Anne Braden - Flobots

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!