This song is also available on 1Tribe Collective, Grammy Nominated album All One Tribe
"I wrote this song after the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012. 8 years later, after the killing of so many other unarmed Black men and women with the culmination being George Floyd, I took the song I wrote years ago and changed it a bit to reflect the times we are living in. I find it to be different from most of my other children's songs but I still think it's relevant as a teaching tool because we should all remember and choose to do better for humanity going forward and into the future. One thing we can do through this song is remember and speak their names. It's not only important to speak their names, but know their story. Know who they were and know how senseless their killings were. And as lesson to society to try to do better because now you know better." - Ms. Janis
Sorry it was an accident
I didn’t mean to take your life
I stood my ground
You stood your ground
But was it a crime?
I said my piece now let me be
Let me live my life
I stood my ground
You stood your ground
But I stand alive
Is that justice for you?
Is that justice for me?
Are we really free?
Are we really free?
Look at me
Look at me
See me
I’m a human being
Say their names
Say their names
What is the problem?
Why are you mad?
What are you complaining for?
This is the law of the land
That you’re living in on
We need to do our best to do the right thing
No justice no peace is in the streets
Are you listening?
CHORUS
Eric Garner,
John Crawford III,
Michael Brown,
Ezell Ford,
Dante Parker,
Michelle Cusseaux,
Laquan McDonald,
George Mann,
Tonisha Anderson,
Akai Gurley,
Tamir Rice,
Rumain Brisbon,
Jerome Reid,
Matthew Ajibade,
Frank Smart,
Natasha McKenna,
Tony Robinson,
Anthony Hill,
Maya Hall,
Philip Whitev
Eric Harris,
Walter Scott,
William Chapman II,
Alexia Christian,
Brendon Glenn,
Victor Manuel Larosa,
Jonathan Sanders,
Freddie Gray,
Joseph Mann,
Salvador Elswood,
Sandra Bland,
Albert Joseph Davis,
Darius Stewart,
Billy Ray Davis,
Samuel Dubose,
Mykal Sabbie,
Brian Keith Day,
Christian Taylor,
Troy Robinson,
Asshams Pharoah Manley,
Felix Kumi,
Keith Harrison McLeod,
Junior Prosper,
Lamontez Jones
Patterson Brown
Dominic Hutchinson,
Anthony Ashford,
Allonzo Smith,
Tyree Crawford,
India Kager,
Lavante Biggs,
Michael Lee Marshall,
Jamal Clarke,
Richard Perkins,
Nathaniel Harris Pickett,
Benni Lee Tignor,
Miguel Espinal,
Michael Noel,
Kevin Matthews,
Bettie Jones,
Quintonio Legrier,
Keith Childress JR.,
Janet Wilson,
Randy Nelson,
Antronnie Scott,
Wendell Celestine,
David Joseph,
Calin Roquemore,
Dyzhawn Perkins,
Christopher Davis,
Marco Loud,
Peter Gaines,
Torrey Robinson,
Darius Robinson,
Kevin Hicks,
Mary Truxillo,
Demarcus Semer,
Willie Tillman,
Terrill Thomas,
Sylville Smith,
Alton Sterling,
Philando Castile,
Terence Crutcher,
Paul O’Neill,
Alteria Woods,
Jordan Edwards,
Aaron Bailey,
Ronell Foster,
Stephon Clark,
Antwon Rose II,
Botham Jean,
Pamela Turner,
Dominique Clayton,
Atatiana Jefferson,
Christopher Whitfield,
Christopher McCorvey,
Eric Reason,
Michael Lorenzo Dean,
Breonna Taylor,
George Floyd
Book suggestions for this song:
Many thanks to 1 Tribe Colective for permission to display these lyrics.
©2021, 1Tribe Collective. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
