well not in my song
‘Cause you, you and I are changing that tune
We're learning new rhythms from that woman in the moon
Little sister, little brother
Keep on pushin'
Don't believe a word about
Things you heard about
Askin' too much too soon
’Cause they can hold back the tide
But they can never hold the woman
I said the woman in the moon...

There is a sweet, sweet spirit that is looking after me. I am blessed.


Sweet heavenly dove
Stay right here with us
Filling us with your love
And for these blessings
We lift our hearts in praise

What Can I Do For You?

Labelle

People want truth
Or nothing at all
People want sincerity
And nothing false
People need happiness
As land needs rain from above
We need rain. we need life, we need love
Most people find it so hard to live without
Love, love, love, love, love, love
Oh yeah

People want to live, not merely exist
People want to enjoy, not suffer and fear
People need understanding, not impatience or confusion
Oh I wonder should we hate those
Who present us disillusion
They talk about love, love, love
And lie about love, love, love
And they talk about love, love, love
Oh yeah

We need power
We need power
And we need peace, peace, peace, peace
I think we all agree
Lets stop fighting
Lets stop fighting
And become sisters and brothers
And become sisters and brothers
And become sisters and brothers
And become sisters and brothers
And show its not too late to
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
What can I do for you
What can you do for me

Oh June

I am not wrong: Wrong is not my name
My name is my own my own my own
and I can’t tell you who the hell set things up like this
but I can tell you that from now on my resistance
my simple and daily and nightly self-determination
may very well cost you your life

Hard Candy Christmas

Dolly Parton

Hey, maybe I’ll dye my hair
Maybe I’ll move somewhere
Maybe I’ll get a car
Maybe I’ll drive so far
They’ll all lose track
Me, I’ll bounce right back
Maybe I’ll sleep real late
Maybe I’ll lose some weight
Maybe I’ll clear my junk
Maybe I’ll just get drunk on apple wine
Me, I’ll be just

Fine and dandy
Lord it’s like a hard candy christmas
I’m barely getting through tomorrow
But still I won’t let
Sorrow bring me way down

I’ll be fine and dandy
Lord it’s like a hard candy christmas
I’m barely getting through tomorrow
But still I won’t let
Sorrow get me way down

Hey, maybe I’ll learn to sew
Maybe I’ll just lie low
Maybe I’ll hit the bars
Maybe I’ll count the stars until dawn
Me, I will go on

Maybe I’ll settle down
Maybe I’ll just leave town
Maybe I’ll have some fun
Maybe I’ll meet someone
And make him mine
Me, I’ll be just

Fine and dandy
Lord it’s like a hard candy christmas
I’m barely getting throung tomorrow
But still I won’t let
Sorrow bring me way down

I’ll be fine and dandy
Lord it’s like a hard candy christmas
I’m barely getting through tomorrow
But still I won’t let
Sorrow bring me way down

I’ll be fine and dandy
Lord it’s like a hard candy christmas
I’m barely getting through tomorrow
But still I won’t let
Sorrow bring me way down

’cause I’ll be fine
(I’ll be fine)
Oh, I’ll be fine

Gotta Move

Barbra

Gotta move, gotta get out
Gotta leave this place, gotta find some place
Some other place, some brand new place
Some place where each face that i see
Won't be staring back at me
Telling me what to be and how to be it
Some place where i can just be me
Gotta move, got to get out
Gotta leave this town, gotta find some town
Some big new town, some bright new town
Some new town with new places, new lives
And most of all some new faces
Gotta find a man, a new man
A man who won't worry 'bout where i go
A man who wont ask how i learned what i know
A man who will know that you've gotta be free
A man who will know when to just let me be
Gotta move, gotta get out
Gotta change my life, gotta find my life
I'll find me a place in some new town and baby
And when i find me that new place, then maybe ours,
Gotta leave this town
Gotta leave this place
Gotta find a new man...
Gotta move!

In The Belly of the Beast of Bentonville

From the Socialist Worker

JOSH GRYNIEWICZ tells what it’s like to work for Wal-Mart--and how workers pay for its “everyday low prices.”

I WORKED for Wal-Mart just under a year. I was fired two days before Christmas, which in retrospect was probably the best holiday bonus I could have received.

