Ricardo Gautreau

This song was inspired by watching a documentary about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Although I remember the times when this was happening, watching the documentary made me relive all this. It reminded me of the conflicts and the ignorance, but also of the hatred that some people felt towards the people fighting for their rights. At first, watching dogs attacking people, reading about church bombings, and watching guys beat up old men and women I felt great anger and had some nasty thoughts myself. Then I heard Dr. King speak about the dream he had for our future, for the future of his children and all children, a future where people would be working together.

Somehow this started me thinking about family and how all these people that were full of hate and prejudice, all these people that were acting so cruelly also had their own children, wives, mothers, family. From then I started thinking about what I thought Dr. King envisioned, the fact that ultimately we’re in this together: like it or not, we were going to have to learn to respect each other so we could have a just society. And if we are all humans, then we are all “Just One”. As I started thinking about the song, I extended the idea to include anyone whose suffering or misfortune might be ignored. That’s how the song was born.

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