before "THEY" came (Remix)

Title: “We Were Already Here” Verse 1 They keep tellin’ stories that start in chains Like we appeared out the smoke of pain But my grandma leaned close, said, “Baby, listen clear— We were on this land way before they came here.” Drums in the dirt, feet in the clay Names they erased, but the blood still stay They changed the maps, changed the names, changed the story they tell But truth don’t die just ’cause it’s buried well Pre-Chorus They want us lost, disconnected, confused Don’t want us knowin’ what we already knew But memory don’t fade, it sleeps in the bone Every step I take feel like walkin’ home Chorus We were already here Before the boats, before the lies, before the fear Black skin, red land, truth run deep We the ones they tried to make forget we free Choctaw blood, Chickasaw veins Blackfoot roots still callin’ my name Say it loud, make it clear— We were already here Verse 2 They call us “African” and stop the page Like that’s the start of our whole damn age But what about the Black Indians, hidden in plain sight? Painted as “other,” erased overnight Census changed, records burned Whole bloodlines quietly overturned They said “colored,” said “mulatto,” said “slave” Anything but let us say what we claimed Pre-Chorus They don’t teach it ’cause it break the spell If we know who we are, we won’t sit still Land, identity, spirit, name That’s why they work so hard to erase Chorus We were already here Before Columbus got credit he didn’t earn Before treaties broke, before borders drawn Before they told us where we belong Choctaw, Chickasaw, Blackfoot truth Grandma spoke it, and I know it’s true Say it loud, make it clear— We were already here Bridge (Spoken / Sung) This ain’t hate, this ain’t beef This is history buried underneath They fear what happens when we remember When Black and Native reconnect the ember We not guests, we not borrowed land This soil knows our feet, our hands You can’t steal what already knows your name Breakdown They tried to split us—tribe from tribe Black from Native, story from spine But the blood remembers what the books won’t say And the ancestors whisper every day Final Chorus (Bigger, Slower, Powerful) We were already here In the rivers, in the roots, in the deer Before the chains, before the shame Before they taught us to doubt our name Black Indian, still standin’ tall You can’t erase us, not at all Say it loud, make it clear— We were already here Outro Grandma said it, so I know it’s real Truth don’t need permission to reveal They can hide it, but they can’t make it disappear We were already here