Wade in the Water (traditional)
Sympathy, Paul Lawrence Dunbar
America, Claude McKay
If We Must Die, Claude McKay
Advertisement for the Waldorf Astoria, Langston Hughes
When I Think About Myself, Maya Angelou
Let America Be America Again, Langston Hughes
Everyone Eats When They Come to My House, Cab Calloway
Bob Marley, Redemption Song
Still I Rise, Maya Angelou

* * *

On the Pulse of the Morning, Maya Angelou
Wonderful World (Don’t Know Much About History), Sam Cooke

 
 


Wade In the Water
Author Unknown
One Traditional Version

If you don’t believe I’ve been redeemed
God’s gonna trouble the water
I want to follow him on down to Jordan stream
My God’s gonna trouble the water
You know chilly water is dark and cold
God’s gonna trouble the water
You know it chills my body but not my soul
God’s gonna trouble the water

(Come on let’s) wade in the water
Wade in the water (children)
Wade in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water

Now if you should get there before I do
God’s gonna trouble the water
Tell all my friends that I’m comin’ too
God’s gonna trouble the water
Sometimes I’m up lord and sometimes I’m down
God’s gonna trouble the water
Sometimes I’m level to the ground
God’s gonna trouble the water
(I Know) God’s gonna trouble the water
Wade in the water (children)
Wade out in the water (children)
God’s gonna trouble the water

 
 

Sympathy
by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals–
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting–
I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,–
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings–
I know why the caged bird sings!

 
 

America
by Claude McKay

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

If We Must Die
by Claude McKay

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

Advertisement for the Waldorf Astoria
by Langston Hughes

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

When I think About Myself
by Maya Angelou

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

Everyone Eats When They Come to My House
by Cab Calloway

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

Redemption Song
by Bob Marley

You should get the text from another source.

 
 

Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou

You should get the text from another source.