Blessed are those who struggle Oppression is worse than the grave Better to die for a noble cause than to live and die a slave Blessed are those who courted d**h Who offered their lives to give Who dared to rebel, rather than serve to die so that we might live Blessed are those who took up arms and dared to face our foes Nat Turner, Vesey, Gariel, Chinque To mention a few names we know Blessed are the memories of those who were there at the Harper's Ferry Raid Strong were their hearts, noble their cause and great was the price they paid Blessed are the voices of those who stood up and cried out, Let us be free! Dougla** and Garvey and Sojourner Truth Dubois and Drew All Blessed are the giants that we have loved and lost to the bullet's sting like Malcolm and Medgar and the Panthers who fell and Martin Luther King And blessed are the bodies of those who were hung from the limbs of the sycamore tree Who found end to their hope at the end of a rope 'cause they dared to attempt to be free Up through the years we've continued this fight our liberty to attain And though we have faced insurmountable odds yet the will to resist remains Blessed are the spirits of those who have died in the prisons all over this land who committed one sin, they stood up like men and got iced for just being a man Blessed all you who will join with us now in this struggle of life and d**h so that freedom and peace will be more than a word to the offspring that we have left