Gentrification's Shadow: Holding Onto History

Lyrics

[Intro]

Oh, old bungalow on Wisteria Way,
I've watched you through the years.

[Verse 1]
You remember 2012, that first For Sale sign
hammered into your lawn on Oakview Road,
sold three times in five years,
each flip adding a hundred thousand,
no new foundation, just fresh paint over your scars.
Tonja Holder stood here once,
flyer in hand from the Atlanta Land Trust,
saying we can hold this ground.

[Chorus]
Shadow of gentrification,
you creep across Hosea L. Williams Drive,
displacing the families who built these porches.
Black legacy, hold on,
through the price spikes and moving vans.

[Verse 2]
Nayvadius, born here in '83,
Pluto rising from Zone 6 streets,
but now the U-Hauls pack up heirlooms
on hot July afternoons, ninety degrees,
sweat on brows, potluck fried chicken
shared one last time at Bessie Branham pavilion.
Tenant unions gather under the oaks,
protest signs reading Keep Kirkwood Black.

[Bridge]

My dear house, don't let them erase
 the evenings when porch lights glowed dim,
8 PM golden hour, neighbors waving.
Community trusts are our anchor,
against the exhaust of construction trucks.

[Verse 3]
From 2010 to 2020, census pages turn,
Black residents drop from fifty-eight to forty-three percent,
median homes climb to four-fifty grand.
But we fight, with flyers tacked to bulletin boards,
voices murmuring over barbecue smoke and train rumbles.

[Outro]

Hold onto history, old bungalow.
Goodnight, Kirkwood.