Mildred Virginia Jackson (nacida el 15 de julio de 1944) es una artista estadounidense dedicada al soul y R&B. Comenzando su carrera a principios de la década de 1960, tres de los álbumes de Jackson han sido certificados como oro por la RIAA por más de 500.000 copias vendidas. Las canciones de Jackson a menudo incluyen secciones largas, a veces chistosas, a veces explícitas. Grabó canciones en estilo disco o dance y ocasionalmente abordóel country.
Ocasionalmente se la ha llamado la «madre del hip-hop» o del propio rap. Esto tiene más que ver con las largas secciones habladas en muchas de sus canciones que con el rap real. Como siempre le gustó escribir poemas, a principios de los setenta, Jackson comenzó a crear sencillos de R&B de proto-rap.
I CRY
Uhm, uuhm, uhuhm; I Cry
Uhm, uuhm, uhuhm; I Cry
I saw a man lying on the Street
I could not figure it out why
People walked pass without seeing
That the man was about to die
When I called for help, no one came
Because they did not want to get involved
The problem seemed that no one believed
The situation can be solved and
I cry – baby, I cry
I cry – baby, I cry
When you try to do for your child
Whatever you can do
The problem is you cannot
Because you know,
The kids are not smiling to you
Now, we bring our kids up here
Because we know that, they need education
They come home and telling us there are no schools
Because people do not want integration
I cry – baby, I cry
I cry – baby, I cry
We read the news everyday
You do not think that happens to you
But nobody reads about the blues
That heals the things that we go through
We did not ask to be on the Welfare
We did not ask to be on the streets
Our babies did not ask us to come here
But here got to we – Now, I cry; I cannot help but cry
I cry; I cry
Every morning I cry – why do not you see what is going on – you all?
I cry, no – no; I cannot help but cry
Why do not you listen what I am saying this evening?
Why do not you get yourself together?
I cry, no – no; I cry