Making America Great

From the first drop of a slave's blood spilled on American soil To the first chains fashioned to break the will of an intelligent voice From the first English phrase spoken, the first African name forgotten Traded in for the first batch of tobacco, bag of sugar or bale of cotton From the first runaways that escaped and dared to be free To the first organised revolutionaries who dared to believe The first rebellious uprisings and burning plantations The first gunshots at the first lynching on the first day after emancipation No more, my Lord No more, my Lord From the first guitar string plucked to play the first chord of the blues The first dance floor struck hard by the first tap dancer's shoes The first jazz musician to pick up his first sax The first DJ to manipulate the first record to be scratched The first challenge to legislation, the first attempt at integration The first realisation that education was indeed the key to your salvation The first black doctors, black lawyers, black teachers, black preachers Black leaders who made a difference for others to start achieving The first night Martin Luther King dreamed, the first book Malcolm X reads, Muhammad Ali's first punch, Michael Jordan's first dunk, Billie Holiday sings her first note, Richard Pryor tells his first joke, Maya Angelou writes her first poem overflowing with her first hope No more, my Lord No more, my Lord Look into an eternity of mirrors and tell me what you see Past triumphs and failures, present concerns and future needs Look into an eternity of visions and tell me what can you conceive? That one day a black man could ever compete and reach the presidency? Could a nation that was essentially established on stolen land, built with stolen labour and enriched by broken hands, entrenched with racism since its history books began, move beyond its past position and seek recognition for a new command? So from that first drop of blood spilled many centuries ago, a seed was planted in them hills that one day would flower and would grow Many firsts have been concealed through many tears and many woes the chapters that truly made America great were from its book of stories never told. No more, my Lord No more, my Lord Lord I'll never turn back no more No more