REPARATIONS
From "Civil Wrongs: The Fourth Ward Album" and "Church and State: Fractured"
Written to promote civil rights reparations in Freedmen's Town, where
historic property has been wrongfully seized and gravesites desecrated.
"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
-- Matthew 18:19-20
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." -- Matthew 5:5
When "three respectable [N]egroes" decide to settle on a plot of land,
they shall be awarded "a plot of not more than (40) forty acres of tillable ground."
-- General William Tecumseh Sherman, Special Field Order No. 15, Atlanta, January 16, 1865.
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." -- Matthew 18:19-20
they shall be awarded "a plot of not more than (40) forty acres of tillable ground."
-- General William Tecumseh Sherman, Special Field Order No. 15, Atlanta, January 16, 1865.
"Reparations"
(Free Freedmen's Town)
Can be sung to "Ringfinger" by NIN
Texas slaves got emancipated
Two years AFTER the rest were freed.
They built this town in segregation
Until their property was seized
For state-run tax-paid public housing
Where even their graves have been removed.
While they dreamed of reparations,
The opposite came true . . .
When two or three agree in Christ
God will intervene
To end all sacrifice
And set the captive free
Well, Gentiles ask the purpose
Of praying to Jesus on the Cross
If the faithful get mistreated
By evil people who are lost.
There may be divine redemption,
But that doesn't justify abuse.
If war is not the answer,
Why can't we call a truce?
What we forgive, we give to Christ
Blessed will be the meek
Wrongs will be made right
The truth will set us free
Imagine all the damages
And interest overdue
If each Freed Slave estate was paid
Forty acres and a mule
When every tribe is joined in Christ
God will bless the meek
Redeem the sacrifice
And break the chains of greed
Think of countless slaves
Who sank into the sea
Or lie in unmarked graves
Dying to be free . . .
Rant:
Free Freedmen's Town
Build it up, don't tear it down
Reclaim from the state
Reparations never paid
Instead of a mule
Demand the land to build a school
A bank where the feds
Can issue notes against the debt
To buy Freedmen's Town
To honor slaves beneath the ground
Whose graves can't be found
Demand peace and justice now
Free Freedmen's Town
Build it up, don't tear it down
Reclaim from the state
Reparations never paid
Restore civil rights
For anyone who's paid the price
Free Freedmen's Town
Demand equal justice now
Graphics by
[Fourth Ward Index]
[Reformation]
[Song for Freedmen's Town]
[Land Grab]
[Eviction]
[Civil Rap]
[Political Songs] [Democracy Denied]
[Freedmen's Town brief] [Brief History]
[Houston Progressive Webzine]
(Free Freedmen's Town)
Texas slaves got emancipated Two years AFTER the rest were freed. They built this town in segregation Until their property was seized For state-run tax-paid public housing Where even their graves have been removed. While they dreamed of reparations, The opposite came true . . .
When two or three agree in Christ God will intervene To end all sacrifice And set the captive free
Well, Gentiles ask the purpose Of praying to Jesus on the Cross If the faithful get mistreated By evil people who are lost. There may be divine redemption, But that doesn't justify abuse. If war is not the answer, Why can't we call a truce?
What we forgive, we give to Christ Blessed will be the meek Wrongs will be made right The truth will set us free
Imagine all the damages And interest overdue If each Freed Slave estate was paid Forty acres and a mule
When every tribe is joined in Christ God will bless the meek Redeem the sacrifice And break the chains of greed
Think of countless slaves Who sank into the sea Or lie in unmarked graves Dying to be free . . .
Rant: Free Freedmen's Town Build it up, don't tear it down Reclaim from the state Reparations never paid
Instead of a mule Demand the land to build a school A bank where the feds Can issue notes against the debt
To buy Freedmen's Town To honor slaves beneath the ground Whose graves can't be found Demand peace and justice now
Free Freedmen's Town Build it up, don't tear it down Reclaim from the state Reparations never paid
Restore civil rights For anyone who's paid the price Free Freedmen's Town Demand equal justice now
Graphics by
[Fourth Ward Index] [Reformation] [Song for Freedmen's Town] [Land Grab] [Eviction] [Civil Rap] [Political Songs] [Democracy Denied] [Freedmen's Town brief] [Brief History] [Houston Progressive Webzine]