We Fought Back

They beat us Abused us Made us feel like we were nothing But one day, One regular day A woman decided no more. She would no longer allow herself to be belittled And forced to sit in the back Unknowing that her pure exhaustion Would cause a movement that would later change America They told us we couldn’t do Called us names like Nigger, Negro, porch monkey Instead of what we really were People… We showed we had feelings We showed we had emotions And we showed that we would fight back We marched We picketed We boycotted Instead of taking the easy racial transportation provided We walked and car pooled They hosed us down and released their dogs on us We marched We picketed We boycotted They burned our houses Killed our men We marched We spoke We made them realize That we would no longer be silenced by their oppression And their racism We fought back Proving that we would do what they said we couldn’t We fought back