Patty Smith Strange Messengers
I looked upon the book of lifeTracing the lines of face after faceLooking down at their naked feetBound in chains bound in chainsChains of leather chains of gold We knew it was wrong but we looked awayAnd paraded them down the colonial streetsAnd that's how they became enslaved They came across on the great ships Mothers separated from their babesHusbands stood on the auction blockBound in chains bound in chainsChains of leather chains of gold Men knew it was wrong but they looked away And led them to toil in fields of white As they turned their necks to a bitter landscape Oh the people I hear them calling Am I not a man and a brother Am I not a woman and a sister History sends us such strange messengers They come down through timeTo embrace to enrageAnd in their arms even stranger fruitAnd they swing from the trees With their vision in flames Ropes of leather ropes of goldMen knew it was wrong but they looked awayMessengers swinging from twisted ropeAs they turned their necks to a bitter landscape Oh the people I hear them calling Am I not a man and a brotherAm I not a woman and a sisterWe will be heard we will be heard
