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Second daughter’s second day on earth Lyrics by Jacqueline Woodson

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My birth certificate says: Female Negro
Mother: Mary Anne Irby, 22, Negro
Father: Jack Austin Woodson, 25, Negro
In Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. is planning a march on Washington, where
John F. Kennedy is president.
In Harlem, Malcolm X is standing on a soapbox talking about a revolution.
Outside the window of University Hospital, snow is slowly falling. So much already covers this vast Ohio ground.
In Montgomery, only seven years have passed
since Rosa Parks refused
to give up
her seat on a city bus.
I am born brown-skinned, black-haired, and wide-eyed. I am born Negro here and Colored there
and somewhere else,
the Freedom Singers have linked arms,
their protests rising into song:
Deep in my heart, I do believe
that we shall overcome someday.
and somewhere else, James Baldwin
is writing about injustice, each novel,
each essay changing the world.
I do not yet know who I'll be
what I'll say
how I'll say it...
Not even three years have passed since a brown girl
named Ruby Bridges
walked into an all-white school.
Armed guards surrounded her while hundreds
of white people spat and called her names.
She was six years old.
I do not know if I'll be strong like Ruby.
I do not know what the world will look like when I am finally able to walk, speak, write...
Another Buckeye!
the nurse says to my mother.
Already, I am being named for this place.
Ohio. The Buckeye State.
My fingers curl into fists, automatically
This is the way, my mother said,
of every baby's hand.
I do not know if these hands will become
Malcolm's-- raised and fisted
or Martin's-- open and asking
or James's-- curled around a pen.
I do not know if these hands will be
Rosa's
or Ruby's
gently gloved
and fiercely folded
calmly in a lap,
on a desk,
around a book,
ready
to change the world...
Credits
Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson

About “Second daughter’s second day on earth” by Jacqueline Woodson

Read the complete lyrics to "Second daughter’s second day on earth" by Jacqueline Woodson. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, Literature.

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"Second daughter’s second day on earth" is credited to Jacqueline Woodson. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

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