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One Race

from Capture Light by John Holden

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ONE RACE

“I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible; from the air fast down and from the ground fast up.” Jesse Owens
In 1936 James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens attended the Berlin Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. Hitler was confident these Games would support his assertion that the German people were the dominant race.
Owens faced pressure from both the black community, who wanted the USA to boycott the games, and the American Olympic Committee who stated that not to compete would be “un-American”. Eventually Jesse decided to participate and won four gold medals, single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of “Aryan supremacy".
On returning home he was not allowed to travel with the white athletes. After a New York ticker-tape parade, he attended a reception in his honour at the Waldorf Astoria but was prevented from entering by the main doors, instead being forced to travel in a freight elevator. He later said; "I wasn't invited up to shake hands with Hitler- but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either."

lyrics

ONE RACE

Watching all the flags that fly
Against an ever darkening sky
Waiting calm before the storm
Hidden cries, a false golden dawn
Run for the line
Run for your life

Hearing the noise the crowd
A people’s hope a nation proud
Emotion in disguise
Can hope defeat the lies?
It is here, it is time, it is now
I start one race

How did I get here so far from home
This boy from Ohio standing alone
So many people want me to fail
Even my family question my faith
A world is waiting one race to be won
Now I am ready
Wait for the….Gun

Now back home the gold turns rust
A president dictates mistrust
One chance is all you need
In good we must believe
It is here, it is time, it is now
Can we be one race?

credits

from Capture Light, released March 16, 2018
John Holden - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Oliver Day - Guitar solo
Emily Dolan Davies - Drums
Joe Payne - Vocals
Max Read - Backing Vocals

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