Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
You remember what mama said,
You reap what you have sown.
We don‘t want a piece of your pie.
We wanna bake our own.
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
This land was watered with our sweat,
And paid for with our grief.
This man says he owns it.
Who's the righteous, who's the thief?
It takes time to build a nation.
The river is deep and wide.
Time to make things, time to break things,
And time is on our side.
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
You remember what mama said,
You reap what you have sown.
We don‘t want a piece of your pie.
We wanna bake our own.
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
This land was watered with our sweat,
And paid for with our grief.
This man says he owns it.
Who's the righteous, who's the thief?
It takes time to build a nation.
The river is deep and wide.
Time to make things, time to break things,
And time is on our side.
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Free the land
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Father, mother, sister and brother,
Take a stand.
inviata da Alessandro - 8/3/2010 - 13:57
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Album “A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America”, Paredon Records.
Con Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto e "Charlie" Chin.
Prodotto da Barbara Dane
“This song was written for a friend, sister Ibidun, and for a nation, the Republic of New Africa.
They say "free the land," as it captures a key concept in their struggle: land and sovereignty for blacks within the U.S. But we see this phrase as significant for all people who have worked and struggled in, and been oppressed by, this country. The land must be freed so that those who live and work on it will live in freedom. We will win! In the name of Malcolm, free the land…”
[nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album]
Diversamente da quanto può apparire dall’introduzione, questa canzone non è dedicata alla lotta dei neri sudafricani contro l’apartheid ma alla Republic of New Afrika (RNA), un movimento nato negli USA alla fine degli anni sessanta, ispirato a Malcolm X ed al radicalismo nero, che promuoveva la creazione nel sud della federazione di uno Stato indipendente per i soli afro-americani. Un progetto “auto-segregazionista”, quindi, che avrebbe dovuto realizzarsi con il risarcimento dovuto dal governo americano alla popolazione nera per tutto quello che aveva dovuto subire durante lo schiavismo e la segregazione razziale. Il movimento aveva previsto che il progetto avrebbe dovuto essere democraticamente approvato o meno nel corso di un referendum tra i neri americani, ma la consultazione non fu mai organizzata anche a causa della feroce repressione che gli attivisti dell’RNA subirono da parte dell’FBI e della polizia.