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CONTINUE TO MARCH LEE dom. We must make it clear in every segment of the nation that we are somebody and that we are as good as anybody else. We are coming with our woes behind us; we are coming with the memories of our suffering behind us; we are coming with the memory of lynching and the bombings behind us; for this will be our legacy for the future. These words express the feelings of the participants in the nonviolent revolution: Fleecy locks and black complexion cannot forfeit nature's claim Skin may differ-but affection Dwells in black and white the same Were I so tall as to reach the pole Or grasp the ocean at a span I must be measured by my soul The mind is the standard of man. Claude McKay caught the spirit of why we must continue to march through Mississippi, for our brothers in the North. If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot. While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs. Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us through dead! McKay had something to help us on our nonviolent march through Mississippi: O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe! Through far outnumbered, let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! We must continue the march through Mississippi, black and white together, to remove the shackles of fear that bind our very souls. We must continue to march. 261
Transcription Notes:
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Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:24:35
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Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 13:32:29