The Songs That Can’t Be Silenced

This song is a duet between Culture and Race—two voices in tension, seeking truth and unity. It was born from heartbreak and hope.

In 1968, I was eleven years old when I learned about slavery and witnessed my mother weeping over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I didn’t know who he was. I lived in a pocket of white privilege, unaware of the deep divisions around me.

We never talked about race in my household. We talked about human beings. I knew America was home to a multitude of cultures, and I believed that was our greatest strength. But after that moment, I began to understand how “race” was used. Not to describe, but to divide.

This song is for anyone who feels the same heartbreak. It’s a call to remember that culture is what makes us whole. Race is a falsehood that keeps us apart.

May these voices help us find each other again.

(Verse - Culture)
I am the silent contract
That’s deep within your soul
I hold the distant memories
I am what makes you whole
I’m the map your feet remember
The rhythm in your stride
The spices on your counter
The love you cannot hide

(Verse - Race)
I am a social construct
Made from what you dread
I am what keeps you separate
A falsehood that has spread
I am the color of your skin
The texture of your hair
And my name is etched upon
Your eons of despair

(Chorus – Call and Response)
Culture has the songs
That race cannot suppress
But race holds the hate and fear
That some of you possess
It’s time you understand
That race is not your kin
Culture holds your family
Not the color of your skin

(Outro – Culture Race Harmony)
We are the hands that build tomorrow
Beyond the lines they teach
We are culture, we’re not race
We are the waves against the beach
You already sing the same songs
And join in the same feast
It’s time to know your family 
Beyond the color of their skin