The author of the song, though, isn’t Ness, who translated the original English chorus into Kikuyu, the language of his village. It’s by my friend and co-writer Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannnou, who creates “World Music for Children.” Here’s her original version: "I Have a Dream - A Song For MLK Day!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBQ36WnekVM

Some time during the 1920’s, Daria’s Ukrainian grandfather Ephraim Marmaluk immigrated to Pennsylvania, the state where I spent the first 15 years of my life, to work in 30-inch coal seams:

Ridin' on a lizard in the thirty-inch coal;

See the cable sparklin', watch the little wheels roll.

Now, Lord, have mercy on a miner's soul,

Down on your poor knees in the thirty-inch coal.

--Mike Paxton/Hobo Jack Adkins

In those days, it was dangerous to be in a union. But Daria’s grandmother Mary Marmaluk was a proud member of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU). She worked at one of the dress factories on Calico Lane in Jermyn, Pennsylvania, known as the birthplace of first aid, established in response to mining accidents because a hospital was just too far away.

Her grandfather, who never learned English, was a proud member of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). He was the first person in the state to be awarded Federal black lung benefits, but he died before the first check arrived.