Black Woman Black Woman Light me up Troubled long You trod one of life's roughest roads You got the heaviest load
To be someone To belong Too near mile and a half furlong Don't give up now Just pray for strength now For you I dedicate my song
We had forsaked once(?) In the plantation Lashes to our skin On auction blocks we were chained and sold Handled merchandise Highly abused and used for refuse (?) And thrown in garbage bins But no need for that now Free us, stand on back now And help me to sing my song
When you're fighting stand up for the right thing And not that which is wrong I heard Rachel mourning for her children When Herod and Pharaoh took their little heads But just like Mary and Joseph Mother of Moses too Overcame its evil devices I dedicate my song for you
Black woman Black woman I know you've struggled long I feel your afflictions To you I dedicate my song