My name is Gary Tyler, Louisiana-born
Shadow of the poplar tree on fields all ripe with corn
Sixteen years I counted on the rising of the sun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Of all the Disunited States divided black and white
Louisiana taught me how to think and how to fight
Sixty of us kids aboard the number 91
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Bus was barely moving we were set upon and stopped
Watched 200 white boys throwing bottles, cans and rocks
Trapped and scared together there was nowhere we could run
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Boy outside the bus, an automatic in his hand
We heard a single shot and then we all just hit the ground
I never pulled a trigger and I never held a gun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
White boy lay there bleeding cops they searched the bus
Never found a thing to say that it was one of us
Took us down the station they were beating us for fun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Gun produced from nowhere pinned the crime on me
A lynchmob for a jury meant they’d never set me free
Thirty years in prison for a crime I haven’t done
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Waiting here the world has turned a thousand times or more
Stranded like the man who never knew they’d stopped the war
Waiting for the pardon but the pardon never comes
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home.
Shadow of the poplar tree on fields all ripe with corn
Sixteen years I counted on the rising of the sun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Of all the Disunited States divided black and white
Louisiana taught me how to think and how to fight
Sixty of us kids aboard the number 91
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Bus was barely moving we were set upon and stopped
Watched 200 white boys throwing bottles, cans and rocks
Trapped and scared together there was nowhere we could run
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Boy outside the bus, an automatic in his hand
We heard a single shot and then we all just hit the ground
I never pulled a trigger and I never held a gun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
White boy lay there bleeding cops they searched the bus
Never found a thing to say that it was one of us
Took us down the station they were beating us for fun
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Gun produced from nowhere pinned the crime on me
A lynchmob for a jury meant they’d never set me free
Thirty years in prison for a crime I haven’t done
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home
Waiting here the world has turned a thousand times or more
Stranded like the man who never knew they’d stopped the war
Waiting for the pardon but the pardon never comes
I’m just waiting for the bus to take me home.
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/1/11 - 23:31
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Album “The Boy Bands Have Won…”
Una canzone dedicata a Gary Tyler, un afroamericano che sta marcendo in prigione dal 1975 per un delitto che non ha commesso quando aveva 17 anni.
Nel 1974, nella Destrehan High School della Louisiana ci furono aspri scontri motivati dall'avversione degli studenti bianchi all'integrazione di studenti di colore nella scuola.
Un giorno, il bus della scuola che riaccompagnava alle loro case i ragazzi neri venne attaccato da una folla di bianchi inferociti. Qualcuno esplose un colpo di pistola e un ragazzino bianco di 13 anni rimase ucciso.
Il 17enne Gary Tyler fu subito individuato come l'assassino e fu condannato alla sedia elettrica (pena poi commutata in ergastolo) da una giuria di soli bianchi, in un processo con prove falsificate (la pistola ritovata era in uso alle forze dell'ordine ed il reperto in seguito fu fatto sparire...) e testimoni minacciati da polizia e KKK...
Amnesty International definisce Gary Tyler un "prigioniero politico".
Il giornalista del New York Times, Bob Herbert, nel 2007 ha ricostruito il caso e ha concluso che si trattò di una sentenza ingiusta.
http://www.freegarytyler.com/
Gray Tyler è stato infine liberato il 1 maggio 2016 dopo 41 anni di detenzione, di cui 2 passati nel braccio della morte...
(Andrea)