Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement

Poems by Margaret Block

Vote or Die
If You Don't Vote, Don't Cry
Justice and Jive (A History Poem of American Justice)
For My Young Black Brothers

VOTE OR DIE
(A Poem Commemorating the Voting Rights Act of 1865-1965)

Vote or die will always be my battle cry.
I cry for the slaves who are long ago gone
It wasn't for the vote but t'was freedom they longed
And they cried and sang this sad song.
Woke up this morning with my
Mind stayed on freedom
Woke up this morning with my
Mind stayed on freedom
Hallelue, Hallelue, Hallelujah
Vote or die.
Vote or die was Mary Ann Cary's battle cry
She was an attorney in D.C.
The year was 1880
She fought for the woman's right to vote
She asked Hiram Revels if you can vote, then why can't I?
Vote or die was always Mary Ann's battle cry.
Vote or die.
Vote or die was Aaron Henry's battle cry
He got in the battle early on.
He was a pharmacist and Clarksdale, Mississippi was his home,
They put him in jail and beat him up
And made him ride on the back of a garbage truck.
They tried to take away his dignity and
He told them that when he got the vote,
We will all be free.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Malcolm X's battle cry
He asked LBJ in no uncertain way which will it be
The ballot or the bullet.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Hartmon Turnbow's battle cry
He lived in Mississippi town in Holmes county
They put bullet holes through his front door
And they set his house on fire because
He said that he was going to vote in the fall
Because freedom was his desire.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Diann Nash's battle cry
She fought for rights in Nashville, Tennessee.
She went to jail all over the land
She took a lot of young people by the hand
And said if you vote, it'll set us free.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Rev. J. D. Story's battle cry.
In 1962 he took a very brave stand
And he let the world know that he wasn't a coward
But a god-fearing man
He said that "the doors of the church is (sic) open"
And he showed no fear because
The vote to him was crucial and dear.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Larry Rubin's battle cry.
He came to Mississippi because he had a dream
But they locked him up in Holly Springs.
When he went to court he took a stand
And told the Judge, if you can vote, then why not every man.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Sam Block's battle cry
When he went to Greenwood they beat him up and threw him in jail.
They told his attorney there would be no bail
He stayed in jail and stood his ground
And he turned Greenwood upside down.
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Jimmy Travis' battle cry.
While in Greenwood he got shot in the head
The Klan thought that he was dead.
They were surprised he survived and when he awoke
He said in a voice very loud
My head is bloodied but unbowed
Vote or die!
Vote or die was Arnell Ponder's battle cry
They almost killed her in the Winona jail
She told Euvester to hold her head high
Because when they got out
She would vote or die.
Vote or die was Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer's battle cry
They did her a favor when she got kicked off the land
She went to Ruleville and took her stand.
She told the world with force and pride
That she was sick and tired of being sick and tired
They beat her up in the Winona jail
When she got out she was strong but kind
And she would always sing this little light of mine.
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Vote or die!

IF YOU DON'T VOTE, DON'T CRY

If you don't vote, don't cry
We told you before to vote or die.
When things get really bad and you have to walk
Because you can't buy gas and your walk is no longer all spiffy and spry,
Well, walk on brother, because if you don't vote, don't cry.
When you go to the store and the prices have gone through the ceiling and hit the sky,
And you're walking around cussing and complaining and tell everybody
that these prices are too damn high
And you don't know what you're going to buy,
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
If you find yourself between a rock and a hard place
And you can't pay your mortgage and have to downsize to a small space
And you feel disgusted and disgraced and can't keep a tear from your eye,
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
If you get laid off from your job and things for you were already hard
And you know that they sent your job to another land
And all you can do is throw up your hands and ask God why?
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
If you get really ill and can't go to the doctor because you can't pay the bill
Not to mention buying those expensive pills,
And you feel like you're going to die,
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
If you go off to school and you complied with all the rules
But you can't get a grant or a student loan and have to pack your bags and go back home
And you're all angry and upset and tell your mama that the world is just passing you by,
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
If you lose your food stamps and section eight
And you call your worker to get it straight
And she tells you that John McCain cut your benefits and didn't say why
And you let out a heavy sigh,
Well, if you don't vote, don't cry.
We already told you to vote or die.

