Mother Earth Gives Birth To Aminata

(A Tribute To Abbey Lincoln )

Jena, Louisiana Goddamn

(This is a tribute to the heroism and bravery of Dr. Nina Simone, and to the Africans in America for whom she fought in song.)

Louisiana’s got me so upset
Katrina had me losing rest
Now, everybody knows about
Jena Six, goddamn.

Don’t you see it?
Don’t you smell it?
The stench is still in the air
The pressure’s getting stronger
Are we still in prayer?

Louisiana’s got me so upset
Katrina had me losing rest
Now everybody knows about
Jena Six, goddamn.

(The original song was a show tune by Nina Simone. But the poem was written since before 1492.)

Hounding DA on the trail
School children STILL sittin in jail
Mirrors breakin everyday
Seven more years won’t change a thing.

Ain’t no mercy on this land
Time’s running out on the evil man
Racism in the north
Racism in the south
Where are the prayers in the people’s mouths?

You don’t tell me!
I’ll tell you
My people and me are long over due
I’m not that young, I’ve been around
Everybody’s saying “it’s over now.”

But that’s the trouble
“it ain’t over”
Nooses on campus
“it ain’t over”
41 bullets
“it ain’t over”
You need to get over
“it ain’t over”
Pimpin and Ho-in’
“it ain’t over”
On the plantation
“it ain’t over”
Where are we going?
What are we doing?
Don’t you know???

“This is not a black/white issue
This is an American issue.”
And everybody knows about
Jena Six, goddamn.

(We wish you were kidding, Nina)

Wear all black
Get on the bus
They don’t know what to make of us
But all we want is humanity
For you and you and you and me.

We’ve been lied to all these years
Told to work hard and dry our tears
And erase the Geechie from our tongue
And we’ll have respect from everyone.

And the whole world knows this country lies.
Treatin its people like maggots and flies
You want me to forgo my history
You keep saying ‘forget slavery.’

But that’s just the trouble
“it ain’t over”
Racist court system
“it ain’t over”
Supremist mentality
“it ain’t over”
Police brutality
“it ain’t over”
We can’t find the quality
“it ain’t over”
That’s inequality!
“it ain’t over”
You pretend not to see it
You don’t want to feel it
But we know . . .
We know . . .

You don’t have to acknowledge me
me and my people be
Everybody knows about New Orleans
Everybody knows about West Virginia
Everybody knows about Kanye West
Everybody knows about Connie Rice
Everybody knows about The Bush Regime
Everybody knows about Amadou Diallo
Everybody knows Al Sharpton
Everybody knows about Jena, Louisiana
Goddamn
Goddamn!