I value your input, Azizi, please keep on keeping on. You helped me clarify what I didn't like about the song. It is oppressive. The picture it paints of African Americans is actually of a person, a people damaged by their circumstances.

I cannot imagine a circumstance where I would sing it at a folksong gathering or song circle.

However, as a song that my mother loved, it helps me to understand her and her world view, and I am not sorry that we did it at her Celebration/memorial. There it helped me accept her and see how we are different.

Blessings,
Barbara