I'd like for you to rewind to a time when
Something as innocent as the color of your skin
Could earn you a severe and horrible beating
Leaving you battered, broken, and bleeding.

Picture yourself in a place where
Hatred and obscenities pierced the air
All because of the deluded minds
Of people who "don't like your kind."

This was America's society, one flawed
With preconceived notions and laws
Intended to tear down a race
That, after so many years, was still gaining a face.

Were it not for individuals like X, Parks, and King
Today we would not be able to sing
Of the glorious freedom that was found
Because of revolutionaries who transcended all bounds.

This freedom was not discovered because we envisioned
The destruction of our oppressors as our mission,
But because we saw past the deceit
Of the pain and prejudice that brought us heat.

Because we recognized the true enemy
This nation, whose races are many
Overcame a repulsive evil
That pierced fragile hearts like a needle.

I encourage you to reflect
On the peace that activists strive to protect.
For their efforts successfully united
Fifty states that were civilly divided.

We Americans, all yet one
Must remember that victory was won
Not through the poison of retaliation
But through the elixir of unification.