Wattstax Page #2

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It is a day of black awareness,

It is a day of black people taking care

of black people's business,

Today we are together,

We are unified and on one accord,

'Cause when we are together,

we've got power...

and we can make decisions,

Today, on this program

you will hear gospel...

and rhythm and blues, and jazz,

All those are just labels,

We know that music is music,

All of our people got a soul,

Our experience determines the texture...

the taste, and the sound of our soul,

We say that we may be in the slum...

but the slum is not in us,

We may be in prison...

but the prison is not in us,

In Watts, we have shifted from, ;

"Burn, baby, burn,

"to "Learn, baby, learn, "

We have shifted from having a seizure...

about what the man got...

to seizing what we need,

We have shifted from bedbugs

and dog ticks...

to community control and politics,

That is why we gather today...

to celebrate our homecoming...

and our own sense of somebody-ness,

That is why I challenge you now

to stand together...

raise your fists together...

and engage in our national black litany,

Do it with courage and determination,

I am...

somebody!

I am...

somebody!

I may be poor...

but I am...

somebody!

I may be on welfare...

but I am...

somebody!

I may be unskilled...

but I am...

somebody!

I am...

black...

beautiful...

proud!

I must be respected!

I must be protected!

- What time is it?

- Nation time!

- When we stand together, what time is it?

- Nation time!

When we say no more, "Yessuh, boss,"

what time is it?

- Nation time!

- What time is it?

Sister Kim Weston,

the black national anthem,

Won't you sing it with me, everybody?

We've got some difficult days ahead...

but it really doesn't matter with me now,

Because I've been to the mountaintop...

and I don't mind,

Like anybody, I would like to live...

a long life, Longevity has its place...

but I'm not concerned about that now,

I just want to do God's will,

And he's allowed me

to go up to the mountain...

and I've looked over...

and I've seen the promised land,

I may not get there with you...

but I want you to know tonight...

that we as a people

will get to the promised land,

So I'm happy tonight,

I'm not worried about anything,

I'm not fearing any man,

Mine eyes have seen the glory

of the coming of the Lord!

I remember, we used to go to

a movie house.

It wasn't a church, you know?

It was a movie house.

And the thing... It used to bug me, man,

'cause it was like...

every place else

you went to something like a church.

But in a black neighborhood, man,

you had to go to a movie house.

But when you got in the movie house,

man, it was bad.

I mean, the people got down.

I remember going in there, man...

and I used to go to a Catholic church,

and I went to a Methodist church...

I went to all them other churches, man,

but then I went to this black church...

in Oakland. And we went up...

I went up, and I saw tambourines

and trombones...

and drums, and I said, "This is church?"

I don't understand this, man.

And the people... The preacher got up

and started talking about God...

and I was listening, and I said:

"I never heard anybody talk about God

like this before."

This cat started talking

about God and what God did.

And then he got this band

going behind him, man...

and the band started getting into it, man,

and the cats was playing, and sh*t.

And I said, "Goddamn!"

And I started feeling good.

I'm reminded of the two thieves...

nailed beside him,

I believe one of the thieves said, ;

"If thou be the Christ...

"why don't you save thyself and us?"

And the other said, ;

"Lord...

"remember me," The Lord said, ;

"This day...

"thou shall be with me...

"in paradise,"

I remember he and his 12...

on a ship sailing afar,

when all of a sudden...

the sky was filled with darkness...

the sea was raging...

the lightning flashed, the thunder roared!

The ship was rocking back and forth,

they were so afraid...

so afraid,

And I believe I heard a voice...

I believe I hear this voice now,

I believe I hear a voice crying out now...

I believe I hear this voice crying...

saying...,

When I hear the choir sing like

Amazing Grace, I start thinking about...

when my great-grandmother died.

She died of cancer.

I was young, but...

the music, it just sets a thing.

You get a thing inside.

Every time I hear that song,

Amazing Grace...

I start thinking about that.

And when they really get to going,

really get to jam...

I used to dig that,

because I'd be right up there with them.

And my people right here

would jump up and get happy.

I'd be wanting to jump up

and get happy, too.

And then the building beats up, boy,

and they get to jumping and shouting...

sh*t, boy, they'd be getting down,

boy, let me tell you.

And that comes from being black.

And now we're going to bring back

Stax's Golden 13,

Let everybody say yeah!

I love that gospel.

I know gospel better than I know...

God damn me, blues,

because the white man wrote my Bible...

and the thing that most black people

try to live by.

You know, I used to go to church and sh*t,

like I was saying...

but black people know God personally.

Any wino you meet know God...

right? Or Jesus, at least, right?

"Jesus Christ? Sh*t, man, he live

over there, in the project!

"Sh*t, tell me. I know peoples.

"I study peoples.

"See, I used to be in the FBI.

"I'm the first colored person

ever in the Bureau.

"J. Edgar Hoover appointed me

personally, posthumous.

"That's right. He wanted somebody

on the railroad to guard the Mexicans.

"See, 'cause nobody in the Bureau

at that time could speak Mexican talk.

"See, I spoke to them. They'd be..."

I'd say, "What you say, motherf***er?

"They'd tell me."

Well, listen, we all know

what we're here for,

We really want you to have a great time,

We're here to commemorate

a revolution...

that started the movement...

and was one of the milestones

in black pride,

Some folks may find it a little strange

that we laugh...

we sing, and we joke...

but we're doing our thing

the black way to commemorate,

And now, one of the most popular groups

in the nation...

The Staple Singers!

I think that there's more awareness of...

There's more search for awareness

with black people...

as to where we are

and what has happened to us...

and what we're going to do with it.

I dig the natural.

I think the natural

is a beautiful way of wearing your hair...

for all black people.

When I get up in the morning, I'm natural.

And that's the way my hair is all day long.

Kids is what make me feel so good.

You see, you're looking at the glory

that's coming up into the future of life.

The younger youth

is what's gonna make everything...

to keep going

after I done passed down the hill.

Young, gifted, and black.

I be a Democrat every now and then.

I be a Muslim, I be a Panther.

But I'm always being black.

I'm not prejudiced, because

some of my best friends are colored...

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