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Map Makers

[We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas.' - Howard Zinn]


There was one Italian cartographer
When this storyline began
And a hundred million children of nature
Running barefoot over grassy plains
Their innocence claiming the land

There was one John Dillinger
Robbing banks in the Mid-West
And millions of families silenced
Hostages to both guns and laws
With no protecting hand

There was one Woody Guthrie
Singing for the dispossessed
And a few who picked up his old guitar
There are Dylan, Seeger and Springsteen
And the millions without a star

Voices from the old slave trails
Lament the original nation
But you never hear too much from them
On your corporate radio station

There was one Howard Zinn who said
You can't be neutral on a moving train
He wrote so our history made sense
Researched labour rights and LaGuardia
But you won't find his works in the classrooms
Standing guard over ignorance

There was one Allen Ginsberg
Who used the maps drawn by Whitman
To document his self-liberation
On every trip he would undertake
He gave the gay and the spirit-free
A little more space to create

And once there was Vespucci
Who put America on the map
His name forever here to stay
In the daily pledge that falls from our lips
While our maps are stolen away.

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