Before, They choke the Mother Earth We were not immigrants We were travelers Distinct merchants Wealthy sailors We had already gone to America, Asia Iberian Peninsula, before We had already been walking in our camels and elephants, full of gold Yorubas, Songays, Aksias, Ghanas, Ashantis We already had architects, art, brilliant scientists That today Europe keep them closed in museums and shelves Before Now they call us Immigrants Describe us as wanderers That shipwrecks on the coast In desperate situations They say we flee from wars, famines and bad rulers But they do not say that they are the ones who generate wars, famine and bad rulers You make sure That they continue to rob us of oil, culture and diamonds A new Africa Sharing happens as before While millions of Africans still die as before Or seek a new life in the world outside Behind what we had before And today they see us as the danger of veils and turbans Today they call us delinquents and traffickers Or they just want us to be athletes, singers and comedians Or that we build their houses and cook in their restaurants Their education make us small In the midst of their giants With the authorities chasing us Explored oppressed In degrading, humiliating conditions But the light of my story promises me sparkling days Griot with my Kora I travel the world to tell stories of distant past Griot with my Kora I travel the world to tell stories from now CHORUS I went, returned Returned and went Already taught, learned Learned and taught Already took, brought Brought and took Already gave, received Received, gave I... I moved through the world Until i made the world spin I... If i don´t move through the world Then the world stops spinning I... I worked for the world Until i made the world work And if i do not work for the world Then the world can not function But i still encounter barriers I´m stopped at the borders I have a empty wallet I have no ground or flags The world is not yours! The world is not mine! And if the world is yours, then it is mine too! But the world is not yours And the world is not mine The world belongs to Orunmila Who threw us down from Heaven