Kunta Kinte to Barak Obama

 

It was a long journey that started in Gambia, West Africa, 
A black boy named Kunta Kinte was brought to Maryland in chains, 
Enslaved for many decades in the cotton fields 
Worked, from sun-up, 'til sun-down, 
Kunta Kinte alias Toby saw no freedom, 
He was buried in an unmarked grave.

Kunta's generation lived in America, 
Until they searched for a new identity and freedom, 
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation gave new hope, 
The Buffalo Soldiers fought for freedom, 
But the freedom was many miles away.

When Martin Luther King Jr said 'I have a dream', 
The dream that cherished freedom and equality, 
The dream that cherished justice and peace, 
But couldn't live until the dream was fulfilled.

Barack Obama continued King's dream, 
When he broke the racial barrier, 
Martin Luther King said from his grave, 
Thank you, Almighty I am free at last.

Ruwan M Jayatunge