When Detroit Was Burning

There was a fire in the sky over Gratiot

You could see it all the way from Springwells

Standing on the front lawn in the blackness

Holding fast to mama's knees

The whole block on the street

When Detroit was burning

Dad said this had been coming for sometime

The black guys on the line had told him so

The city of the ghettoes burned on fire

There was nothing on the news

But all the neighbors knew

When Detroit was burning

When Detroit was burning, burning down

When Detroit was burning, burning down

There were no kids in the park on Saturday

The Guardsmen set up tents under the swings

They drove their jeeps around Vernor Highway

Then they'd go downtown at night

And shoot everything in sight

When Detroit was burning

I was just a little girl playing with my friends

I didn't know what it meant to live in a black kid's skin

I'm older now and there's still so much I don't understand

The farmer's market's thriving down on Gratiot

But there's fire in the night around Springwells

Detroit wasn't reborn from the ashes

It's been nearly thirty years

And hate's still living here

Where Detroit was burning

When Detroit was burning, burning down

When Detroit was burning, burning down

Our hometown burning down