Song - Pretty Black Gial: Let’s Build a Free Country

Type: Song / Lyrics

Language: English (Creole-influenced; original spelling retained)

Source / Provenance: Ella Jean Downs Archives

Format: Typed manuscript (undated)

Text (verbatim transcription):

PRETTY BLACK GIAL LET’S BUILD A FREE COUNTRY,

(A PLACE WHERE YOU AND OUR LITTLE BABY, CAN

LIVE AND LOVE AND DANCE IN THIS OUR FREE

COUNTRY) BIS TWO TIMES)

BLACK SKIN GIAL LETS BUILD A FREE COUNTRY,

(A PLACE WHERE YELLOW, BROWN, AND BLACK

AND WHITE, CAN LIVE AND LOVE AND DANCE

IN THIS OUR FREE COUNTRY (BIS.)

PRETTY BLACK GIAL, LETS BUILD A FREE COUNTRY,

(WE HAVE REACH THAT SHORE, WHERE WE ARE SLAVES NO MORE,

AND WITH THE HELP OF GOD WILL BUILD A FREE COUNTRY) (B I S.)

Archival Notes

- Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and repetition markers (BIS, B I S.) are preserved as in the original document.

- Parenthetical instructions indicate repeated verses or refrains, suggesting performance or communal singing.

- Themes include freedom, post-slavery liberation, unity across racial identities, family, faith, and nation-building.

- This item forms part of the Ella Jean Downs Archives, contributing to the preservation of Afro-Caribbean cultural and historical expression.