This land is your land, this land is my land
From  California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
And saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I roamed and rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me, a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling
In the wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling
In wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
The voice come chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

We Built This Nation

These days many notable celebrities and activists have shouted this phase of the United States: “Immigrants built this nation.” There is much truth to this phrase, but it forgets the land grab from indigenous people’s and the migrants who were brought to this country without much choice, African slaves. Thanks to guns, germs, and steel, Europeans colonized the continent and used free black labor to build what would become the United States of America. That free labor set the foundation for the United States to become a superpower shortly after World War II.

Black Americans need to realize this land is our land just as much as whites, Latinos, Asians, and any other group of people who calls this country home. Hell, the first person to be killed in the American Revolutionary was a black man named Crispus Attucks. He wouldn’t be last black person to serve this nation’s Armed Forces, myself included. Black folks have made all types of contributions to American society since day one and continue to do so.

The black liberation movement in the Western hemisphere (from the Haitian revolution to the abolitionist movement to the civil rights movements to #BlackLivesMatter) has been the road map to freedom, equality, and human rights for countless people across the globe. We’ve influenced music, art, literature, culture, technology, and so much more around the world. Black history is American history. It is time to realize that we as black folks don’t need to prove our humanity and try to assimilate to some bs status of “acceptable and safe Negro” to be accepted as actual citizens of these United States.

Unfortunately, this country has had 400 years of white supremacy and anti-black bigotry ingrained into its core. So bigots, internet trolls, and Trump voters will probably always hate black folks no matter what, whether you’re the “king of Sunken Place’ Tiger Woods or as woke as Colin Kaepernick. We, as black people, need to realize that we don’t have to continually prove we’re American or that we love America to mainstream society. The sole holiday in the United States named after a person (besides Columbus Day, which many states and municipalities consider scrapping) is Dr. Martin Luther King Day. That pretty much sums it up. We are America. So black folks, “This land is your land! Happy Black History Month.