Immortal Technique - Harlem Renaissance lyrics
[Immortal Technique - Harlem Renaissance lyrics]
Let me welcome both of you to
The show this morning to talk
About what I consider a very
Very important topic of
The Harlem Renaissance
But before we get into that
Harlem once was red line district rated
Designated ghetto like the yellow
Star of David and you wonder why people
Don't own their homes
Cause the racist bank wouldn’t
Fucking 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 watching a porno, on 56k
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
Whats next motherfucker
Projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in
This community duke with your little fake
Manhattanville community group
Ivy League, real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle
Like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors
Like criminal riffraff
While politicians get the corporate kickback
Harlem Renaissance, a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves
Thinkin' that the ghetto is saved
Till they start deporting people
Off the property
Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically
They wanna kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Tryna 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
When I speak about Harlem I
Speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African of Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American, indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beach front Brazilian favelas 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 outta the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
WEB du Bois versus Marcus Garvey
And we ended up, selling out to everybody
The Dutch Schultz and John Gotti's
Banksters, modern day gangsters
Immobile army
They wanna 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
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 kinds of prejudices
In Brooklyn they're doing the same thing
In Queens they're doing the same thing
The Bronx
There's hardly any place which is affordable
I mean those 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 loving each other and
Making sure we are protected
The show this morning to talk
About what I consider a very
Very important topic of
The Harlem Renaissance
But before we get into that
Harlem once was red line district rated
Designated ghetto like the yellow
Star of David and you wonder why people
Don't own their homes
Cause the racist bank wouldn’t
Fucking 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 watching a porno, on 56k
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
Whats next motherfucker
Projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in
This community duke with your little fake
Manhattanville community group
Ivy League, real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle
Like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors
Like criminal riffraff
While politicians get the corporate kickback
Harlem Renaissance, a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves
Thinkin' that the ghetto is saved
Till they start deporting people
Off the property
Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically
They wanna kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Tryna 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
When I speak about Harlem I
Speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African of Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American, indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beach front Brazilian favelas 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 outta the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
WEB du Bois versus Marcus Garvey
And we ended up, selling out to everybody
The Dutch Schultz and John Gotti's
Banksters, modern day gangsters
Immobile army
They wanna 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
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 kinds of prejudices
In Brooklyn they're doing the same thing
In Queens they're doing the same thing
The Bronx
There's hardly any place which is affordable
I mean those 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 loving each other and
Making sure we are protected