[Intro - Students]
You heard about Henrietta Lacks? (No!)
Well let me tell you
That's where HeLa cells came from
I wanna know too!
Her family was lied to, and the things they had to go through
Just know that her cells do not grow like others do
And they never will
[Verse 1 - Narrators]
Loretta Pleasant known as Henrietta Lacks
Whose immortal cells never failed
Helped to propel the medical field
Let's look at the facts
Born in 1920 raised in Clover, Virginia
Was a strong black women who had faith all in her
Married David “Day” Lacks ended up with a ring
Had all five kids by 1950
One day in her room, she told Margaret and Sadie
"I don't feel too good, I got a knot up in me.”
They said "What knot?" And they felt her tummy
"That's just another baby. You're gonna be a mommy."
But Hennie knew, there was something wrong
She went to Johns Hopkins and saw Dr. Jones
He checked her body, there was something she had
He got her biopsy result from the pathology lab
Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix Stage I
She needed surgery and then she'd be done
Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr. was the surgeon on hand
He took a tissue sample for the test to be ran
Dr. George Gey came on by
Took the sample of cells hoping they'd multiply
Chicken bleeding technique he used to see
If the cells could live immortally
[Chorus - George Gey]
Knock, knock, you're about to be cell shocked
Knock, knock, you're about to be cell shocked
[Verse 2 - George Gey]
That's my fam, we've been searching forever
Immortal cell live forever and ever
Together ain't no way we gon' fail
With Henrietta Lacks cervical tissue cells
Nobody do it better
They keep growing like mold on cheddar
Mary cut her cells like a shredder
Me and my a**istants come together cuz we know
That her cells were the only ones that rea**ured our hope
Put the Petri dish down, look through the microscope
Then, that's when we know they were multiplying (Whoa)
Check my data, they say I'm the man of the hour
Her cells replicate every 24 hours
[Chorus - Henrietta Lacks]
Work, work, work, work, work, work, work
You've seen my cells do work, work, work, work, work, work
Now you're about to learn, learn, learn, learn learn, learn
The importance of my cells, cells, cells, cells, cells, cells
[Verse 3 - Henrietta Lacks]
They are immortal
My cells are so special
They helped to develop a polio vaccine
My cells been cloned the longest
Nobody else had done this
I believe they were the first living cells
That were shipped through the U.S. mail
You took my cells and made a declaration
But you were mistaken for selling them to organizations
All that I wanted from you was to heal me
Something I didn't know I had
Something that you've never seen
Something that can k** me
[Verse 4 - Deborah Lacks]
You need to come home, home, home, home, so I'm asking
I just want to know what happened
Learning about you is my pa**ion
So when they came to check
We didn't know exactly what they meant
"Hey, read this textbook" is what they said
But they took our blood samples without consent
But I think we need to fight, fight, fight fight
This isn't fair
We never gave permission
Mama didn't get recognition (ooooh)
I spend all my time trying to find answers
Searching, searching, searching, searching, searching
How much longer will I be searching?
Rebecca Skloot came on time
Right before I lost my mind
Please help me try and find
What happened to my mom before and why…
[Chorus - Henrietta & Deborah Lacks]
Her cells do work work work work work?
You've seen her cells do work, work, work, work, work, work
So now you need to learn, learn, learn, learn learn
The importance of my cells, cells, cells, cells, cells