When I started, I knew very little about unions, even less about workers’ power and nothing about working-class history. I’d like to credit Sam Walton with radicalizing me, but mostly, that’s because I know he would be rolling in his grave at the thought.

As a member of the 4-to-1 crew (4 p.m. to 1 a.m.), my responsibilities were to unload up to three trucks a night, with freight ranging from 1,000 pieces to 2,300 and up; stack the freight according to department; and pull it to the floor for overnights to restock the shelves.

According to the program description, this job required 14 unloaders, but we rarely had more than eight.

What else to read
Two union-sponsored Web sites--Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch--contain a wealth of information on the giant retailers scandalous behavior toward workers, as well news of various activist campaigns.

For a book that details the company’s rise to economic dominance, try Anthony Bianco’s The Bully of Bentonville. Charles Fishman’s The Wal-Mart Effect looks at the impact of the company and its policies on the U.S. economy. Liza Featherstone’s Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Worker’s Rights at Wal-Mart documents the class-action lawsuit filed by women workers over sex discrimination in promotions, pay and job assignments.




“We were intentionally understaffed,” John Murphy, a former support manager with seven years on the job (during one of which, he was my direct supervisor), told me in an interview for this article.

“A truck has six-and-a-half panels; managers are told that each panel should take no more than 10 minutes to unload, regardless of size and amount of freight,” Murphy said. “A truck should be unloaded and ready to be pulled to the floor in an hour and ten minutes. Realistically, a smaller truck should take 45 minutes to an hour-fifteen; larger-scale trucks up to about an hour-forty-five.” And that’s without considering that we consistently operated with half a crew.

To make matters worse, our equipment was archaic. The line that we used to move freight through the dock along rollers was falling apart--we actually had to use paint buckets to prop it up.

None of this kept management from hopping into the trailer to shout insults, snap their fingers, bark at us or do just about anything to speed things up (except, of course, throw a box themselves).

Not only was the combination of unrealistic expectations, high pressure and decrepit equipment inefficient--it was just plain dangerous. Accidents were a routine part of the job, but John’s complaints fell on deaf ears.

In fact, it was only after a wall of freight literally buried me alive--something that the crew had been warning about for years prior--that we actually received a replacement line.

I was struck so hard at the base of the skull that it knocked the natural curve of my spine ramrod straight. According to the doctor who examined my X-rays, I was lucky that I hadn’t been paralyzed. I was in physical therapy for weeks--but back on the job at Wal-Mart in a matter of days, holding down the fort in Ladies’ Garments, a point that management seemed to revel in making over the radio.

It was a bureaucratic nightmare to get worker’s comp costs covered. There was a succession of lost faxes, misplaced paperwork and endless games of phone tag. While I was navigating this labyrinth, the word “union” began to form in my vocabulary.

Apparently, women’s lingerie was Wal-Mart’s dumping ground for the lame, and it didn’t take long before I found someone with a saga far worse than mine--a co-worker whose wrist was crushed between a shelf and a clothing cart. The injury required surgery, but thanks to Wal-Mart, the procedure was delayed for five years, while the bills piled up. At the time, Wal-Mart was self-insured, meaning that it had a legally sanctioned opportunity to manage or mismanage its own claims.

“Don’t let management take care of it,” she advised me. “They’ll try to guilt you into dropping it, or bully you into letting it go--make it seem like you are hurting the company. But you have to look out for yourself.”


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BY THE time I was back on the line, I started floating the idea of a union regularly--not as much to see if anyone was interested, but to find out if anyone knew what to do.
The majority of the crew said they’d be in favor of a union, but most raised the same concerns that came up when the Chicago City Council recently considered an ordinance to require a living wage at “big box” retailers. “If we were actually successful in getting a union,” went the argument, “they would just shut down the store and set one up somewhere else.”

The store we worked at provided the perfect counter-argument to this common objection to both union drives and living-wage laws. Nestled in a cluster of affluent suburbs south of Chicago, the store operated in a community with heavy retail competition, and where annual household income was considerably higher than the state average.

But its primary customer base was drawn from poorer suburbs to the south--directly accessible by a main road that literally fed into the Wal-Mart parking lot--and an island of Section 8 public housing that had been built in its backyard. In short, if the store was forced to relocate even a couple blocks from this site, it would feel the pinch having contend with other stores and being cut off from its primary source of poor and working class consumers.

