Second-Class Citizen Lyrics

Second-class always in the shadow

Living life in a world that we can't follow

History's written but not in our voice

Fighting for freedom was it ever a choice?

1900 "Here's your property and pay "

But your worth is still defined by what the men say

1910 they said "Fine wear the pants "

But equality's a dream we never had a chance

1920 white women get to vote

But black women? Still left to float

We fought and bled demanding more

A hundred years still keeping score

Second-class citizens shadows in the sun

Fighting battles but the war's never won

They gave us scraps told us to wait

But freedom's a dream they regulate

Second-class citizens always left behind

Picking up the pieces of a fractured mind

1963 they promised equal pay

But the gap still grows larger every day

1965 black women's votes secured

Decades too late their pain endured

1969 finally free to say

"I want a divorce I'm walking away "

1972 birth control's in hand

Still treated like it's contraband

1974 we could buy our own land

1988 own a business make a stand

1994 the law said "You can fight "

Against abuse but only in the light

It's anger it's fire it's the weight of years

A history of struggle soaked in tears

Second-class citizens shadows in the sun

Fighting battles but the war's never won

They gave us scraps told us to wait

But freedom's a dream they regulate

Second-class citizens always left behind

Picking up the pieces of a fractured mind

They call it progress but we see the truth

A system built to suppress from our youth

Every step forward a chain pulled back

The fight for equality's an unending track

Modern-day voices still echo the pain

Our rights aren't gifts they're earned in the rain

We scream we rise we demand our place

In a world that's denied us a fair embrace

Second-class citizens shadows in the sun

Fighting battles but the war's never won

They gave us scraps told us to wait

But freedom's a dream they regulate

Second-class citizens always left behind

Picking up the pieces of a fractured mind

We're not done we're not through

This fight's for me this fight's for you

Second-class no more we're taking the stage

Centuries of fury let loose the rage