Did it shock you?
Did you always know?
When they were little, did it show?
What were you thinking when they became a hero?
Did you try to stop them?
Did you try to help?
Did it kill you to know that they were running toward Death?
What were you thinking when she made the invisible
Railroad, mister?
Did you see her as incredible or just another sister
Trying to live a dream
That will one day be crushed?
Ma’am, could you see it? Did you see it?
Your son, your baby boy just spoke with the voice of an angel!
With his voice and his courage he led many into becoming one!
Did you know from the beginning?
From the moment they were born
Could you see around their heads the light of greatness that was hung?
Surely the angels had sung.
They must have danced and cheered, for a hero was born.
The pain, the suffering, the fears, and the sorrow
Will soon be gone.
I ask the parents of the ones who have lived and died
For what they believed was right.
How did it feel to know that you gave life to
A hero?

Dedicated to the parents of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and all other great civil rights and human rights ­leaders.