Blackberries - Thelma Houston

Fresh from the bush

The good ship Jesus carried them over the sea

Tender and ripe

And so good for business

Blackberries

An old saying has long been in use

‘The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice'

But the berry’s grown bitter from too much abuse

And the new berries are strange

Sold in the southern marketplaces

Planted in white cotton fields

Taught with the lash

To stay in their places

Blackberries

Oh, women were raped

And rapists were paid

$ 25 per child

This is the way the heathens were saved

It kept them from growing up wild

And then came a war and promises of

40 acres and a mule

But sharecropping was a general rule for

Blackberries

High distance honey hot house ghettos

Ready, ready to burst into flame

Handle with gloves

To make them more mellow

Blackberries

And shipped off to war

They don’t expect more

Than they have gotten before

Used a the tools of those who would rule

Others on far away shores

But a long time ago

A constitution was written to make all people free

Well, it’s time for beginning revolution

Blackberries

An old saying has long been in use

‘The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice'

But the berry’s grown bitter from too much abuse

And the new berries are strange