In 1972, Reverend Jesse Jackson shared a moving poem with the children of Sesame Street. It’s called “I Am – Somebody” and it was written in the 1950s by Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr., a pastor and civil rights activist from Atlanta, GA.
I am Somebody! I am Somebody! I may be poor, But I am Somebody. I may be young, But I am Somebody. I may be on welfare, But I am Somebody. I may be small, But I am Somebody. I may have made mistakes, But I am Somebody. My clothes are different, My face is different, My hair is different, But I am Somebody. I am Black, Brown, or White. I speak a different language But I must be respected, protected, never rejected. I am God’s child!
Jackson has recited the same poem many times over the years, including this time in 1963: