Anne Braden

Years later,
She found herself
Mississippi bound to help
Stop the legalized lynching of
Mr. Willy McGee.

But they couldn't stop it,
So they thought that they'd talk to the governor about what'd happened
And say, "We're tired of being used 

As an excuse to kill black men."
But the cops wouldn't let 'em past
And these women, they struck 'em as uppity
So they hauled 'em all off to jail
And they called it protective custody.
Then from her cell
She heard her jailers
Grumblin' about "outsiders".
When she called 'em out
And said she was from the south, they shouted,
"Why is a nice, Southern lady 

Makin' trouble for the governor?"
She said, "I guess I'm not your type of lady,
And I guess I'm not your type of Southerner,
But before you call me traitor,
Well it's plainest just to say:
I was a child in Mississippi
but I'm ashamed of it today."

([Anne Braden:] And, all of a sudden, I realized I was on the other side)

Flobots - Anne Braden

http://comm.louisville.edu/abi/who-was-anne-braden/