A co-worker who had been through an organizing drive previously set up a meeting with a contact from UCFW. Almost immediately after the meeting was set, it was postponed. Since we worked receiving, the contact told us, we would probably have to meet with somebody else. A different bureaucratic nightmare of rescheduled appointments and unreturned phone calls followed.

While labor debated, Wal-Mart organized. Over the course of these few weeks, a transfer from a store in Tennessee was brought onto the crew.

His story didn’t seem to add up from the start. Wal-Mart had footed the bill for his transfer, and he was put into a quasi-supervisor position right off the bat.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to keep the guys from inviting him out to the bar with us, but his unconventional conversation topics eventually exposed him as a union-buster. He seemed all too eager to know personal details about the crew, including whether anyone ever stole from the trucks, who on the crew did drugs, etc.

A couple of us finally came up with a plan to freeze him out. We developed a habit of quoting movie lines about undercover narcs anytime he was working the line. His meltdown resulted in an hour-and-45-minute closed-door session with management, and a promotion to manager in another department two days later.

His last day on the line, he approached me, tried to shake my hand and said: “I think that if we had met at another time, under different circumstances, we would probably have been friends.” I told him I doubted it.

As Murphy explains, such tactics are routine. “Managers are expected to take it personally if their employees want to organize,” he said. “At one point, there was a store in Indiana that actually had a campaign underway. Almost immediately, the district transferred managers and assistant managers from throughout the Midwest to work there.

“They initiated these four-hour ‘labor relations’ meetings, where they hand-picked supervisors from every department, through six levels of management, to go over Wal-Mart propaganda--‘Why we are so successful,’ ‘Why employees are better off without a union’-type bullshit.

“They trained us to look for employees that were ‘going against the grain’--employees who not only were frustrated, but who were most likely to do something about it--and we would fire them for bullshit excuses.

“So at least a hundred managers, probably more, from throughout the Midwest actually turn up at this store in Indiana. There were at least one or two from every store in the district. Seriously, what the hell do you need that many managers for? That’s the way they operate though--a hundred managers can be pretty intimidating.”


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AT MY job, with the union-buster out of the picture, Wal-Mart picked up the pressure. Harassment from managers to speed up unloading grew more intense. They locked the front doors and set the alarms so we wouldn’t be able to leave without a member of management present, and visits from store security became a routine part of our breaks.
At one point, a box of broken merchandise set aside for “claims” mysteriously found its way onto a pallet to be pulled out to the floor, providing the store with enough circumstantial evidence to shake things up on the docks and formally interrogate members of the crew.

I was terminated a few months later. Four of us refused to unload a truck until the manager left the dock. We sat on the boxes and waited patiently while she turned red-faced and stormed off.

One by one, each of us was called into the office and grilled. Expressing a truly unique form of motivational speaking, the overnight manager used an interesting analogy when stressing to me the importance of accepting consequences. “Say I was to lose my temper and punch you in the face,” he asked casually, “there would be repercussions for such behavior, wouldn’t there?” He then handed me a pink slip for “insubordination.”

The lessons I learned from this experience were invaluable. Only through a focused effort to organize unions at Wal-Mart--one that extends beyond public relations efforts and incorporates the whole of the labor movement--will wages and conditions at the retail giant change.

The alarm has been ringing for years, and U.S. workers are awake to Wal-Mart’s exploitation. It’s time for labor to take the cue.

On Barbra

I first fell in love with Barbra, I believe, when I first heard “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” which was when I first saw Funny Girl That song, that movie, that orange suit and brown fur hat just did it for me and I knew that not only had I found my mantra in that song, but that I had found the one persona that I completely identified with. Barbra became my greatest icon that day, which I don’t remember, but which I know was during my pre-adolescence. I was Funny Girl. She spoke to me and I responded wholeheartedly. And from that moment forward, I have been a die-heart and dedicated Barbra Streisand fan. It was then that I knew that I had to have everything Barbra. I read the books, I saw the films, I bought the albums. I became totally enmeshed in the Streisand lore... and I still am to this day. The kooky Jewish girl from Brooklyn was my hero and I loved everything that she represented and I still do. I am completely and wholeheartedly a devotee.

