I Am Somebody.” is a poem written by Rev. William Holmes Borders, Sr. and he was the Senior Pastor at Wheat Street Baptist Church and civil rights activist in Atlanta where he campaigned for civil rights and distinguished himself as a charismatic spokesperson for the city’s poor and dispossessed.

I remember after reciting the pledge of allegiance, we would immediately recite the words of this poem:

I Am

Somebody

I Am

Somebody

I May Be Poor

But I Am

Somebody

I May Be Young

But I Am

Somebody

I May Be On Welfare

But I Am

Somebody

I May Be Small

But I Am

Somebody

I May Make A Mistake

But I Am

Somebody

My Clothes Are Different

My Face Is Different

My Hair Is Different

But I Am

Somebody

I Am Black

Brown

White

I Speak A Different Language

But I Must Be Respected

Protected

Never Rejected

I Am

God’s Child

I Am somebody.

After reciting this poem aloud, I vividly remember feeling better about who I was a child and later in life, who I was becoming as a man!

I don’t think the administrative nor teaching staff fully recognized the positive impact this poem had on this knuckle head!

You see, back then I didn’t fully recognize the power behind these words and how they contributed in building my adolescent confidence and with out fail, these words (at least bits and pieces) still resonates within me today.

Through them I’ve learned to better appreciate who I am to God by understanding who I am to Him: I am His beloved child (I John 3:1), I am valuable (Eph 2:10), I am chosen (Eph 1:4-6), I am redeemed (I Peter 1:18-19), I am new person (2 Cor 5:17), I am a friend (John 15:15), I am an ambassador (2 Cor 5:20), I am a member of Jesus Christ’s body (Eph 3:6), and I am exceedingly loved (John 3:16)!

I believe that Rev. Holmes wrote this poem under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and through spiritual enlightenment he vividly discerned that ‘everyone’ is ‘somebody’ to God regardless of their individuality, size, appearance, color, race, social, or economic status.

#BeStrong