The Projects

The Projects The brother could only afford to live in the projects It was the one place that he wasn't considered a reject From a society that had taught him to be everything that he was A society designed to do everything that it does No surprise that the brother can barely read or write Or that his very existence is one big fight When you're in the jungle it's kill or die No time to question the reason why Dog-eat-dog is the rule here, right or wrong The weak are simply food for the strong The projects are not a building complex, you see The projects, my brother, are you and me The sister had three kids and no man To survive from day-to-day was her plan Welfare checks and foodstamps got her through the day Alcohol and drugs helped her endure, the rest of the way The soap operas she watched faithfully on T.V. Were of no help in solving the problems of her reality Didn't have enough education to remain employed She searched desperately for a man, and found only boys She had begun to feel like a total failure Not realizing the democratic system had failed her The projects are not a place to visit, you see The projects, my sister, are you and me

The kids here have no safe place to play So they hang around in gangways, hallways, and alleyways They think trees and grass belong in the park They kill each other, in the projects, after dark Little sisters find sex, before finding love To have babies who never know who their daddy was Born into an environment of total deprivation In a world where one is evaluated based on his possessions Doomed to lose, because they'll never know the rules of the game Only the faces here change, the oppression stays the same The projects are more than a building, you see The projects, my children, are you and me Cram 1,000 into a space too small for 100 to occupy Take away everything, that's pleasing to the eye Uproot all the flowers that help to clean the air And then, in their places, put concrete everywhere Make sure that their education is lacking, in every respect And see to it that survival, is the only skill that they can perfect Deny a people their basic rights as human beings And leave them no hope, not even a dream You will soon see a people with no respect for life, or self A people who don't remember how freedom felt The project is you, the project is me The project, is the destruction of the Black family