We Stood Up Teaser
We Stood Up, a CD for kids, celebrates freedom and opportunity through stories, songs, and poems from Civil Rights icons and others.
LOVE
This song was inspired by the interview with John Lewis. In the interview John Lewis explained that the way of love is a much better way.
Love
I’m gonna take that anger and Write it down
March into town
Can you hear the sound? I’m gonna take that anger and Turn it around
And turn it into love
I’m gonna take that doubt and Write it down
March into town
Can you hear the sound? I’m gonna take that doubt and Turn it around
And turn it into love
Love, love, love, love Turn it all into love Love, love, love, love Turn it all into love
I’m gonna take that mistreatment and Write it down
March into town
Can you hear the sound?
I’m gonna take that mistreatment and Turn it around
And turn it into love
I’m gonna take that fear and Write it down
March into town
Can you hear the sound? I’m gonna take that fear and Turn it around
And turn it into love
Love, love, love, love Turn it all into love Love, love, love, love Turn it all into love
WE STOOD UP
She sat down and she sat down. She sat! A 1955 December day
Rosa Parks worked hard for her pay
She waited for the bus, at last she say She’d pay her fare and be on her way Sister Rosa was tired, had aching feet
So she went to sit down in the closest seat The bus driver said, “You can’t sit down. I’m going to have to bring the policeman around.”
They asked her to move and she said, “No!” So they took her to jail, and we said, “Wo!” No more blacks are gonna ride the bus until there are seats for all of us
She sat down
We stood up
She sat down
We stood up
She sat down
We stood up
We stood up, we stood up, we stood up
Let it be known by standing on your feet
Greensboro Woolworth five-and-dime
Lunch counter segregated at the time.
David, Franklin, Joe, Ezell
Agro-tech students that were keeping it real They sat at the counter but were asked to leave What happened next you would not believe The next day 20, the third day 60
Three hundred sitting in this southern city They sat at the counter in civil protest
Five months later their cause was addressed The lunch counter was desegregated
The Greensboro Four were celebrated
They sat down
We stood up
They sat down
We stood up
They sat down
We stood up
We stood up, we stood up, we stood up
We changed the course of civil rights
We stood up...for liberty We stood up...for peace We stood up...for justice We stood up...for creativity We stood up...for love
We stood up...for acceptance We stood up...for fairness We stood up...for equality We stood up...for humanity We stood up...for kindness
We stood up
They sat down
We stood up
They sat down
We stood up
They sat down
We stood up
We stood up, we stood up, we stood up
Freedom Opportunity Equality
Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality
In eighteen hundred and sixty-three Lincoln changed the course of history The Emancipation Proclamation Words that inspired a nation
The 13th Amendment set the slaves free With the promise of equality
The promise of America’s civil rights It’s not just a question of black or white
Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality
The words written down
At the birth of a nation
In an independent declaration Check it out
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Some were free, some were left behind
It was just a matter of time
For the red, white and blue
To have freedom, opportunity for me and you
Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality
Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality Freedom, opportunity, equality
Education
My name is London and I want to be a teacher My name is Zachary and I want to be a police officer
My name is Dana and I want to be a nurse
My name is Leo and I want to be a singer, actor and dancer
Well that’s great!
You know to be all the things you want to be, you’ve got to stay in school and get a really good
Education
If there’s something you want to do If you think you can’t make it through If there’s a problem you just can’t fix Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new
During those days I just wanted to be able to walk to the library and check out some books I tried to read everything
I had a teacher at an all-black school who was a wonderful teacher
She said read my child, read my child, read
If there’s something you want to do Education
If you think you can’t make it through
Education
If there’s a problem, a problem you just can’t fix Education
Ask a teacher, read a book or two
You might learn something new
And I learned early in my career that if you surround yourself with people who are smarter than you
You will have great opportunity
I’m an educator, I’m a teacher
I was able to open opportunities for people who didn’t have them
To get them to look at their potential
And that takes hard work, it takes persistence
If there’s something you want to do Education
If you think you can’t make it through Education
If there’s a problem you just can’t fix Education
Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new
Education
My name is London and I want to be a teacher My name is Zachary and I want to be a police officer
My name is Dana and I want to be a nurse
My name is Leo and I want to be a singer, actor and dancer
Well that’s great!
You know to be all the things you want to be, you’ve got to stay in school and get a really good
Education
If there’s something you want to do If you think you can’t make it through If there’s a problem you just can’t fix Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new
During those days I just wanted to be able to walk to the library and check out some books I tried to read everything
I had a teacher at an all-black school who was a wonderful teacher
She said read my child, read my child, read
If there’s something you want to do Education
If you think you can’t make it through
Education
If there’s a problem, a problem you just can’t fix Education
Ask a teacher, read a book or two
You might learn something new
And I learned early in my career that if you surround yourself with people who are smarter than you
You will have great opportunity
I’m an educator, I’m a teacher
I was able to open opportunities for people who didn’t have them
To get them to look at their potential
And that takes hard work, it takes persistence
If there’s something you want to do Education
If you think you can’t make it through Education
If there’s a problem you just can’t fix Education
Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new Ask a teacher, read a book or two You might learn something new