Anne Braden

What Ive realized since is

That it is a very painful process

But it is not destructive

It?s the world deliberation

That what really happened in the '60s

Was that this country took just the first step

Toward admittin? that it had been wrong on race

And creativity burst out in all directions

From the color of the faces in Sunday songs

To the hatred they raised all the youngsters on

Once upon a time in this country, long ago

She knew there was somethin? wrong

Because the song said yellow, red, black, and white

Everyone precious in the path of Christ

But what about the daughter of the woman cleanin? their house

Wasn?t she a child they were singin? 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 lastin? impressions

Adolescence?s comforts gone

She never thought things would ever change

But she always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

Years later she found herself Mississippi bound

To help stop the legalized lynchin? 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

?Were tired of bein? 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 grumblin? about outsiders

When she called him out and said she was from the South

They shouted, ?Why is a nice Southern lady

Makin? 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 plainest just to say

I was a child in Mississippi but I'm ashamed of it today?

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

And all of a sudden I realized that I was on the other side

Imagine the world that you?re standin? within

All of your neighbors and family friends

How would you cope facin? the fact

The flesh on their hands was tainted with sin?

She faced this every day

In 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 lovin? them

Never stopped callin? their names

And she never stopped bein? a Southern woman

And she never stopped fightin? 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 somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? wrong

She always knew there was somethin? 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 buildin?

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 an other America