Great Heroes

And how is it that the American negro
Who for so long has been a second-class citizen in the United States
How is it that he contributed so much to the American culture?
Well

I would say that unquestionably, I am an American
Born there, and my father slaved there
Upon the backs of my people was developed the primary wealth of America

Just put it another way
We wanna be full citizens
First class not second class

We are of one mind on this
We want our freedom
We want our freedom

The Africans and the American negro
Have turned out to be an extraordinary-gifted people
Great heroes

Just like the Scottish-American is proud of being from Scotland
I'm proud of being African
And in our schoolbooks, they try to tell me that "All Africans were savages"
'Til I got demoted and found mostly Africans aren't even allowed to Oxford and Kings
Which you know very well

And uh, and learn their culture
They're heroes of our people
So I would say today
That I am an American who is infinitely prouder to be of African descent
No question about it
I am an African-American
And I don't need to hear Americans ever loosely again