I have so been listening to Rebecca's ipod.

Tomorrow Night-Yentl

Look at me-I must be absolutely crazy!
How did 1 ever let it get this far?
Look at me! I'm getting deeper into trouble.
Am I woman or a man?
Am I a devil or a demon?
Papa was right!
I ask too many questions.
He said a soul can get perplexed-
I can't believe what happens next!
Papa was right!
It seems this little game I play
Becomes more risky every day!
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Under the canopy
I'll stand with her tomorrow night!
And place a ring upon her hand
With her all dressed in white
Tomorrow night
I don’t know how this came about
But I'll be wed without a doubt.
Oh, my God, I've got to get out!
Look at this-The way one lie begets another
Somebody wake me up and say
It’s all a dream!
(Look at this!)
Look how easily I fool them
They may have eyes but they don’t see
They never really look at me
People are blind!
How else would everyone believe me?
It might be interesting to know
Just how much further I can go
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
I can’t believe what I’ll presume to be
Tomorrow night,
I'm not the bride but I'm the groom to be
Tomorrow night,
And that's a monumental trick
I'd better think of something quick
(Oh, my God, I'm feeling sick!
I could run away
I could leave without a trace,
Go anywhere or any place
Where no one knows my face.
As a woman or a man?
I don't know just so I can
Run away-run away!
I'd be free-I'd be rid of all of this
But there’s someone I would miss
And being near him is what this is all about!
So running away is out!
Papa dear, you dreamed of dancing
At my wedding;
But something tells me that I'm right
You wouldn't want to dance tonight!
Isn't this a strangely logical solution?
Things may not be as they appear
But the advantages are clear:
He loves her-she loves him
He likes me-I like her
And I've reasons to think she likes me.
She keeps him-he keeps her
I keep things as they were
It's a perfect arrangement for three!
Who'd have ever predicted
The moment would come
When I’d find myself grateful
They’ve kept women dumb!
She's an innocent maiden
But then so am I!
That’s why it's possible I could get by.
Look, I’ve seen the impossible happen before,
So maybe, God willing, it'll happen once more.
For I feel like a train on a perilous track.
With no way to stop and no way to go back.
Like a snowball that’s gathering speed down a hill,
Going faster and faster and faster until...
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Even if someone would pray for me
Tomorrow night,
There's not a prayer
That they could say for me
Tomorrow night,
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Tomorrow night...is now tonight!

Let's Hear It For Me!

From Funny Lady

Blow the bugle
Sound the cymbal
All my troubles fill a thimble
I'm as happy as it's legal to be
Come on kids let's hear it for me
Get the tom tom
Start the drumming
Queue the colours
Keep them humming
Cause I'm climbing of the limb of that tree
Come on kids let's hear it for me
For this overwhelming sensation
I could stand a standing ovation
Give my entrance queue to the band
Give the little lady a great big hand
Slide the trombone
Let it swell out
This performance is a sell out
And the critics and the public agree
I'm the number one attraction to see
So applaud it and cheer it
Come on now let's hear it for me

Standing in the wings
All prepared to start
Usually I'm tense
A pounding in my heart
But now I'm not afraid
Cause butterfly's are gone
My act is looking great
I can't wait to go on, on
Grab a ticket
Find you row kid
I am strictly an SRO kid
Tell these ougly boubly feelings I'm free
They been banished by a royal decree
And your head feels so good when you finally clear it
If I saw a worry I wouldn't go near it
Come on now come on kid lets hear it
Let's hear it for me...

I Remember This Song From My Youth

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin;
Each vict’ry will help you some other to win;
Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.
Refrain:
Ask the Savior to help you,
Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.
Shun evil companions, bad language disdain,
God’s name hold in rev’rence, nor take it in vain;
Be thoughtful and earnest, kindhearted and true;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.
To him that o’ercometh, God giveth a crown,
Through faith we will conquer, though often cast down;
He who is our Savior, our strength will renew;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

The British Are Getting Rid of Blair!!!

Tony Blair is stepping down within one year! Please let him take George Bush with him. When Tony Blair first appeared on the scene, I was quite supportive. Then he became a lapdog for evil white men in this country. God forbid!

