Two-Story Project Buildings

The Seattle I grew up in is like a memory
But I still feel it's energy

For the Terrace, the Vista, Holly Park, High Point, the Village
Two-story project buildings
Where my family stayed, and we played as children
Before crack came in and made the whole world different
Remember sets claimed in the sixth grade, kids trippin
Best friends turned to enemies over a color scheme
Couldn't wear red where I lived
Black and greyed in
Walking through a war zone to school every day
And my lil journey to the Central from Beacon
Had real fights, first time I ran from police lights
Children
Mourning my middle school crush
Yacedra, never got to tell her how I feel
She tackled me in gym, so you that that it was real
Same night her brother was playing with a gun
It let off accidentally
We stopped being young

Let the rain wash over us
Mount Rainier watch over us
Occupied land of the Duwamish
Unacknowledged, but surviving this

And the rain washes over us
Mount Rainier watches over us
Occupied land of the Duwamish
Unacknowledged, but surviving

Now I've grown and our homes are like bones in the earth
Too young to feel old, but we're the soul in the dirt
Documented as a ghost in my city like I'm gone
Every crack in the pavements related to a song
That I still hear daily
I'm still here, barely
Getting out the hood today is to afford to stay
Living on a shoestring since back in the day
Came up a little bit, but so much is the same
Used to buy tapes from my lunch money saved up
And I still won't eat sometimes to do what I love
I'd rather sleep on a bus than to ever sell drugs
I don't say it to judge
But there's way more than one way to survive growing up
In the hoods that we're from

Let the rain wash over us
Mount Rainier watch over us
Occupied land of the Duwamish
Unacknowledged, but surviving this

And the rain washes over us
Mount Rainier watches over us
Occupied land of the Duwamish
Unacknowledged, but surviving

So the Duwamish tribe
Who are the original peoples of Seattle
Are not what you call federally recognized
Meaning that the federal government of the United States
Does not recognize them as a distinct peoples
Essentially saying that they are non-existent
And due to that, they are not eligible to receive federal programs
Services like health care
They are not allowed to exercise even treaty rights
So when we talked about the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty
There were things written in there, such as hunting and fishing