"Change Is Gonna Come", "Blowin' in the Wind", "No More Auction Block", "We Shall Overcome"--If Not Now, When?

A few nights ago, I was eating dinner and listening to "my" station on Pandora. It was Otis Redding's turn. He sings "Change is Gonna Come." Otis and the song touched this child of the 60s, a person who remembers believing the world was changing. King's dream was coming true. The folly of youth.

Change is Gonna Come

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ev'r since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there, beyond the sky
Oh and just like the river I've been running ev'r since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there, beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin' me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees, oh

There have been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

As he finished, I tried to remember who wrote the song. Sam Cooke came to mind. (My mental computer is slower. My doctor told me that my hard drive is too small for the information I've saved. No updates available.)

I didn't know (and I can't blame my hard drive for this one) what provoked Cooke to write it. The answer is depressing.

When Cooke heard Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" in the early 60s, he was annoyed that a White guy wrote a song about Black oppression before he had. The song impressed him, and he immediately included it in his repertoire.

Blowin' in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man
How many seas must the white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand

Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they are forever banned
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it washed to the sea
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free

Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry

Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

Competition didn't inspire "Change is Gonna Come." Life did. Cooke was traveling with his band and wife. It was late. They went to check into a hotel where they had booked a reservation. When the clerk saw them, the hotel suddenly filled up. Cooke was furious. They left--after a great deal of shouting and horn honking. They drove to the only hotel in the area that accepted Black guests. Waiting at the hotel front door were the sheriff and his deputies. They arrested Cooke for disturbing the peace.

Cooke then wrote "Change Is Gonna Come."

Dylan, though, didn't "beat" Cooke to the punch.  He adapted a spiritual sung by former slaves who had fled to Canada after Britain made slavery illegal in 1833. The song: "No More Auction Block." Listen to Martha Redbone sing this powerful song. You will also hear the origins of "We Shall Overcome" in the melody.

No More Auction Block

No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousands gone

No more driver's lash for me
No more, no more
No more driver's lash for me
Many thousands gone
No more whip lash for me
No more, no more
No more pine assault for me
Many thousands gone

No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousands gone.

One question remains.

No more racial inequity.
No more, no more
No more racial inequity
Many thousands gone

Almost two centuries have passed. Four songs were composed. Four songs have been performed by hundreds. Four songs have been sung by millions.

These numbers rekindle the fire of my folly. No longer for me. I'll be worm meal in a decade or two. For my African-American grandsons. For their liberation from the American auction block of racial inequity. For my European-American granddaughter who like her cousins deserves a better America.

So, the question is: Why is a quest for the end of injustice and for equity folly?

If not folly, then what?
If not now, when?
[In tribute to the late Civil Rights leader, Congressman, and inspiration for all--John Lewis.]