Still I Rise – Paraphrase

You can write false facts about me in history,

With your harsh, sharp accusations,
You shove me into thick dirt.
But still, like ash from a fire, I rise.

Does my overconfidence unsettle you?

Why are you filled with despair?
So I walk like I got tons of gold,
Laying in my living room.

Just like the cycles of the moon and sun,

With their precision,
Just like hope rising in the spring time,
I will rise.

Do you want to see me poor?

Bow my head and lower my eyes?
Shoulders bent to the ground,
Weakened by my own lament.

Does my snobbishness offend you?

Don’t be offended that much,
Because I laugh like I got gold mines in my own backyard.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise,
That I dance like I got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

You may harm me with your words,

You may wound me with your gaze,
You may kill me with your hatred,
But, like air, I will rise

From the uncivilized lands of our history,

I rise,
Above from a pas that many have suffered
I rise
I am part of nature, rising and declining,
Expanding and condensing, I bear life

Leaving behind days of terror and fear

I rise
Into dawn that is crystal clear
I rise
Bringing the past of my ancestor’s culture,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.