Black Man (song)

The opening verses refer to 12 people, with four people per verse each, broken by the chorus and bridge. The song uses color terminology for race.

1. a black man – first man to die for the American flag (Crispus Attucks)
2. the redman – first people on American ground (Native American people)
3. a brown man – guide on the first Columbus trip (Pedro Alonso Niño)
4. the yellow man – laid tracks for railroads (Chinese workers)
5. a black man – first heart surgeon (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams)
6. a redman – helped pilgrims to survive at Plymouth (Squanto)
7. a brown man – leader for farm workers' rights (Cesar Chavez)
8. a white man – inventor of incandescent light bulb (Thomas Edison)
9. a black man – created first clock to be made in America (Benjamin Banneker)
10. a red woman – scout who helped lead Lewis and Clark Expedition (Sacagawea)
11. a yellow man – pioneer of martial arts in America (Bruce Lee)
12. a white man – Emancipation Proclamation (Abraham Lincoln)

The second section is a call-and-response format, calling out 17 people.[2]

1. Matthew Henson – a black man – first man to set foot on the North Pole
2. Squanto – a redman – first American to show the pilgrims at Plymouth the secrets of survival in the New World
3. Sing Kee – a yellow man – soldier of Company G who won high honors for extraordinary heroism in World War I[6][7]
4. Cesar Chavez – a brown man – leader of United Farm Workers who helped farm workers maintain dignity and respect
5. Dr. Charles Drew – a black man – founder of blood plasma and the director of the Red Cross blood bank
6. Sacagawea – a red woman – great American heroine who aided the Lewis and Clark Expedition
7. Hayakawa – a yellow man – famous educator and semanticist who made outstanding contributions to education in America
8. Garrett Morgan – a black man – invented the world's first stop light and the gas mask
9. Harvey William Cushing – a white man – American surgeon who was one of the founders of neurosurgery
10. Benjamin Banneker – a black man – man who helped design the nation's capitol, made the first clock to give time in America and wrote the first almanac
11. Hiawatha – a red man – legendary hero who helped establish the league of Iroquois
12. Michio Kushi – a yellow man – leader of the first macrobiotic center in America
13. Jean Baptiste – a black man – founder of the city of Chicago in 1772
14. Dennis Banks – a red man – one of the organizers of the American Indian movement
15. Luis de Santángel – a white man – Jewish financier who raised funds to sponsor Christopher Columbus' voyage to America
16. Harriet Tubman – a black woman – woman who led countless slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad
17. T. J. Marshall[8] – a black man – inventor of the fire extinguisher (barely heard during fadeout)