- published: 18 Jan 2012
- views: 36586
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (or "The Great March on Washington," as styled in a sound recording released after the event) was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony during the march.
The march was organized by a group of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations, under the theme "jobs, and freedom." Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 (police) to over 300,000 (leaders of the march). Observers estimated that 75–80% of the marchers were black and the rest were white and non-black minorities.
The march is widely credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965).
The march was planned and initiated by A. Philip Randolph, the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, president of the Negro American Labor Council, and vice president of the AFL-CIO. Randolph had planned a similar march in 1941. The threat of the earlier march had convinced President Roosevelt to establish the Committee on Fair Employment Practice and ban discriminatory hiring in the defense industry.
Martin Luther (help·info) (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German monk, priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Luther taught that salvation is not earned by good deeds but received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with Luther's teachings are called Lutherans.
[Intro: Man talking]
Black taxis and you had white taxis
[Speaking: Narrator]
And Montgomery, like all of the south, had intestate buses like this one and in city buses. The whites sat in the front, the blacks in back. If more whites got on, the blacks had to give up them the middle and back seats too. On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat...
[Chorus:]
With all the things that done happened to us
Shit, we still ride the back of the bus, it's so crazy
Beat down, had our hands up in cuffs
But yo we still ride the...
[Verse 1:]
We wasn't there so it's hard for us to empathize
King spoke at the march and had them energized
Sometimes I feel like a martyr but yet I'm in disguise
Tryin' to remind folks to take off they blindfolds
Even when their off though, it's tough to see the past
Wasn't really feelin' that stuff they teach in class
Imagine someone given the right to beat your ass
And you can't fight them back, all over white and black
Right now, some still feel like they might attack
If we get out of line and we made up our minds
That it's all good now, got a holiday for brothers
Got a whole lil' month celebratin' our skin color
But do I give a fuck, I be like, "Nigga what? "
I can't expect the days of old dawg, I'm tryin' to make this doe
A 40 sack, 40 cal, swear that I can make it in the hood
Nah Spike, I don't need 40 Acres nigga
[Chorus:]
With all the things that done happened to us
Shit, we still ride the back of the bus, it's so crazy
Beat down, had our hands up in cuffs
But yo we still ride the bus, y'all don't see it
I know the past doesn't matter to us
But yo we still ride the back of the bus
Who cares?
If you a hardcore rapper that's tough
Cause yo we still ride the back of the bus
[Verse 2:]
I don't really give two shits about Rosa Parks
When I gotta walk around with Iron like Tony Starks
And man I done weathered the storm like Noah's Ark
Fuck sittin' in the front, I can sit where I want
They couldn't have moved me if I was there in a chair
I ain't never been scared and right now I don't care
It don't matter to us
My dude, we still on the back of the bus
Late rent, run bad credit but I grab me a truck
With rims, cause the public transport really sucks
I always thought if I couldn't shoot baskets or dunk
That I would never have cabbage to touch
But now I'm rappin' for bucks
Eatin' healthy, coppin' carrots/karats in bunches
Big jewels, rockin' rapper that's plush
I'm an arrogant FUCK
But what goes around comes back
And I know cause my truck broke down
And I pawned my chains
Shit, I read a few books that's been on my brain
I even saw that Boycott movie
I Googled a few speeches and them shit's kinda moved me
I watched African American Live
Peeped the Michael Moore flick on how they buryin' lies
Shit
See what I'm tryin' to get across
Is that I thought that bein' aware was being soft
And knowin' all that history shit would throw me off
Cause Civil War is still goin' on
And we lost
It's been a long ride
It's been a long time for real
I've been sittin' here, writtin' this rhyme
Been a half hour, I done missed my stop
But when it's all said and done I'm gonna get my spot
I need doe, so while I'm stackin' it up
I'm right here on the back of the bus
Don't laugh
I know I'm a rapper so what
But yo I'm still on the back of the bus
I'm gettin' off here