(poems go here) You will not go here they said
You will not sit here they said
No desegregation of schools they said
White and Black, NO MIXING THEY SAID
You do not have rights here they said
3/8th black you belong in the back they said
Plessy one-eight black and seven-eighths white you are breaking the laws they said
Separate but equal they said
He was legally required to sit in the "colored" car because those drops of blood
Made you a Negro they said
The segregation law was a violation of the United States constitution
My people said
But who gave a damn about what the Negro had to say
But who gave a damn society was raised that way
Fourteenth Amendment was supposed to change my life
Fourteenth amendment made slaves citizens of the United States of America
Equal protection under the law
But how could one be “Equal” and segregated at the same time.
“Separate but equal,” THEY SAID
But that was all crap I said
Segregation slapped that law in the face I said
Made every skin color inferior to my race
Black was a sin
Black was bad
Black meant you were as good as trash
You will not go here they said
You will not sit here they said
You do not have rights here they said
3/8th black you belong in the back they said
Plessy v. Ferguson set the precedent that the separation of blacks and whites
Was equal as long as they both received the same accommodations
But still THAT WAS NOT UNEQUAL THEY SAID
Who am I the little girl said?
White is right the little girl said
But her skin was as dark as a Hershey kiss
She was beautiful but she was brain washed
She was beautiful but they said she was not
Someone has to fight my people said
Thurgood Marshall would be the hero
Sending countless cases to the Supreme Court
Violation of the fourteenth amendment equal protection clause
And the attempt to desegregate schools
Challenging segregation in Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia, the nation’s capital,
And Topeka, Kansans
Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education I said
This would change it all
That decision was unanimous 9 to 0
May 17th 1954 Separate is not equal they said
You are my people they said
I can sit here they said
I can go here they said
Desegregation of schools they said
Thank you God I said
Civil rights is not just about boycotting
Civil rights is not just about refusing to take the bus
Civil rights is not just about fighting for your freedom by marching
I can go here they said
Desegregate those schools they said
Equal Protection they said
No longer will I be ashamed I said
Who am I the little girl said
I am beautiful she said
Nobody is any better than me she said
Dark as a Hershey kiss she said
There is no one stopping me she said
Thank you God I said
Sitting in a classroom with my
White, Black, Asian, European, Indian, Caribbean, African
Brothers and Sisters I said