The Battle Axe

And the choir sang He's a Battle Axe Oh in my soul. He's a Battle Axe Oh in my soul. Oh the Lord is a Battle Axe in my soul. I was just a kid when Reverend Albright preached. He was a mighty preacher in the Lord and he believed in the power of the Word. The Reverend was also a community leader. And he believed that all people should have rights. He would advocate for church members, the poor and the oppressed. Albright was a good man. And it was back in those days, the days of segregation and the days of equal but separate. Reverend Albright did not believe in those policies and he would often preached against them. He would tell church members that it is time to stand up to injustice and that it is time to fight oppression. And the church Mount Baptist Church was often threatened by the Klan. And Reverend Albright was known among officials. He was known for his messages. And he would say that if you take my church I will take it to the streets. And the threats would stop. Then as time progress, there were more threats even of lynching. And the Reverend tried to stop church members from leaving the community. And he begged the police chief and the mayor but no one cared. So Reverend Albright tried to seek other help. He tried to seek higher offices help. And they took their time to deal with the issues of the City of Reign. The problems kept pouring in and no one was listening. And so Reverend Albright prayed and prayed. And he spoke An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. We can no longer stand injustice. We can no longer be put into a corner, our backs cannot be against the wall forever. We must tear down injustice, defend our homes, and fight. This fight must be won. For far too long we have humble ourselves for far too long have we bow to them for far too long have we back down. And the church clapped to the sermon and he said we will not retreat. We will not declare a war. We will just defend ourselves. Those of you who won't God bless you. Those of you who do God bless you. Let every man decide in his heart what to do. I have lived long. I have seen much. And life or death does not matter to me anymore if I can't live free then it is dying. If I can't die like I want to then that is not freedom. We have fought for this country. We have died for this country. And yet we get no respect. I am tired of hurting families. I am tired of lying officials. I am tired of the abuses. And he raised a rifle saying no longer will they call us the N-Word, no longer will they say poor Negro. I am not taking it no more. I have tried to reason with the forces that control our reality. And no more will they offend our children. No more will they rape our women. No more will they burn our houses., And the cross should not be a symbol of hatred, it was where Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all the world. I am taking a stand church. Will you take a stand with me? And everybody stood up. And when the night came, some of the neighbors band up together to surprise the attackers and they were winning. Then the police came in and arrested some and shot some. It was slaughtered with houses burning, the whole city was in an uproar but we did not back down. We were tired of the oppression and suppression, the maneuvers and lies, the manipulation and ransoming of us as a people. That was the day that the City of Reign would never forget.