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G C G
Does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
G D G
My conscience says he’s the one that history missed.
G C G
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation,
G D G
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas.
G C G
If you listen closely you’ll hear the words perfect,
G D G
The Caribbean uprising caught fire in this land.
G C G
Up and down the James River, Pamunky and Appomattox,
G D G
Tobacco soil gone bad deferred a movement for the blacks.
G C G
Nine years before, down in Santo Domingo,
G D G
Slaves refused to submit and took the right of all men.
G C G
Virginia whites got nervous and hired more militias,
G D G
As blacks inspired, plotted and passed on their plans.
G C G
Mister Prosser’s Gabriel was smart as he was strong,
G D G
A head of keloid scars and a mind of knowing right and wrong.
G D G
Voted general at twenty-four in the year of eighteen-hundred,
G D G
Haunted by the hymns and wailing of his fellow slaves.
G C G
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
G D G
My conscience says he’s the one that history missed.
G C G
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation,
G D G
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas.
G C G
It was on an August night just North of Richmond, Virginia,
G D G
Gabriel’s men gathered as their owners they slept.
G C G
Some would burn the Capital to distract residents and masters,
G D G
While others took the city and freed the convicts.
G C G
Well the whites they knew nothing, never seen what could hit ‘em,
G D G
Nothing like this could happen to their carefree black men.
G C G
But think about freedom, now think about slavery.
G D G
Blacks armed themselves with muskets and homemade bayonets.
G C G
With a white flag on the Capital, all blacks they would rise.
G D G
All whites spared, would lose but an arm.
G D G
You’re a coward if you own men for profit and greed,
G D G
You’re the coward of all and for all you must bleed.
G C G
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
G D G
My conscience says he’s the one that history missed.
G C G
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation,
G D G
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas.
G C G
Pharaoh and Tom ratted out Gabriel Prosser,
G D G
Their owner was Mosby, and neighbor of him.
G C G
They say the sky seemed seized with rain and lightning,
G D G
On the night of August thirtieth one could see nor stand.
G C G
The militias’ let loose to hunt Gabriel Prosser,
G D G
Who took to the swamps as they imprisoned his men.
G C G
Flagged a boat whose captain was a Methodist preacher,
G D G
But a traitor slave turned him in in the end.
G C G
They hung Gabriel down at Broad and 15th Street,
G D G
Lord he would not give a word up on his men.
G C G
But he took that noose and he took it with honor,
G D G
He’s buried beneath a lot of parked cars, now, and pavement.
G C G
There’s no monument, there’s no stone here to see him,
G D G
Just black asphalt planked by high-rise hospital chains.
G C G
If I had it my way we’d see memorials climbin',
G D G
To a true and honest hero, Prosser’s Gabriel.
G C G
Now does anyone know the name Gabriel Prosser?
G D G
My conscience says he’s the one that history missed.
G C G
A blacksmith by trade up at Brookfield Plantation,
G D G
A Henrico County slave born of owner Thomas.
For the professionally filmed live version of this song, follow this link: http://vimeo.com/3770978
