They say the Civil Rights movement is over, but I do not believe.
They say that we are all equal now, but I do not believe.
They say that the Black man has all of the rights as the White, but I do not believe.
Let me open your eyes to the truth;
If any of this was so, then why do I still feel as though we are less?
If any of this was so, then why are we still treated as if we are lost children?
If any of this was so, then why must I be careful not to show up a White man with my speech?
Though there is no more segregation, no more lynching, no more public persecution,
The Black man still must struggle.
The Black man still must struggle against himself.
The Black man still must struggle against the preconceived notions of White society.
The Black man still must struggle against people who would use and abuse him.
The Black man still must struggle for a place in the world.
My heart is in agony, my soul cries out for an explanation.
Why, after everything that Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and others strived for,
Must we still prove ourselves worthy of a place in the world?
That is, a place other than underneath the heel of everyone else.
Though the political portion of the movement is over, the social one is not.
For too long I have quelled my true feelings, and now they are flooding out.
Our predecessors have worked, sacrificed, suffered, much too much
For us to walk around dressed immodestly, acting like fools
As the rest of the world only looks and pities or laughs at us.
When will we stand up and make a powerful, respectable, name for ourselves?
No my friends, the Civil Rights movement is not over, and it is up to us to finish it.