Who Are You?

[00:00:03]They told us where we started.

[00:00:08]>> [music] >> But they never told us who we were.

[00:00:17]>> [music] [music] >> Before the chains, before the whips, BEFORE THE AUCTION blocks and whips, there were kingdoms standing in the sun.

[00:00:41]>> [singing] >> Builders, >> [music] >> scholars, daughters and sons. [singing] Gold [music] crossed deserts, nations rose. Wisdom traveled where the river [singing] flows. We weren't born in bondage or pain. [music] THAT WAS A CHAPTER, NOT OUR NAME.

[00:01:02]>> WHO ARE YOU?

[00:01:04]>> Before the chains, [music] before the pain, before they changed your family name.

[00:01:09]>> Who are [music] you?

[00:01:10]>> Before the labels, before the news, before they told you what to believe was true. [music] >> Who [singing] are you?

[00:01:19]>> If you don't know your history, somebody else >> [screaming] >> will tell it to you. [music] Then came ships on the Atlantic tide.

[00:01:31]Families [music] broken, identities denied. Sold as property, counted as stock. Yet hope still [music] survived every block.

[00:01:41]Songs in the fields became the blues.

[00:01:43]Faith carried people [music] when there was little left to lose. Hands that built roads, fields, and towns still found a way [singing] when the world pushed down.

[00:01:53]>> [music] >> Freedom came, but the fight remained.

[00:01:56]New laws written, old hatred unchanged.

[00:01:59][music] Your churches stood and families grew. Grandmothers prayed generations through. [music] From Mississippi soil to Chicago steel, people chased dreams that felt more real. Every mile traveled, every sacrifice [music] made, helped build a future from the price they paid. IF THEY TAKE YOUR NAME, >> Who [music] are you?

[00:02:21]>> If they take your money, >> Who are you?

[00:02:24]>> If they tell your story wrong, >> Who are [music] you?

[00:02:27]>> They erase your history, >> Who are you?

[00:02:30]>> Nah.

[00:02:33]The question ain't about yesterday.

[00:02:38]>> [music] >> The question is about today.

[00:02:43]>> [music] >> The blues became music around the world.

[00:02:46]The voices of a forgotten people unfurled. [music] Gospel gave hope, soul gave truth. Every generation [music] passed it to the youth. We are more than a headline, more than a statistic, MORE THAN A STEREOTYPE, MORE THAN a moment in history.

[00:03:10]WHO ARE YOU?

[00:03:11]>> NOT A [music] VICTIM.

[00:03:12]>> NOT A LABEL.

[00:03:13]>> Not a label.

[00:03:13]>> Not a number.

[00:03:14]>> NOT A TABLE.

[00:03:15]>> WHO ARE YOU?

[00:03:17]A SURVIVOR, A BUILDER, A BELIEVER, A DREAMER. WHO ARE YOU? THE ANSWER LIVES [music] inside of you.

[00:03:26]I am the prayer of my grandmother.

[00:03:31]I am the strength of my grandfather.

[00:03:35]I am the faith that survived [music] the storm.

[00:03:39]I am the dream they couldn't kill.

[00:03:42]>> [music] >> The change broke, the spirit didn't.

[00:03:46]The storm [music] came, the people didn't quit.

[00:03:51]I know who I am.

[00:03:54]Now the question is WHO >> [screaming] >> ARE YOU?

[00:04:06]>> [music] >> WHO ARE YOU?

[00:04:16]>> [music] >> WHO ARE YOU?