JUSTICE AND JIVE
(A History Poem of American Justice)

Justice wasn't in America's plan when they took away the Indian Nation's land,
Like the Arapahoe, the Apache, the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Navajo and many more.
Was it a just plan when you banished them to an isolated land
And infected them with smallpox and hives, you just knew that they wouldn't survive
These injustices can never be justified,
You call it Justice, but it's just another word for Jive.
Where was Justice when slavery abounded,
Perhaps she was helping Old Master keep Swobo's nose to the ground.
They took away his children, his culture, his language and his identity
but they could not take his dignity.
Madame Justice, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide.
You call it Justice but it's just another word for Jive.
Justice was nowhere around when all of the lynchings were going down.
The Klan strung us up and didn't try to hide
Because they knew that Justice wasn't on our side,
When Billie Holliday sang "Strange Fruit," she was singing about dead bodies hanging from a poplar tree.
She could have been singing about you or me.
She knew that justice would never preside,
You call it Justice but Billie called it Jive.
Justice comes with a dollar sign although justice is supposed to be blind.
I can't buy Justice and pay my rent. I make minimum wage with no benefits.
It seems to me that Justice is only for the rich.
If you don't have money Justice will be denied.
You call it Justice but it's just another word for Jive.
If Justice is really color blind then why are so many black and brown brothers doing time?
You lock them up on some homemade facts but that was always your plan of attack.
Langston Hughes once said that justice is a blind goddess to whom we blacks are wise,
Her bandage covers two festering sores that once perhaps were eyes.
You call it Justice but Langston called it Jive.
Madame Justice must be really tired.
She's permitting the cops to do black profiles,
they watch us and stop us for no good reason.
We feel like sitting ducks during hunting season.
It's about time for Justice to be on our side.
You call it Justice, but it's just another word for Jive.
Mr. President, if Justice was really intact, then why did you create the Patriot Act?
Your homeland security is an injustice in disguise
but Mr. Bush, unlike Justice, we're not blind. We all have eyes.
You call it justice but it's just another word for Jive.
Now Mrs. Bush, Justice had to have been deaf, mute and blind
when you helped create No Child Left Behind.
You're setting children up for a great big fall.
Mrs. Bush, an injustice to one is an injustice to all.
Justice should be on the children's side.
You call it Justice, but even the children know it's Jive.
Where was Justice when Katrina went down?
Perhaps she was hiding out with the FEMA director, that incompetent Michael Brown.
The people at the Superdome sent up a prayer in hopes that FEMA
would soon be there but Bush and Brown really didn't care.
They wished that they all had just floated away while they plotted and
lied and created an inexcusable delay, but someone once said that
Justice delayed is Justice denied.
You call it Justice, but we can all recognize Jive.

FOR MY YOUNG BLACK BROTHERS

You're going to be an outstanding Black man
If you have goals, dreams and a master plan.
Stay in school and don't go astray
You might be like Doctor Montrell Green
And become a superintendent one day.
He's a man who had goals, dreams and a master plan
And now he is an outstanding Black man.
Don't sell drugs and hang out with thugs.
A good education in your only way.
You're not all gang bangers as the media portray.
You're young, you're gifted, handsome and Black.
You're an "A" student but they will never tell that.
You have goals, dreams and a master plan
And you're going to be an outstanding Black man.
Don't dis women and call them B's and W's,
Respect all women, especially your mother;
She's a god fearing woman who always had a plan.
She's the reason why you're an outstanding young man.
Be a positive role model for all of the brothers —
Tell them to stop selling drugs and killing each other;
Tell them to trust in God and love one another
Because you all are beautiful Black brothers.
To my middle class brothers,
Since you all are Black,
Why do you dis them because you think
That they came from the wrong side of the track?
I told you once that they're young,
They're gifted, they're handsome and Black.
So excuse them while they pat themselves on the back.
Society's plan is for you to fail
So you can end up in somebody's jail.
Well, you don't like orange jumpsuits
Or overcrowded cells.
You're an achiever and you're going to do well.
So tell them to excuse you while you mess up their plans,
Because you're going to be an outstanding Black man.

Society will put you on hold and tell you to wait,
But you've got to be like Job and stand on your faith,
Because God has the master plan
And you're going to be an outstanding Black man.