Their Struggle

 

“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen

Nobody knows but Jesus.”1

This is the chant I hear from the orchard

This is their chant of sorrow.

This is their chant against the world,

Against us.

Against our prejudice

Against the injustice they face.

Against the beatings

Against the work

Against their aching, overworked bones.

They fight against the world,

They fight for their freedom.

 

They keep fighting until their goal is reached.

They have freedom,

But no one knows it yet.

They steal away to Harlem,

all gathered in New York.

They steal away to forget their troubles,

to dance and pop a cork.

Jazz can be heard a block away

The sweet music loud and clear.

They try to fight the injustices 

with beauty that is pleasing to the ear.

 

Now their fight is near the end

“No more pain (no more pain)

No more sufferin (no more sufferin)”2

They get up on stage

Spitting rhymes and swears.

They try to use their voice to speak against the injustice

that still haunts them to this day.

Equality is the goal

We’re almost there,

The same rights for every soul.

 

 

1 Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen by Louis Armstrong

2 All the Above by Maino ft. T-Pain

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