Words of Wisdom, Let It Be
Melody from This Little Light of Mine
This Little Light of Mine was written in the 20s by Harry Dixon Loes, a White Christian gospel writer. The song was rediscovered by folklorist John Lomax in 1939 and performed by Doris McMurray, a Texas prison inmate. Eventually, Zilphia Horton, cultural director of the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, adopted the song as one of the anthems for the Civil Rights Movement (led by the Black Baptist community).
Similar to Kumbaya and its history, the song has become, for activists, one of resistance and resolve, often sung either in celebration or in mourning. Both songs have also sometimes been appropriated by the White, new age community to celebrate toxic positivity, the ideology built around refusing to think or feel anything “negative.” Partly, this is the reason these songs, especially Kumbaya, are so mocked, though usually from a place of Capitalism (singing without being “productive”) rather than from a place of liberation (singing about feeling good without actually working toward dismantling Oppression).
And so, the song below is partly a response to those who have appropriated liberation history in the service of their “positive,” spiritual-emotional violence, confusing suppression for sublimation.
This despair of mine
I’m a let it desolate
This despondence of mine
I’m a let it sap me up
This sadness I feel
I’m a let it wear me down
Wipe me out
Drain me dry
Empty me
This choler of mine
I’m a going to let it seethe
This fury of mine
I’m a going to let it wring
This anger I feel
I’m a going to let it rage
Let it fuel
Let it incite
Impassion me
This panic of mine
I’m a let it petrify
This terror of mine
I’m a let it unnerve
This fear that I feel
I’m a let it scare me whole
Freeze me stiff
Shock me sharp
Flush me quick
This darkness of mine
I’m a going to let it shine
This negativity of mine
I’m a let it attract
This pain that I feel
I’m a let it heal me
Let it teach
Let it hurt
Let me feel
