[Chorus: TJ Swan]

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we're here to stay

And now we’re here to talk about it today

Today

[Verse 1: Debbie D]

The Underground Railroad I proclaim

And Harriet Tubman is my name

I was born and raised in a cotton field

Where everything for the blacks was locked and sealed

It was hard work, and no time to play

[?] what the white man wanted we'd obey

No hassling about, I'm telling y’all

We made them all feel like movie stars

Picking that cotton, singing [?]

Was not what we wantеd in this olden land

Up in the north things came to changе

And that's when the [?] blacks [?] train

I went back and forth, from the South to the North

And the North started [?] as my escort

[?] captivator

There were many folks saying "Damn, I hate her"

It makes no difference to me, understand

Because a shotgun stays in my right hand

They tried to fool me, school me [?]

Until all the black slaves got off that plot

It's rough, soft, I must admit

It won't be just us, it'll be justice

[Chorus: TJ Swan]

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we're here to stay

And now we're here to talk about it today

Today

[Verse 2: Kool G Rap]

I fight for black power [?]

It's [?] that tried to help me

I’m free even though I committed crimes

But as I did time, I brightened my mind

Then I discovered a better way

One night in ’25, 19th of May

I was aggressive, walking sharp as a knife

And I knew the price to pay was my life

Ballot or the bullet, [?]

Freedom for the righteous people, slavery dies

I bowed down in Mecca, prayed in Medina

The more I think about this, I see it get meaner

Chains all on your brains, your bloodstains

In America, [?] remains

You get schooled and fooled by the old white glory

It's not history, it’s his-story

Wind up your mind and you will find

That black is beautiful, pretty and fine

My name is Malcolm X and I'mma hold 'em and make 'em

And if you are a brother, I say As-salamu alaykum

[Chorus: TJ Swan]

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we’re here to stay

And now we're here to talk about it today

Today

[Verse 3: Glamorous]

My name is Margarita, my brother calls me Maya

The story that I'm telling is hot like fire

When we were little we lived with our grandmother

We were sent to Arkansas with my father [?]

I was three, my brother barely was four

[?] with me in her Grandma's store

We learned a lot and earned a lot

And Grandma always said "[?]"

When we were old enough, my brother and I

Moved in with our mother, Mr. Freeman [?]

What he used to do for me, it wasn't right

But my family's reaction, it wasn't polite

He knew he was wrong, so he threatened to kill

If I didn't tell a soul, everything was chill

I went silent for a while but it came out anyway

He was concicted, I had nothing to say

I went back to the South, to clear my head

And later on I found out Mr. Freeman was dead

My life in the South was like another world

Then I went back to my mom and became a California girl

Life was getting harder, went from job to job

It was like being a corn from a empty cob

Went out on my own, put a son in the world

And that's when I realized [?] girl

All the trials and tribulations that I've been through

Made me a sucessful author, to tell it to you

Judge it by the book or from what you know

Or from what you heard from Maya Angelou

Now that I've told you all these things

You should know why the caged bird sings

[Chorus: TJ Swan]

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we're here to stay

And now we're here to talk about it today

Today

[Verse 4: MC Shan]

Martin Luther King, from Atlanta, GA

Are there any objections? (Nay!)

I tried to tell the blind, the deaf, the dumb

That there will be a day we shall overcome

I said freedom and justice was around the bend

I spoke the people rights that marks all men

Have faith in me, I'm a man of trust

I was jailed for protesting the seats on the bus

On the day [?]

I said 'Til we gonna reach that mountaintop

Strive for perfection and keep your pace steady

And when the doors open, you best be ready

A good black lawyer, a good black teacher

A good black driver or a good black preacher

If you wanna take seconds, be my guest

I'll be a good black nothing, I'm gonna be the best

Try to make it better than it was in the past

Scream to the world that we're free at last!

[Chorus: TJ Swan]

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we're here to stay

And now we're here to talk about it today

On Today

We came here tonight to get started

[?] party

Came a long way, now we're here to stay

And now we're here to talk about it today

Today