[Intro: Sample]
My people! (Yeah!)
My people! (Yeah!)
The foundation of the United States
Rests on the sweat of my people
Every enemy of the USA
Has had to face my people on the front lines

[Verse 1: Angie Stone]
People, my people are dyin'
And we see it all the time
Don't know where our future would be
If he's not here, how do we stay strong?

[Pre-Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram, Angie Stone]
Only we can save us (Can save us) from us (Oh yeah)
Bring about change we will show our people love
(Show our people love, oh yeah, my people)

[Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram, Angie Stone]
My people, hold your head up (Hold your head up)
My people, don't get fed up (Don't you get fed up)
My people rise, my people fight (Rise)
My people do alright (My people)
My people walk with pride and
We're marchin' side by side and (We're doing alright)
My people laugh, my people cry
My people ride and die
[Verse 2: James Ingram]
People, my people, keep striving
There's a greater master plan
We need to know our history
We were kings and queens of the greatest dynasty

[Pre-Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram, James Ingram]
Only we can save us from us (Bring about change)
Bring about change we will show our people love
(My people, my people, my people, my people)

[Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram, James Ingram]
My people, hold your head up
My people, don't get fed up (Don't get fed up)
My people rise, my people fight
My people do alright
My people walk with pride and (Side by side)
We're marchin' side by side and (Laugh and cry)
My people laugh, my people cry
My people ride and die (Woo-hoo, ooh)

[Bridge: Angie Stone, James Ingram, Both]
Uh-huh (Hey, hey)
Uh-huh, uh-huh (Oh)
Sing along, ah-ooh-ayy-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
(Shoo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-dow)
Sing along, ah-ooh-ayy-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Sing along, yeah
Sing along, ah-ooh-ayy-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
(Shoo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-dow)
Sing along, ah-ooh-ayy-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
My people
[Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram, Angie Stone]
My people, hold your head up
(Come on and hold your head up)
My people, don't get fed up (Don't you get fed up)
My people rise, my people fight (Come on, rise)
My people do alright
My people walk with pride and (Woo-hoo)
We're marchin' side by side and
My people laugh, my people cry
My people ride and die

[Interlude: Children, Angie Stone]
Who are my people? Dr. Vernon Johns
Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks
Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X
Bishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali
Sidney Poitier, Quincy Jones
Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey
Barack Obama, Spike Lee
Michael Jordan, Venus and Serena Williams
Tiger Woods, The Rutgers Women's Basketball Team
We are my people, we are the future
(My people)

[Chorus: Angie Stone & James Ingram]
My people, hold your head up
My people, don't get fed up
My people rise, my people fight
My people do alright
My people walk with pride and
We're marchin' side by side and
My people laugh, my people cry
My people ride and die
My people, hold your head up
My people, don't get fed up
My people rise, my people fight
My people do alright
My people walk with pride and
We're marchin' side by side and
My people laugh, my people cry
My people ride and die
[Outro: Angie Stone & James Ingram]
Harriet Tubman, Shirley Caesar
Miss Jane Pittman, Juanita Bynum
Maya Angelou, Bishop T.D. Jakes
Madam C.J. Walker, Bishop Noel Jones
Moms Mabley, Reverend Blake Scott
Aretha Franklin, Reverend Jamal Bryant
Dorothy Dandridge, Richard Pryor
Lena Horne, Samuel Jackson
Nancy Wilson, Magic Johnson
Mahalia Jackson, Smokey Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson, Nikki Giovanni
Adam Clayton Powell, Afeni Shakur
The Funk Brothers, Miles Davis
Mr. James Brown, 2Pac
Bob Marley, Biggie Smalls
Billie Holiday, Cathy Hughes
Charlie Parker, Betty Shabazz
Denzel Washington, Coretta Scott King
Morgan Freeman, Angela Davis
James Earl Jones, Nat King Cole
Curtis Mayfield, Bob Johnson
Marvin Gaye, Johnnie Cochran
Berry Gordy, Nat Turner
Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby
Cuba Gooding Jr., Dick Gregory
Chris Tucker, Langston Hughes
Reverend Al Sharpton, Katherine Dandridge
Jesse Jackson, Debbie Allen
Woo! Gregory Hines
Benjamin Zephaniah, Robert Pele
Kofi Annan, Luther Vandross
Tyler Perry, Wynton Marsalis
Zadie Smith, Charles White
Pele, Romare Bearden
Robert Mugambi, Gordon Parks
Omar, John McLean
Mariam Makeba, Susan Taylor
Soul II Soul, Thom Bell
Antwan Fuqua, Damien Marley
Trevor McDonald, The Black Stars
Angie Stone, Count Basie
Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson
Bill Clinton, that's right I said it
Y'all know that was the first Black man in the White House
Ha ha ha