Chained Yet a Hero

Chained Yet a Hero

Africa a pride of many
Africa the heart of many
Vibrant voices I hear
Mother Nature's sound, a repetitive beauty
Like thunder Mother Nature understands her people
She fends for them as well as giving them life
She dispenses such life from her belly the beautiful land, our Africa
With all her beauty, mother Africa
Cries a cry, yet no one see her tears
She hurts inside, for her sons and daughters, she was robbed of
Many years ago a sin was committed yet no one judged
A crime was committed no one was sentenced
While deep in thought, who can justify
Who can redeem the shame of a poor African man?
Who can bring justice for this man?
This man standing in the doorway of undefined justice
Justice turns violent to an African man
Forced out of his land, shuttled and chained
Put in a cage like an animal here
This man sings
He sings a song in a ship that took him away from his wife
The ship that took him away from his son
This song he sings chained but yet a hero

It is an unusual song to many but he still sings
It is an unusual song to many but still appealing
It is an unusual song appealing for freedom
So unusual of a song appealing for justice, calling why
What crime did a black man commit to make him suffer?
A crime that has today seen a black man lose his identity
Chained on that ship he sings oh Mother Africa do you hear my call?
A call for social change, a call for total emancipation
This is a song sung in bitterness
Chained yet a hero

Sited in Africa, this man enjoying his hunting life
One man in Europe and America building a ship
Not only a ship but a prisoner ship
Who were the prisoners? Where were they?
What crime did they commit?
Perhaps the colour of their skin
Was it to be Africa, why not Asia?
Unaware one day a man went to hunt to fend for his family
He never returned home
What had happened to one woman's husband?
Worry lies with the family
Worry lies with the wife
Has he been killed by wild animals?
Perhaps hunting took him far away from home
Maybe tomorrow at noon he will come
Boil the water he might be home with game
You did not see him home yesterday
You will not see him home tomorrow
Neither will you see him home another day
He has been taken captive and a prisoner
What crime did this man commit?
Who was the judge to pass a sentence on him?
A sentence so harsh of high contamination
Today questions linger, questions trigger
Trigger an answer which no one has
What crime did a black man commit to be enslaved?
Would someone join him in singing a song?
A song he sings a song for freedom
He sings a song he dedicates to his wife
A song of hope and courage
It is a song of redemption
Chained yet a hero

It all began in Massachusetts
Seventeenth century 1637 long before the holocaust
Imprisonment of an African planned
Planned with him in mind without him in permission
Build me a ship; bring me an African they said
Ship me a Negro; ship me labour
5 million Jews shock the world
Somebody wake me up if historians start to record about slavery
For I do, I Kunta Kinte want to record my history
5 million Jews a big number I hear
Though an African my master taught me to read
In counting as history unfolds, I'm far asleep dreaming
100 million black men in chains died in the middle of nowhere
Dying for a course no one sought
They died as prisoners/slaves
A man lost his dignity
A woman lost her home
A child lost a father, for what reason?
Tell me for what reason for the robbery?
One man counting their loss
Another created an auction for people
Is it human or inhuman?
Inhumanity stripped a man of his dignity
Humanity infringed for a woman in her home
Inhumanity forced a child to grow without a father
On his way to Massachusetts this men charged with a crime
Charged with a crime without a judge
He sings a song that you and I hear today
He sings a song that was heard yesterday
He sings a song that will be sang tomorrow
A song freedom one day
This is a song of liberty
A song for total emancipation
A song so vibrant chained yet a hero