I join, and am most proud to join, that most wonderful and glorious traditon that includes Angela Davis, Howard Zinn,my grandmother, and my beloved Uncle(although he only fits into it superficially). I have a rich and beautiful legacy behind me.

Audre Lorde

When I dare to be powerful-to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

Project Runway

I hate Jeffrey. I hope he's gone next. I so thought Kayne was going home. I hope he leaves too. Michael Kors was soo brutal tonight! But he was honest. I soo am rooting for Michael!

Mos Def Arrested

This past Friday, Mos Def was arrested while giving an impromptu performance from his Katrina album at the VMA Awards. You can watch what went down here. I think this begs the question, what purpose do police forces serve in this country. Are they supposed to play in politics(with political arrests,beating up people, assassinations--i.e. Fred Hampton) or are they supposed to serve the people?

Give Me My Flowers

Spiritual

GIVE ME MY FLOWERS
WHILE I YET LIVE
SO THAT I, I, I CAN SEE THE BEAUTY
THAT THEY BRING


FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES
MAY GIVE ME FLOWERS
WHEN I?M SICK?
OR ON MY SICK BED
BUT I?D RATHER HAVE
JUST ONE TULIP RIGHT NOW
THAN A TRUCK LOAD OF ROSES
WHEN I?M DEAD

SPEAK KIND WORDS TO ME
WHILE I CAN HEAR THEM
SO THAT I, I, I CAN HEAR THE BEAUTY
THAT THEY BRING

George Bush is wicked,stupid, and must be desperate since he is invoking the name of Hitler and WWII in his mission to wreak havoc on the middle east. To hell he may go! Oh Nina, oh Nina, where are you? Come strike tis man down to hell....

Rick Santorun is in deep trouble.

I've Never Been In Love Before

I've never been in love before.
Now all at once it's you,
It's you forever more.

I've never been in love before
I thought my heart was safe,
I thought I knew the score.

But this is wine,
That's all too strange and strong,
I'm full of foolish song
And out my song must pour.

So please forgive this helpless haze I'm in,
I've really never been in love before!

So this is wine,
That's all too strange and strong,
I'm full of foolish song
And out my song must pour.

So please forgive this helpless haze I'm in,
I've never really been in love before...

My Poem

Nikki Giovanni

i am 25 years old
black female poet
wrote a poem asking
nigger can you kill
if they kill me
it won't stop
the revolution

i have been robbed
it looked like they knew
that i was to be hit
they took my tv
my two rings
my piece of african print
and my two guns
if they take my life
it won't stop
the revolution

my phone is tapped
my mail is opened
they've caused me to turn
on all my old friends
and all my new lovers
if i hate all black
people
and all negroes
it won't stop
the revolution

if i never write
another poem
or short story
if i flunk out
of grad school
if my car is reclaimed
and my record player
won't play
and if i never see
a peaceful day
or do a meaningful
black thing
it won't stop
the revolution

the revolution
is in the streets
and if i stay on
the fifth floor
it will go on
if i never do
anything
it will go on

I Rise

Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
you may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise

Gin House Blues

Nina Simone

Stay away from me cos I'm in my sin
Stay away from me everybody cos I'm in my sin
If this joint is raided somebody give my gin
Don't try me nobody cos you will never win
Mm yeah don't try me nobody cos you will never win
I'll fight the army and navy somebody gives me my gin

When I'm feeling high I don't have nothing to do
Oh when I'm feeling high I don't have nothing to do
Just fill me full of good liquor I'll sure be nice to you
Any bootlegger show him a pal of mine any old time
Any bootlegger show him a pal of mine
Cos a good bottle of gin will get it everytime

Lord I don't want no clothes
I don't even want no bed to lay my head
I don't want no clothes
I don't event want no bed to lay my head
I don't want no pork chops and green
Just give me gin instead

Oh oh stay away from me cos I'm in my sin
Oh oh stay away from me yeah everybody cos I'm in my sin
If this joint is raided somebody give me my gin
Somebody give me my gin

I should also remember what Bernadine Dorhn said. The power structure always wants to make you feel as if you are helpless and have no power against them. We must remember that we possess our own power.