Our Constitution said all are equal;
Ommiting slaves of African descent.
Blest Christians lashed these black people;
Slitting bloody flesh—too religious to repent.

Those screaming muscled backs of agony—

Criss-crossed with rivulets bloody red;

Began to weaken a country’s conscience—

How long can a nation’s ethics lie dead?

An outspoken Rosa rode her bus to freedom

While her collective peoples erupted.

Not because they had learned some great lesson;

Lo,

The diseased heart of a nation laid naked.

Whence comes the day when all shall be equal;

Must America waft on without course?

Or will those who have always been beaten,

Show us how without hate or recourse?