HARAMBEE - Let Us All Pull Together

More than 400 years ago, the slave ships came to this shore
Dropping thousands of our ancestors and going back for more
Traveling back and forth with our people across the seas
Who on board were often gagged and bound on hands and knees.
 
If this country has any shame, then this is truly it
That for many years slavery ruled our people with its whip
And even after slavery was officially abolished
It has taken decades to erase the marks that demolished
 
A people of strong ancestry who were queens and kings
Who have fought and struggled to overcome many things
How did we make it through slavery and that horrific time
And overcome those obstacles that were meant to keep us in a bind?
We all pulled together.
 
But it didn’t end with slavery, no. There were more hurdles to jump
Jim Crow laws and segregation were the next big hump
Signs that read “whites only” and “coloreds over here.”
Many places we could not go because we were not allowed there.
 
We were promised forty acres and a mule, which we never received.
But we kept our faith in God and continued to believe
Even when our families were divided and our children taken away
To be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder of the day.
 
Then there was the injustice of lynchings of young boys, like Emmett Till.
But we continued and kept going on because of our strong will
To make it despite every obstacle that had been placed in our way
For we had a lot to give and most certainly a lot to say,
So we all pulled together.
 
Yes, we all pulled together in the struggle for our rights
And we got behind the movement and joined in some fights.
Whether Marcus, Medgar, Martin, Malcolm or Adam Clayton Powell right here
You can be sure our voices were heard across the United States somewhere
 
Because it is only in working together that we accomplish what we must
And as we continue to lean on one another and in the Lord we trust
That we can accomplish our mission for today
Then and only then can we really have our say.
 
So as we gather at this 400 years of Return Celebration,
In these extremely difficult times, when we need some inspiration
Fiscal crises, impeachment hearings, terrorism, threats of war and governmental change
So many things are happening that to us might seem strange.
 
How will we make it? How will we come out on top?
By doing what we’ve always done-- now is not the time to stop.
Slavery, segregation, Jim Crow…we’ve always made it through
And the only way to get through this is to do what we always do:
Harambee - let us all pull together.
 
 

Copyright ©;  by Rolanda T. Pyle. All rights reserved.