lyrics for 3Ms by Cornel West

brother martin
brother medgar
brother malcolm

we love you so
and miss you much
your freely given blood fertilizes the tree of freedom
your precious bodies ripped apart by the assassins' bullet
sustains us in our struggle

we shall never forget you
we shall build on your shoulders
and keep alive your legacy

martin, medgar and malcolm

brother martin
visionary dreamer of a multiracial democracy
grand tiden of love
drum major for justice
child of the prophetic black church
who loved your way through the darkness

we shall never forget you
never ever forget you

it's hard to believe three brothers could give their lives
for iraq and the new world
martin, medgar, and malcolm
look it here
they stood tall for what they believe
so you and me can achieve anything
martin, medgar, and malcolm

brother medgar
leader of quiet dignity and undeniable determination
fighting for black people to gain the right to vote in gut bucket mississippi
within apartheid America

we shall never forget your smile
we shall never forget your love
we shall never forget your sacrifice

(chorus)

brother malcolm
truth teller about the night side of american democracy
tellin' america like it is
its vicious legacy of white supremacy

we shall never forget the witness that you bore
we shall never forget the love that you laid bare

your fiery spirit is at work among the younger generation
they and us shall never forget you

(chorus)

Martin:

"we'll be able to join in hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual
'free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last'"

Medgar:

"now finally ladies and gentlemen,
we'll be demonstrating here until freedom comes to negroes here in jackson, mississippi"

Malcolm:

"to be recieved as human being, to be given the rights of a human being, in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary"

look it here,
martin had a dream one day
back in georgia somewhere
then medgar
back in the hills of mississippi doing his thing
while malcolm told us
by any means necessary

you taught us there's no struggle without sacrifice
there's no rebirth without death
that the world is incomplete
that history is unfinished
that the future is open ended
that what we do and what we think makes a difference

and we will rededicate ourselves to your cause
we'll live and die for what you struggled for
your life and works will constitute wind at our back
we shall never forget what you gave us
and try to take it to a higher level in the twenty first century
martin, medgar, malcolm
hear us

-Cornel West in 3Ms


[You can listen to it here in this special slideshow taken from the DVD, “Malcolm and Martin: Implications of their Legacies for the Future” featuring a spoken word performance of Dr. Cornell West’s critically acclaimed piece, “3Ms.”

This slideshow features photos taken from the December 2005 event in Oakland, California.]