Sweet Honey In The Rock - Ballad Of The Broken Word/Give The People Their Right 14to Vote! lyrics

CHORUS: No taxation Without representation! Two hundred years of exploitation In the capital of this nation! No representation! In the capital of this nation Two hundred years of exploitation Give the people their right to vote! Someone asked me, was it true? The voting rights of the District were long overdue? They couldn't believe it when I said, Ayes! And then I said, Ayou ain=t heard nothing yet We are based in Washington, DC A truly diverse community Almost six hundred thousand strong Have been exploited much too long Inadequate power over our own affairs And national issues for which we care No votes in Congress, the Senate, the House No state delegation, no representation We pledge allegiance, Amy country tis of thee Fight in wars, pay taxes in this country Provide work and services for the government We get no vote, but our money is spent You may wonder, how in the world can this be? I thought we lived in a democracy The US constitution gives equal protection Check the 14th amendment to make this connection CHORUS In 1787 the US constitution was ratified US Congress won the power to exclusively exercise In all cases, legislation Over the future capital of this nation In 1790, selection of the District site began Using a piece of Virginia and a piece of Maryland Forming the District of Columbia, or Washington, DC But the people kept on voting in their former states, you see In 1800, Congress took control of DC Ended representation for the whole community In the history of this country you=ll find the reason why And even in a new millennium, they want this law to apply In 1846, the portion of DC From Virginia decided to retrocede It was returned to the original state line Alexandria and Arlington came after this time In 1871, an elected delegate with no vote Was created for the House of Representatives - no joke! DC was given territorial government that year Representation remained an issue, do you hear? In 1874, financial troubles arise The position of nonvoting delegate meets its= demise The territorial government that was given to DC Was taken back by Congress at this point of history In 1970, the House brings the position back Years of civil rights activism brought pressure with no slack A step in the right direction brought the people so much joy And the man in this position, was Walter Faunteroy In 1978, Congress finally said okay To the DC Voting Rights Act, but not right away If approved within seven years with no hesitation DC would be granted full representation In 1985, our hopes were really, really high We knew that they should not let this bill die All we needed was approval of thirty eight states But only sixteen states would support our case In 1993, the District made a giant step Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton worked hard to get A DC Vote on the House floor, which Congress did approve But when Republicans came to power, the decision was overruled CHORUS Now, I'm sure you are wondering what can be done? There are at least four ways that this fight can be won Some suggest we retrocede as a part of Maryland Become a city or county in that state once again Or a new law could pa** with a Congressional vote DC residents would be counted in the Maryland vote For Federal elections, census taking - without retroceding back This would leave our residency in tact Or, Congress could pa** another law for DC Like they did in 1800 when they took over totally For more than five hundred reasons they treat us like a state And adding another reason, should not a problem create This would give us two US Senate seats And the census would determine the number of House seats Preferably, DC would be the 51st state We'd have a seat in the House and two in the Senate - it=s not too late!! Democracy is what we want! Voting rights are what we need! Tell your Congress person, it=s time to take heed! Democracy is what we want! Voting rights are what we need! Tell your Congress person, it=s time to take heed! CHORUS