Where are the men of cloth today

who in the past encouraged

all to unify and peacefully pray

there is no man comparable to King

whose virtuous ideals were all he had to bring

who spoke of love

sang we shall overcome

afraid those days are now long gone

where are the freedom fighters of those bygone days

who joined arm in arm and in solidarity made

their way across the Selma bridge facing bigotry and hate

now bridges crumble, and in their wake

are those who would only destroy and take

oh what a difference does a generation make

those in the day had no bars nor bombs to aim

they struck no fiery torches to inflame

they only had each other and in God's name

they woke the nation's conscience

stirred us toward change

now all we have is hate and ugly speech

the wicked talk of some devil's spoor

and no one dares to mention Reverend King anymore

whose words toward the mountaintop soared

now glass is broken and barriers breached

as stores are vandalized and burned,

grandmothers weep and

they say the mountain top is too hard to reach

our racial division runs too deep

as blood spills out upon the littered streets

such victories are short and sweet

our same mistakes repeat repeat

it is our country, is it ours to keep?