[Chorus] Ghetto life chronicles, pages never close Every scar tells a chapter, every seed still grows Hands up from the pavement, hearts beat through the cold Different roads, one struggle, stories carved in gold Ghetto life chronicles, let the whole block know We were raised by hard lessons, still we learned to grow (Chant: Chronicles, chronicles) (Chant: We survive, we survive) [Verse 1] Mama counted loose change underneath the kitchen light Rent due Friday morning, she was working every night Her youngest had a fever, little brother missed the bus She split one meal four ways and still made room for us Neighbors brought a casserole, somebody fixed the sink An old man down the hallway taught the kids to read and think She folded every worry into uniforms and lunch Then walked into the factory before the morning rush No parade for working mothers, no camera at the door Just a tired pair of shoes and a heart that gave us more Her story fed the block when the cupboards running thin She turned a borrowed dollar into chances to begin When the landlord raised the notice, she refused to bow Said, “We may be short on money, but we’re rich in who we are now” The hallway heard her footsteps, steady as a drum Every child she kept together knew tomorrow could still come [Chorus] Ghetto life chronicles, pages never close Every scar tells a chapter, every seed still grows Hands up from the pavement, hearts beat through the cold Different roads, one struggle, stories carved in gold Ghetto life chronicles, let the whole block know We were raised by hard lessons, still we learned to grow (Chant: Chronicles, chronicles) (Chant: We survive, we survive) [Verse 2] Young Malik kept a toolbox underneath his single bed Dreamed of fixing engines, not becoming what they said His cousin chose the corner, promised quick money and respect Malik saw the empty eyes and knew what came next He took a night class over on the east side of the town Came home smelling like machine oil, never wore a crown Teachers said his hands were gifted, bosses said he moved too slow But he stayed beside the furnace, learned the things they wouldn’t show First paycheck barely covered groceries and the train Still he bought his little sister books and saved through every pain Then he opened up a garage in a building marked for tear-down Put a sign above the doorway: “Second Chances Start Now” He hired kids who feared the future, gave them wrenches, gave them plans Taught them pride is built in hours, not in somebody else’s hands When the sirens split the evening, he would lock the shop and pray Then unlock it in the morning, choosing life another day His story turned a rusted block into a place where engines roared Every young man saw a road that didn’t end behind a door [Chorus] Ghetto life chronicles, pages never close Every scar tells a chapter, every seed still grows Hands up from the pavement, hearts beat through the cold Different roads, one struggle, stories carved in gold Ghetto life chronicles, let the whole block know We were raised by hard lessons, still we learned to grow (Chant: Chronicles, chronicles) (Chant: We survive, we survive) [Verse 3] Tasha kept a notebook hidden in the lining of her coat Wrote poems on the train rides, every line a lifeboat Her father lost his temper, her mother lost her sleep She learned to hold her silence, learned the promises to keep At school they called her trouble when she asked about the rules But she found a patient mentor in the library after school He showed her how a sentence could become a bridge across How a voice can name the damage without counting it as loss She read beneath the stairwell to a circle of the girls About rent, fear, and pressure, about trying in this world They traded pages every Friday, made a little paper flame Then performed inside the rec room, saying every neighborhood name A publisher from downtown heard them through a friend Offered her a contract, but she brought the whole crew in Now the children in the towers see her posters on the wall Proof a girl with shaking hands can still stand up tall Her story gave the voiceless somewhere safe to place their pain And every verse they wrote together washed a window in the rain [Bridge] (Chant: Tell it) Tell the truth about the nights we made it through (Chant: Build it) Build a door where there was only broken view (Chant: Hold on) Hold your people when the pressure starts to rise (Chant: Stand up) Put the future in the hands of those who strive [Verse 4] Darnell wore a uniform and carried more than keys Worked the night shift at the hospital, moving quietly He’d lost his closest brother to a reckless summer feud So he learned to meet the wounded with a different kind of mood No lectures in the hallway, no judgment in his eyes Just a blanket, a calm voice, and a chance to stay alive He called the families waiting, told them what he knew Then sat beside the mothers when the waiting room grew blue On his lunch break he would visit every patient from the block Remind them they were more than just a number on a clock Some nights the streets were roaring, some nights the ward was still He carried every name home, but never lost his will He started weekend circles teaching first aid at the gym Turned old gym mats and folding chairs into a place to begin The same streets that knew the sirens learned the language of care His story made a sanctuary out of one vacant square And when the young ones saw him, they saw strength without a gun A different kind of power, a battle that could be won [Final Chorus] Ghetto life chronicles, pages never close Every scar tells a chapter, every seed still grows Hands up from the pavement, hearts beat through the cold Different roads, one struggle, stories carved in gold Ghetto life chronicles, let the whole block know We were raised by hard lessons, still we learned to grow Mama, Malik, Tasha, Darnell, let their names remain Every life a testimony, every loss becomes a gain (Chant: Chronicles, chronicles) (Chant: We survive, we survive) (Chant: Different stories, one heartbeat) (Chant: We survive, we survive) [Outro] No single road can hold us, no single voice can speak The strongest walls are built by hands that lift the weak Page by page we write it, through the struggle and the strain Ghetto life chronicles, turning hurt into a name
