Turned away and all alone
left on that road to nowhere.
Did I say me and mines?
Yeah, I got my baby girl
and my newborn son by my side.
Did I say their daddy was on the run?
I just thank God grandma prayed for me
and the Lord let me see.
Sometimes I feel like my heart
beats for the grave
and that day where there
are no more worries for the homeless.
Did I say Chocolate City, D.C.,
is my hometown?
Houseless and all alone?
Did I say I saw my mother today
sleeping on the side of the road?
D.C. is her home.
Can’t afford her medicine, though
turned away and all alone.
My dad died on these streets
without a home.
Did I say D.C. Chocolate City
was his own?
He died houseless and all alone.
My big brother’s been homeless
on these streets for years.
Do the government even care
about this city I live in?
Did I say Chocolate City, D.C.,
has more vanilla
than it used to be?
A place to call home,
turned away and all alone.
I was born in D.C.,
Chocolate City.
Houseless now,
but got a call today;
must have been angel:
three-bedroom apartment
for me and mines.
Childcare with a good job, I pray,
shouldn’t be hard to find.
I pray for my sisters and brothers
not to be turned away
and all alone.
Did I say D.C. is my home?
No longer houseless
and all alone.
Thank the Lord
my mom even got a place to call home.
Maybe it was the same angel
that called me about that one-bedroom apartment
nice as can be
with a washer and a dryer.
Who would believe my brother
is getting the help he needs?
His chronic homelessness
is finally ending.
Maybe it was the same guardian angel
that has been looking out for me.
So glad my grandma
prays for me.
Did I say first generation
born in Washington D.C.?
Her father was an old sharecropper,
South Carolina I believe.
He helped make Chocolate City, D.C.
Did I say my great-great grandma
helped to free the slaves?
Brought them all the way
to what they call Harlem today.
She found her way
to Chocolate City, D.C.,
the first housing advocate
I believe.
Did I say that Christ died one day
left all alone without a house?
And the Lord of all brought him home
to Chocolate City, D.C.
