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They say that freedom is a constant struggle./They say that freedom is a constant struggle./They say that freedom is a constant struggle./O Lord, we’ve struggled so long./We must be free, we must be free.
 

Angela Davis cites a sorrow song in Section Five: Closures and Continuities, and its repeated refrain also provides the book with its title. The song, “Freedom is a Constant Struggle,” was often sung during American civil rights protests in the 1960s. The song stresses that freedom is not the work of an instant nor of a single individual, requiring instead significant, sustained effort by many across long periods. As important as freedom is to human flourishing, it is also associated with sorrow and difficulty. Davis implies that the failure to recognize these features of the “struggle” for freedom is to misunderstand the work of the activist. Because this song was often used during the civil rights movement, it links various moments in the past to present and future struggles for equality.

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