Harlem Renaissance Songtext / Lyric

(Sample)

"Let me welcome both of you, uh, to the show this morning, to talk about what I consider to be a very very important topic, uh, the Harlem Renaissance. But before we get into that..."



(Verse 1)

Harlem once was red line district rated

Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David

And you wonder why people don't own they homes

'Cause the racist bank wouldn't fuckin' mortgage a loan

Harlem once was red line district rated

Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David

And you wonder why people don't own they homes

'Cause the racist bank wouldn't fuckin' mortgage a loan

Harlem once was red line district rated

Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David

And you wonder why people don't own they homes

'Cause the racist bank wouldn't fuckin' mortgage a loan






Until after the invasion of gentrification

Eminent domain intimidation, that's not negotiation

And it's frustrating to look at every day

Like watchin' a porno on 56k

Biohazard labs instead of store rooms

What's next, motherfucka', projects as dorm rooms?

You ain't foolin' nobody in this community, dude

With your little fake Manhattanville community group

Ivy league real estate firms are corrupt

That lay siege to your castle like the Moors in Europe

They treat street vendors like criminal riffraff

While politicians get the corporate kickbacks ("snakes")



(Hook)

Harlem renaissance, a revolution betrayed

Modern-day slaves thinking that the ghetto is saved

'Till they start deporting people off the property

Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically

They want to kill the real Harlem renaissance

Tryin' to put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause

The savior is a metaphor for how we set it off

Guerrilla war against the rezoning predators



(Verse 2)

When I speak about Harlem, I speak to the world

The little Afghan boy, and the Bosnian girl

The African in Sudan, the people of Kurdistan

The third world American indigenous man

Palestinians, Washington Heights Dominicans, displaced New Orleans citizens

Beachfront Brazilian fevelas that you livin' in

The hood is prime real estate, they want back in again

I didn't write this to talk shit, I say it because

Some of ya'll forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was

We had revolution, music and artisans

But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson's

'Cause while we were giving birth to the culture we love

Prejudice kept our own people out of the club

Only colored celebrities in the party

And left us a legacy of false superiority

W.E.B. Du Bois versus Marcus Garvey

And we ended up selling out to everybody

The Dutch (?) and the John Gotti's

Banksters, modern-day gangsters (?)

They want to move us all out the NYC

Like they did to the Jews with the Alhambra decree

So support your own businesses and do the knowledge

'Cause the real Harlem renaissance is economic



(Hook)

Harlem renaissance, a revolution betrayed

Modern-day slaves thinking that the ghetto is saved

'Till they start deporting people off the property

Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically

They want to kill the real Harlem renaissance

Tryin' to put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause

The savior is a metaphor for how we set it off

Guerrilla war against the rezoning predators



(Sample)

"When they were saying it is the renaissance of Harlem, they didn't mean that we had stake in that. They meant to say that they could make money out of us."



"They are coming in with all kind of prejudices. In Brooklyn they're doing the same thing. In, um, Queens they're doing the same thing. The Bronx. There's hardly any place which is affordable. I mean these people are putting up condominiums which start from a million dollars. How many people in this community make that kind of money? How many people have that kind of money?"



"People of Harlem, they are the natural allies of the oppressed people of the world. Whether the struggle is in Panama, in Africa, Cuba."



"We spend money with the wrong people. We are looking for love with people who don't love us. What's wrong with us loving each other, and making sure we are protected?"