Anne Braden Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Verse 1]
[Am][Spoken]
What I've realized since is that it's a very painful process but [B]it is not destruct[C]ive. It's the road to lib[Am]eration. The what [Bm]really happened in the sixties
[C]was that this country took [Am]just the first step [B]toward admit[Bm]ting that [C]it had been wrong on [Am]race, and cre[B]ativity [Bm]burst out in [C]all [Am]directions.

[Verse 2]
From [Am]the color of the faces
in [Bm]Sunday songs
To the hatred they [C]raised
all the youngsters on
[Am]Once upon a time in this [Bm]country, long ago
[C]She knew there was
something wrong
Because the [Am]song said "yellow,
red, [B]black, and white
Every [C]one precious in the path of Christ"
But what [Am]about the daughter
Of the woman [Bm]cleaning their house?
[C]Wasn't she a child they were
singin' about?
[Am]And if Jesus

[Verse 3]
loves [B]us, black
and white skin
Why [C]didn't her white mother
invite them in?
When did [Am]it become a room
for no [Bm]blacks to step [C]in?
How did she already know not
to ask the [Am]question?
Left last[C]ing impressions
At a lesson, comfort's gone
[Am]She never thought things w[Bm]ould ever change
[B]But she[C] always kne[Am]w there was
something wrong

[Verse 4]
[Am]Always [C]knew there was
somethin' [Am]wrong.[C]
[Am]She always knew [G]there
[C]was somethin' [G]wrong[Am]

[Verse 5]
[Am]
[G]Years [Am]later, she [Bm]found herself
[C]Mississippi bound to help
[Am]Stop the legalized [Bm]lynching
of [C]Mr. Willy McGee
But they couldn't [Am]stop it
So they thought that they'd [C]talk to the
governor about what'd happened
And say, "We're [Am]tired of being [Bm]used as
an ex[C]cuse to kill black [Am]men"
But the cops wouldn't let 'em [B]past
And these [C]wo men,
they struck 'em as uppity
So they [Am]hauled 'em all off to [B]jail
And they [C]called in protective custody
[Am]Then from her

[Verse 6]
cell
She [B]heard her jailers
[C]Grumblin' about "outsiders"
When she [Am]called 'em out
And said [Bm]she was from [C]the south,
they shouted,
[G]"Why is [Am]a nice,
Southern [Bm]lady makin' [C]trouble
For the governor?"
She said, "I guess I'm [Am]not
your type of [Bm]lady
And I guess I'm [C]not
your type of Southerner
But [Am]be fore you call me traito[Bm]r,
Well it's [C]plain as just to say
I was a [Am]child in Mississippi
But [B]I'm [G]ashamed [C]of it today"
She [Am]always

[Verse 7]
[C]knew there was
somethin' [Am]wrong[Bm][C]
She [Am]always [G]knew there was [C]somethin'
[G]wro[Am]ng[B][C][Am]
She always [C]knew there
was somethin' [Am]wrong[C]
She [Am]always [C]knew [G]there was [C]somethin'
[Am]wrong
([spoken] And, all of a [C]sudden,
I realized I was on [G]the other [Am]side)

[Verse 8]
Imagine the world that you're
standing within
All of your neighbors,
they're family-friends
How How would you cope facing the fact
The flesh on their hands
was tainted with sin?
She faced this every day
People she saw on a regular basis
People she loved, in several cases
People she knew were incredibly racist

[Verse 9]
It was [Am]painful,
but she [Bm]never stopped loving them
[C]Never stopped [G]callin' their names
[C]And she nev[Am]er stopped being
a [B]Southern wo[Bm]man
And she [C]never stopped
fighting for change
[Am]And she saw that her struggle was
[Bm]in the tradition of [C]ancestors
never [G]aware of her
[C]It continues[Am] today:
The [B]soul of a [Bm]Southerner[C]
[Bm]born [Am]of the other America

[Verse 10]
She [Am]always knew [C]there was
somethin' [Am]wrong[C]
[Am]She always knew [C]there was somethin'
[Am]wrong[Bm][C]
[Am]She always k[C]new there
was somethin' [Am]wrong[C]
She [Am]always [C]knew there was
somethin' [Am]wrong

[Verse 11]
[Am]
[Spoken]
What you win in the immediate battles 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 could be (????? "oooh,
[Bm][C]
[Am][B][G][C][Am][B][Bm][C]
[Am]oooo[B]h").[C] Y[Am]ou do have a choice. You don[Bm]'t have [G]to [C]be a part of the world o[Am]f the lync[B]hers. You can joi[Bm]n the o[C]the[Am]r Am[B]erica. There i[C]s an[G]other [C]America![Am]