Spoken Word: There Goes The Neighbourhood

We the people deemed less fortunate or hue less white
Live within allocated boundaries set or deemed right
The civil rights act aimed at combatting segregation
This unified residential neighborhood is still a divided nation
With swizzling management by banks, insurance, and realtors
Venturing beyond that urban set line we were just trespassers
A controlled segregated system Johannesburg had nothing on us
Restricting access; race or color should've never been the onus
That finger on the pulse of residency drew the zones of color
Created a rude line of poverty and hating your brother

When camaraderie of world wars enticed brotherly love and equality
Introduction of the GI bill offered equal checks but no neutrality
In reality the system of segregation was not in the foxhole
Then refusal to sell or rent because of racist ideology unfold
One who was willing to give life for this land yet residency deny
Plethora of choices obtainable yet limited and we asked why
Fair housing act was available amid the underground system
Color, national origin ignored, but were foundations of the problem
Elitist created the geographical status for the less fortunate
A good education but with deep melanin still there goes your fate

Many slave ships even after Plymouth Rock landing came ashore
The relentless whip and musket - colonial scars lauded it more
Today it's tough to ignore even through gentrification
Urban development expose suburban fair housing discrimination
The Kool-aid of quietness was blended for all to taste just not you
Prosperity's old arthritic fingers gave us a closed door to go through
One save, suffer, achieve success and transfer, feeling good
Get uncommonly depressed hearing there goes the neighborhood
When a society hurdle get too high remember you can maneuver
Be unshackled by a zip code there goes the neighborhood is not over

Note: William "Bubbles" Galloway is a Spoken Word Contributor with MNI Alive Media