I Am a Human Being

Lyrics

[Verse 1] I crossed with one coat and my mother’s old address A paper folded small against my chest At the gate they weighed my name like stolen goods And told the room to look at me as less [Pre-Chorus] They drew their lines in ink and called them law They taught the children not to meet my eyes But every morning, at the factory door I stood up straight beneath their borrowed lies [Chorus] I am not the number on your page Not the teeth you fear behind a cage I have hands that build, a heart that grieves A home I carry, roots beneath my feet You can name me less; I know my worth I am a human being on this earth [Verse 2] My neighbor left warm bread beside the stairs Her son taught me the bus route in the rain We traded words, then recipes, then names While loud men sold suspicion once again [Pre-Chorus] They make a living teaching us to crawl So we forget we ever stood as one But every voice that answers through the wall Can turn a locked and lonely night to dawn [Chorus] I am not the number on your page Not the teeth you fear behind a cage I have hands that build, a heart that grieves A home I carry, roots beneath my feet You can name me less; I know my worth I am a human being on this earth [Bridge] Look at my hands: they mend, they plant, they feed Look at your hands; they’re made of the same need No border makes a beast of you or me No office owns the right to say who’s free [Final Chorus] We are not the numbers on your page Not the shapes you press behind a cage We have hands that build, hearts that grieve A thousand homes and roots beneath our feet You can name us less; we know our worth We are human beings on this earth [Outro] At the gate, my name is mine I lift my face; I cross the line