10 years ago, black men at the Million Man March made pledges to us, the black women. Have they kept that pledge? Further, have we understood as black women that we have an obligation to good, honest and forthright black men? By Maya Angelou The night has been long
The wounds have been deep
The pit has been dark
The walls have been steep
Beneath a blue sky
On a golden beach
I was dragged by braids
Beyond your reach
Your hands were tied
Your feet were bound
You couldn't save me
From the selling ground We lay in the slave hold
Air thickened with cries
You lowered your head
Evading my eyes The night has been long
The wounds have been deep
The pit has been dark
The walls have been steep We stood on the block
Clothed only in shame
Then someone whispered
That we were to blame If our skin had been pale
And our hair had been straight
We would have escaped
Our devilish fate Our lives have been shaped
By that crippling lie
Yet, you were not guilty
And neither was I The night has been long
The wounds have been deep
The pit has been dark
The walls have been steep Today we declare
This is a guilt free season
Greed was the culprit
Greed was the reason
Voices of old, spirit sound
Speak to us in words profound
Across the years and centuries
Across the oceans and rolling seas
"Draw near to each other
Value your race
You were paid for dearly
In another place.
The hell you have lived through
and live through still
Has sharpened your senses
And toughened your will" The night has been long
The wounds have been deep
The pit has been dark
The walls have been steep I look through your anguish
Down into your soul
And know that together
We can be made whole I look through the posture
And past your disguise
And see pride of race
In your big brown eyes Clap hands
Together at this meeting ground Clap hands
We have dallied over long
On the low road of indifference Clap hands
Let us come together
And reveal our hearts Clap hands
Let us revive our spirits Clap hands
Let us cleanse our souls
Let us leave the preening as
Impostors in our history Clap hands
And call our spirits back from the ledge Clap hands
Call joy back into our conversation Clap hands
Call laughter back into our dialogue Clap hands
Call nurturing back into our nurseries
And romance back into our bedrooms The ancestors tell us
Through a history of pain
We're a going on people
On the rise again Make a vow of friendship
Let us take each other's hand
Shout Hurray for the Black Woman
Shout Hurray for the Black Man Ase May the Black Man and his Black Woman look through each other's
anguish to see that the original pain and the original separation was
not our fault and work to correct what we can, here and now. With the Black Man and the Black Woman....."this is no ordinary love." We must stand shoulder to shoulder to fight a war that we did not declare,
but must win at all costs. | 
