"Growin' like a Baoba tree" and I look down at my feet

That walked the African soil as a child

Running around carefree

"Motherland drip on me" and the memories roll in 

of the Congolese sun shinning

the Congolese children dancing

the Congolese mother's cooking

the Congolese wind singing

"Crack a big smile" and I examine my lips

The way they move to retell the stories of the good ol days

The way they form a smile when I think of my home

"Four hunnid billi', Mansa Musa" and I think of my history class

How I never learned about my people

Unless they were being mistreated 

"Holy tongue" and I think of Lingala

My language that connects me to my roots

"I can't forget that my history, is her story" and I recall Queen Amina, Kandake, Makeda, Nefertiti

"Now here we come on our throne, sittin' high" and I remenber who I am. Where I am from. Where I am going.

Black Parade

By Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter