In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Well, you can count them one by one
It could be your son
Well, you can count them two by two
It could be me or you
Well, you can count them three by three
Do you wanna see?
Well, you can count them four by four
Oh, well-a into the river they go
Oh, well-a into the river they go
Well, you can count them five by five
With their hands tied
And they don’t come out alive
And their feet tied
And you can count them six by six
Holes throughout the body
In Mississippi, they got it fixed
Like Goodman
And you can count them seven by seven
Like Schwerner
The Mississippi River sure ain’t heaven
And Chaney
And you can count them eight
And they are gone because of hate
And you can count them nine by nine
In Mississippi this ain’t no crime
And you can count them ten by ten
And we wonder when the right will win
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
We’re going stop them from going in the river
We’re going stop them from going in the river
With their heads cut off
Tied by their hands
Tied by their feet
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Well, you can count them one by one
It could be your son
Well, you can count them two by two
It could be me or you
Well, you can count them three by three
Do you wanna see?
Well, you can count them four by four
Oh, well-a into the river they go
Oh, well-a into the river they go
Well, you can count them five by five
With their hands tied
And they don’t come out alive
And their feet tied
And you can count them six by six
Holes throughout the body
In Mississippi, they got it fixed
Like Goodman
And you can count them seven by seven
Like Schwerner
The Mississippi River sure ain’t heaven
And Chaney
And you can count them eight
And they are gone because of hate
And you can count them nine by nine
In Mississippi this ain’t no crime
And you can count them ten by ten
And we wonder when the right will win
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord
In the Mississippi River
We’re going stop them from going in the river
We’re going stop them from going in the river
With their heads cut off
Tied by their hands
Tied by their feet
Contributed by Bartleby - 2012/5/11 - 11:20
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Scritta da Marshall Jones, fratello di Matthew Jones, fondatore dello Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee e dei Freedom Singers.
In "Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966”, Folkways Records 1997.
Poi anche nell’album “We'll Never Turn Back” (2007) di Mavis Staples
James Chaney aveva 21 anni, era un afroamericano e veniva da Meridian, Mississippi.
Andrew Goodman, aveva 20 anni, era un bianco, ebreo, studiava antropologia a New York.
Anche Michael Schwerner veniva da New York. Pure lui era bianco ed ebreo. Aveva 24 anni.
I tre giovani facevano parte del Movimento per i diritti civili ed in particolare dell'organizzazione CORE (Congress of Racial Equality).
Nel giugno del 1964 si trovavano a Longdale, Mississippi, per fare un rapporto su uno dei tanti episodi di aggressione alla comunità afroamericana, nello specifico l'incendio della chiesa metodista di Mount Zion, Neshoba County.
Il 21 giugno i tre giovani furono arrestati dalla polizia locale, costituita interamente da attivisti del KKK. Furono trattenuti e poi rilasciati, ma la loro auto fu inseguita da un commando dei suprematisti bianchi, costretta a fermarsi e i tre ragazzi furono selvaggiamente pestati e poi assassinati a colpi di pistola.
Gli assassini, i poliziotti stessi e altri membri del KKK, furono perseguiti ma condannati a pene lievissime. Solo tra il 2004 e il 2007 chi di quei bastardi era sopravvissuto fu finalmente condannato per gli omicidi commessi 40 anni prima.
La storia dei "Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders" è stata raccontata da Alan Parker nel suo film del 1988 "Mississippi Burning"