“You must never, ever give out. We must keep the faith because we are one people. We are brothers and sisters. We all live in the same house: The American house.” — John Lewis
In 2020, Rhiannon Giddens composed the song “Build A House” for the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth. She is joined by Yo-Yo Ma and Francesco Turrisi in this lovely, plaintive performance. Rhiannon explains that “the song depicts a family’s resilience in the face of violence and sorrow. They are determined not just to survive, but also to tell their own story.” Illustrator Monica Mikai brings Rhiannon’s song to life with her beautiful illustrations from their 2022 collaboration picture book “Build a House.” Happy Juneteenth!
Build a House
You brought me here to build your house, build your house, build your house
You brought me here to build your house and grow your garden fine
I laid the brick and built your house, built your house, built your house
I laid the brick and built your house, raised the plants so high
And when you had the house and land, the house and land, the house and land
And when you had the house and land, then you told me “go.”
I found a place to build my house, build my house, build my house
I found a place to build my house since I couldn’t go back home
You said I couldn’t build a house, build a house, build a house
You said I couldn’t build a house, so you burned it down
So then I traveled far and wide, far and wide, far and wide
And then I traveled far and wide until I found a home
I learned your words and wrote a song, wrote a song, wrote a song
I learned your words and wrote a song to put my story down
But then you came and took my song, took my song, took my song
But then you came and took my song, playing it for your own
I took my bucket, lowered it down, lowered it down, lowered it down
I took my bucket, lowered it down, the well will never run dry.
You brought me here to build a house, build a house, build a house
You brought me here to build a house. I will not be moved.
No, I will not be moved. No, I will not be, I will not be, I will not be moved.