I Won’t Stop Walking Until My Soul Says So

Walking this dusty trail step by step and I’m tired but I won’t stop walking until my soul says so. My feet are blistered, my spirit weary, but I won’t stop walking until my soul says so. When they shackled me from head to toe, I was angry, but I didn’t stop. When they ripped my baby from my bosom and threw her into the depths of the ocean, I shed a tear, but I didn’t stop. When they forced me to labor on land that wasn’t mine for no pay, I broke my back, but I didn’t stop. When the one called master came to me in the night and took what wasn’t his, I cried out, but I didn’t stop. When I was no longer considered chattel but neither was I called human, it hurt my pride but I didn’t stop. When all around me fires blazed and my people hung from every tree, I wept, but I didn’t stop. When “whites only” signs became apart of my everyday, pieces of me died, but I didn’t stop. When I raised little white children into adulthood and they came of age and called me nigger, I was outraged, but I didn’t stop. When my people raised their fists to black power, I saluted, but I didn’t stop. When prejudice took the lives of so many men and women who just wanted to be equal, I mourned, but I didn’t stop. When organized racism was no longer publically acceptable, I was happy to see the day, but I didn’t stop. I will walk because I am still not free. I will walk because my intelligence does not outshine the color of my skin. I will walk because my babies need a better future than the one that this world has in store for them. My feet are blistered, my spirit weary, but I will continue to walk until my soul says so.