”While it might be convenient to assume that we can address the current divisive racial and political climate in our nation through race neutral means, experience shows that we have not escaped our history. Though the Civil Rights Movement challenged many of the most racist practices and structures that subjugated the African American community, it was not followed by a commitment to truth and reconciliation. For that reason, the legacy of racial inequality has persisted, and left the nation vulnerable to a range of problems that continue to yield division, racial disparities and injustice. By passing H.R. 40, Congress can start a movement toward the national reckoning we need to bridge racial divides.” (Sheila Jackson Lee)

H.R. 40 (REPARATIONS NOW)
Written by Rev. Mark Thompson (Matsimela Mapfumo) (ASCAP), Nabil Ince (BMI), Vincent Charlow (BMI), Olivia Mogul (ASCAP), Bryan Joy (ASCAP)
© 2022 Common Hymnal Publishing (ASCAP), Make It Plain (ASCAP), Mekkatte (ASCAP), BJOY MUSICS (ASCAP), Common Hymnal Digital (BMI), Seaux Chill Publishing (BMI), Soul Lore Creative (BMI) (admin by IntegratedRights.com)

VERSE 1
Queens and Kings from Africa 
Taken in chains to build America
Infinite wealth gap off our blood and sweat 
Reparative justice, now we’re here to get

CHORUS
H.R. 40
Reparations now
H.R. 40
We won’t back down

VERSE 2
Lynchings and land loss, voter suppression
Violent policing, incarceration
You made us separate and unequal
But we are not slaves, we are God’s people

RAP
Let’s address it, we gotta continue the message
Gotta stress it, lest we steady forget it
Cruelty, brutality, the inhumanity of slavery
All up in the states and colonies
We need a national apology 
Check America’s economy
We know it wasn’t built in harmony 
Can’t escape it, tell ‘em to face it, how the nation 
Miscalculated they sovereignty 
What happened to the 40 acres and a mule? 
All we got was segregated buses and schools 
How that make sense when we the human infrastructure
We the ones who laid the bricks and who mixed the mortar 
H.R. 40 to the floor or Executive Order 
H.R. 40 to the floor or Executive Order 
No excuses anymore, this of utmost importance 
Ain’t no I O U’s or a blessed assurance  
We need a real investment 
Talkin generational wealth 
To shift generational health 
You best believe who we in step with 
Issa global conversation 
Know our family round the world need reparations 
Look until you get the message 
We gon keep it in motion 
We gon keep it pushin we know where we going 
For our ancestors and descendents 
It’s only right that we do it 
It’s influenced, but look its more than a movement

VERSE 3
Peoples and nations, who lost their names
Stories and history, we must reclaim
Civilization, the first, we’re from
We will not rest ‘til full repair is done