Yes I Can

Yes I Can

by Dr. Maya Angelou


When the land became water and
Water thought it was God,
Consuming lives here, sparing lives there,
Swallowing buildings, and devouring cities.
It was power, mighty power, grown careless
And intoxicated with itself, and
The American people were tested.

As a result of our tumultuous history,
There resides a thought in the American psyche
Which ennobles us high above the problems which beset us.
It appears and evicts despair.
It enters and wrests fear from its lodging.

Simply put, the idea is,
"Yes I can."
"I can overcome."

The one time slave says, "I have proved and am still
proving - I can overcome slavery."

The one time slave owner says, "I have proved and am still
proving - I can overcome slavery."

The North says, "I have proved and am still proving - I can
overcome the Civil War."

The South says, "I have proved and am still proving - I can
overcome the Civil War."

The American people can say rampant crime has not turned
our masses into criminals, and blissful peace has not lulled
us into contented laziness.

This song that was so needed by Americans when it was
written one hundred years ago and needed fifty years ago
by Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, will be of
great use to use, these days, as we reel beneath the blows of
a violent hurricane.

We shall overcome.
We shall overcome.
We shall overcome, I pray.
Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome.
Let us all pray.
Let us all work.
And, I know, we shall overcome.

My name is Maya Angelou. I am an American