Harlem Renaissance Songtext
von Immortal Technique

"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"

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")


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


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 soldiers and the John Gotti′s
Banksters, modern-day gangsters a mobile army
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

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

"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?"