We Celebrate

We celebrate in remembrance of our heroes:
Martin, Malcom, Rosa, Frederick, Harriet- the famous ones
While we remember the countless others:
the nameless, the faceless, the ancestors

We celebrate by remembering their struggle
Their movements are in our bodies as we dance,
Their words are in the songs we sing,
We celebrate that we have come this far
We celebrate change

We celebrate, knowing we have further to go
Until American history is learned as African-American history
we have further to go
Until the so-called color blind open their eyes to see
we have further to go
Until we believe that this country was born and raised
on the backs of black women, men, and children
we have further to go

Still, we celebrate (we celebrate in dreams)
We celebrate in hope that we shall, once again, overcome
We honor those who fought -soldiers in the army of equality-
so that their work will not be undone
We recognize that the good work they have done
Allows us to do the work that remains.

Sometimes the struggle seems too much
Sometimes we don’t have the strength to continue Sometimes it breaks us down
Sometimes we feel like motherless, fatherless children
A long way from our home

But continue, we must
as our heroes Martin, Malcolm, Frederick, Rosa, Harriet did for us did We must do the impossible for ourselves, our people, our future
We must face oppression, we must remember the tragedy of the past Not just for one day, but every day we must have the courage to hold on
In the face of ignorance and hatred and fear
We've got to hold on to our dream of equality