Hope for Harlem

There’s a new skyline in Harlem,
It’s tall and proud and fine.
At night its walls are gleaming
Where a thousand windows shine.

There’s a new skyline in Harlem
That belongs to you and me
As the dark old ugly houses
Tumble into memory—

Memory of those dingy stairs,
Memory of my helpless prayers,
Memory of the landlord’s stares
When you asked him for a few repairs.

Now there’s a new skyline in Harlem.
It’s rising tall and free—
And if it keeps on rising
There’ll be a brand new me.

Don’t you know it makes a difference
When you got a clean new house?
I used to hear those old rats gnawing.
Now I don’t even hear a mouse.

I used to climb those old steps,
Up dark old creaking stairs—
And sometimes I said a cuss word
Before I said my prayers.

But there’s a new skyline in Harlem,
And I’m thankful when I pray
That the yard is bigger than a park,
And kids have a chance to play.

That the walls are painted pretty,
And the bathroom has a shower—
For folks who never thought they’d live
In a house that’s got a tower.

A stone to throw
Or a stone to build with?
A brick for a brickbat
Or a brick for a wall?
Stones are better
For building,
Bricks are better
For a wall.

That’s why I’m mighty happy
When I see those old walls fall,
When I see dead trees uprooted
For new trees to grow tall.

And I’m mighty glad I’m lucky
My name stayed on the list
To get a new apartment
Where I live—not just exist.

But I can’t forget my brothers
Nor my sisters down the street
In those broken down old houses
Where both ends never meet.

Houses where the steps are creaking,
Where rats gnaw at the floors,
And a dozen names are sticking
In the doorbells at the doors.

Where clean clothes hang like banners
From dingy wall to wall—
Clothes that are really banners
Waving for us all—

Waving to the glory
Of those who climb the stairs
To wash the clothes of trying
In the soapsuds of their prayers.

But the old skyline is sagging.
It looks sadder than before.
So I hope the day is coming
When there won’t be any more.

Houses where the steps are creaking
And rats gnaw at the floors
And a dozen names are sticking
In each doorbell at the doors.

For there’s a new skyline in Harlem.
It’s rising here and there.
We’re waiting for that skyline
To start rising everywhere!

A new skyline in Harlem—
The answer to a prayer!