Trudging and dragging

In the scorching heat

Gravel and dust blows

Across their feet

A woman holds the hand of a child

Who holds the hand of his brother

While her body encloses the life of another

Monsters and thieves they are called

But perhaps they don’t understand at all

That their country was overtaken by war

In fault of the country where the only answer

Seems to be a towering wall

 

Mothers and Fathers, children alike

All crossing the border for a better life

Not long ago you were in the same boat

Only your country seemed to be pushing the oars

New World it would no longer be

As you sailed the across the Atlantic Sea

Fair skin, eyes, hair and lives

Pushing west with cruelty and lies

You say you were the first ones here

But what of the Native tribes

Who greeted you with food and supplies

They awarded you with sustenance and gifts  

You called them savages and decided to lift

Your swords and end their lives

Now you settle and create a new life

While they die, or exist in lasting strife

 

Moving west in the name of God

Killing anything that doesn’t belong

Natives, for you, they fit in this category

Leading massacres and raids then changing the story

Once their land was stolen

The land of the brave and free

Would be the melting pot of families

People from China and Japan, later Latin America

Having the chance of picking the life they’d lead

Finally striking gold, in the land of opportunity

 

Great Depression, no one is fairing well

That didn’t stop Mexicans from getting expelled

Citizen or not what’s the difference?

Raids similar to the ones held before

Havens invaded and people removed

From homes and their lives

Regardless of their legal status

Families and friends torn apart

Some never seen again

 

World War II created many enemies

But they weren’t all armies and navies

Farmers, and merchants

Fathers and mothers,

Children and students born in the country

Suddenly labeled a danger to democracy

Camps made to contain them

Suddenly no longer vital to the economic system

Bombed by another country should make a nation unite

Instead the Japanese-Americans were moved out sight

 

Brought to America in boats by force

Miles away from home in a land they’d never seen before

Put in metal chains and collars

Slavery was only the beginning of this brutal slaughter

First you made them property

Worth less than one human

Cemented by the Constitution

War became the only solution

States divided for that very cause

Twelve scores and 4 years, it took to realize

That slavery wasn’t right

And yet that wasn’t its demise

The Union victory didn’t make change

Other than the Confederate name

Discrimination flooded the U.S.

Blacks and whites they weren’t the same

Sure they were both human

But ones were rewarded rights

While the others watched behind “whites only” signs

Indignation and rage, how would you feel

To be kicked and punched for expressing your zeal

To be equal and free

Wanting to pursue an education

Without being rejected based on your complexion

Wishing your children a prosperous future

In a time where they couldn’t be seen

As anything but a malignant tumor?

While you feel only anger that they express what they desire

That they rise and speak out

Against the segregation with a righteous fire.

Even today they aren’t free to speak out

Silence and turmoil, feelings repressed with doubt

Taking the street in peaceful gather

Feet all falling in an orchestrated manner

Their cause igniting the anger of bigots

Whose words and actions demonstrate it

The hate and irrational fear

Only make the people and the cause adhere

There is no way to make these marches cease

You only create further evidence when you call the police

That the system is laced with bias

Designed to separate us

Silenced by batons and badges

Supposed to be protected by the latter

Never forget that “Black Lives Matter!”

 

So when color paints their skin,

And after you’ve slaughtered their kin

You call them “aliens”

And say they don’t belong---

It repeats again again again in our history

That people who are different

Are dangers to our legacy

You mistreat those who seek a home

In a vast country

They aren’t much different from the Puritans

Pilgrims and Europeans who desired religious refuge

This nation is founded on immigration

And on the blood spilled in its creation

 

So if I could change a thing about this beautiful country

It would be the belief that people who crossed the ocean

Years and years ago

Are better than those who cross the border today

I wish you could see that

The English, spanish and dutch

All wishing for gold, silver and glory to clutch

Are not better than families trekking

For miles in desert heat

For the sake of their future

If I could change anything

It’d be the belief that

People of color

Are not worth less because of the color of their skin