Flobots - Anne Braden lyrics

What I've realized since is that it's
A very painful process but it
Is not destructive it- it's the
Road to liberation and what
Really happened in the sixties was that
This country took just the
First step toward admitting that it
Had been wrong on race
And creativity burst out in all directions

From the color of the faces in Sunday songs
To the hatred they raised
All their youngsters on
Once upon a time in this country, long ago
She knew there was something wrong
Because the song said "Yellow, red
Black and white
Every one precious in the path of Christ"
But what about the daughter of
The woman cleaning their house?
Wasn't, she a child they were singing about?


And if Jesus loves us, black and white skin
Why didn't her white mother invite them in?
When did it become a room for
No blacks to step in?
How did she already know not
To ask the question?
Left lasting impressions
Adolescent's comfort's gone
She never thought things would ever change
But, she always knew there
Was something wrong

She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong

Years later
She found herself Mississippi-bound to help
Stop the legalized lynching of
Mr willie McGee but they couldn't stop it
So they thought that they'd talk to
The governor about what happened
And say "We're tired of being used as
An excuse to kill black men"
But the cops wouldn't let 'em past
And these women, they struck 'em as uppity
So they hauled 'em all off to jail
And they called it protective custody
Then from her cell she heard
Her jailers grumbling about "outsiders"
When she called 'em out and said
She was from the South, they shouted
"Why is a nice, southern lady making trouble
For the governor?"
She said, "I guess I'm not your type of lady
And I guess I'm not your type of Southerner
But before you call me traitor
Well it's plain as just to say
I was a child in Mississippi but
I'm ashamed of it today"

She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong

And all of a sudden I realized that
I was on the other side

Imagine the world that you're standing within
All of your neighbors and family friends
How would you cope, facing the fact
The flesh on their hands
Was tainted with sin?
She faced this every day
People she saw on a regular basis
People she loved, in several cases
People she knew were incredibly racist
It was painful
But she never stopped loving them
Never stopped calling their names
And she never stopped being a Southern woman
And she never stopped fighting for change
And she saw that her struggle was in the
Tradition of ancestors never aware of her
It continues today the soul of a Southerner
Born of the other America

She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong
She always knew there was something wrong

What you win in the immediate
Battles is- is little
Compared to the effort you put into it
But, if you see that as a part of
This total movement to build a new world
You know what cathedral you're building when
You put your stone in

You do have a choice!
You don't have to be a part
Of the world of the lynchers
You can join the other America
There is another America!