Rosa and the Three Ks Lyrics

Rosa Parks from Tuskegee made her mark in history
A bus ride in Montgomery began the turning of a tide
She wouldn't give her seat up to a white man in the front, you see
She'd had enough and took a stand while sitting on a bus that day

While sitting on a bus that day, she must have bugged the KKK
"You'd have to sit in back," they'd say, but Rosa Lee would not be swayed
She sat her ground and there she stayed until the sheriff came and said
"I'll take you to your jail bed, who do you think you are?"

I'm Rosa Parks, that's who I am
Won't give my seat up to that man
I worked all day, I'm tired and
I'm Rosa Parks, that's who I am

This was back in '55, and times have changed, she's still alive
But so are those in ignorance who'd still keep others in their place
But that's a risky P.R. plan, the image-makers told the Klan
You'll have to clean your act up, and start moving with the times

So very quietly one day, an application with three Ks
Was filed with Missouri's Department of Transportation
The Kluxes joined a civic plan, Adopt-A-Highway Program and
They'd get their name up on a sign proclaiming their damn nation

But modern folks in Missouri, 'specially at the D.O.T.
Denied that application, so the K-boys had to make a plan
They lawyered up and with a snort they won a judgment in the court
Who said the state could not discriminate against the Klan

So there it stands, that awful sign
For one cursed mile of highway line
But the people of Missour-i-ay
They drew their own and had their say

Now the joke is on the KKK
They're cleaning up the newly christened
"Rosa Parks Freeway"

I'm Rosa Parks, that's who I am
Won't give my seat up to that man
I worked all day, I'm tired and
I'm Rosa Parks, that's who

I'm Rosa Parks, that's who I am