Stranger In This Land - Joy Denalane

[00:13.56]I was the daughter
[00:14.95]
[00:19.30]Of a little known king
[00:22.16]
[00:22.71]When they came
[00:24.18]And put me in a castle
[00:25.72]
[00:28.54]My eyes had never seen
[00:31.77]
[00:33.03]They spoke in tongues
[00:34.23]I've never heard
[00:35.44]
[00:36.48]They took me to the sea
[00:38.58]
[00:39.10]At the edge of the earth
[00:44.40]I journied tempest waters
[00:46.50]
[00:47.49]Reached these distant shores
[00:49.49]My clothes are tattered
[00:51.32]
[00:52.40]And my soul is worn
[00:53.97]
[00:54.74]I bore a daughter
[00:56.46]In captivity
[00:57.32]
[00:59.17]They came late one night
[01:01.22]To take her away from me
[01:02.86]
[01:05.80]I cried and I cried
[01:07.96]
[01:08.47]Oh, Lord have mercy on me
[01:10.15]
[01:11.22]Can't they see
[01:13.01]That little girl
[01:13.75]Is royalty
[01:14.70]I held my ground
[01:18.13]And took my stand
[01:20.47]Can't help
[01:22.08]Feeling sometimes
[01:24.27]
[01:25.27]That I'm a stranger
[01:27.84]
[01:29.35]In this land
[01:30.66]In this land of mine
[01:34.29]
[01:38.43]My mother used
[01:39.80]To cook and clean
[01:41.36]
[01:42.99]For the rich folks
[01:44.46]On the hill
[01:46.03]
[01:48.01]Made sure
[01:48.74]I got an education
[01:50.10]
[01:53.42]And could hardly
[01:54.27]Pay the bills
[01:55.51]
[01:57.07]I studied
[01:58.67]Schools of thought
[02:02.84]And philosophies of man
[02:05.13]Started questioning
[02:06.27]The contradictions
[02:07.07]In this land
[02:09.40]I left the classroom
[02:10.91]
[02:11.43]Joined the rallies
[02:12.74]In the street
[02:13.48]
[02:14.90]Marching hand in hand
[02:16.34]
[02:16.95]In the Mississippi heat
[02:19.65]I spent so many years
[02:21.85]Of my life on the move
[02:23.70]
[02:25.41]That confrontation
[02:25.91]Was the only thing i knew
[02:29.24]
[02:30.75]Talking unity and how
[02:32.53]We gone push on through
[02:33.80]
[02:34.61]Can't even say no more
[02:37.79]
[02:38.52]If anything's improved
[02:40.03]
[03:25.93]I'm a family man
[03:27.39]
[03:27.99]With a wife
[03:28.67]
[03:29.94]And two kids to feed
[03:31.92]
[03:34.82]I dedicated my life
[03:37.30]
[03:40.40]To seeing we succeed
[03:42.40]
[03:44.62]The way I sought to make it
[03:46.83]
[03:47.35]I learned to follow the rules
[03:49.14]
[03:50.67]So we can make sure
[03:52.14]Our children visit
[03:53.72]The finest schools
[03:55.66]Grandmas on the weekends
[03:58.21]Going on about the good old days
[03:59.88]
[04:01.59]When decent black folks
[04:02.70]
[04:04.18]Be trying to make a change
[04:06.00]My parents used to tell me
[04:07.90]
[04:08.52]To live my life steadfast
[04:10.17]
[04:11.13]But some may ask me
[04:13.70]What it is that I have