We Belong 21 Lyrics

Verse 1 (TVu)
I’m here, grew up on the shores of America
Open up shop ran stores in America
Washed windows cleaned floors in America
Only trust me with your chores in America

Just need one open door in America
Cried when we elected 44 for America
My families here fought wars for America
On TV just a whore for America

I get the memo this is your America
Still take my money, tax forms in America
Take our food charge more in America
Use our culture for decor in America

The history that you can’t ignore America
I’m the leader I was looking for America
Never silent, keeping score America
And it’s time I needed more
Chorus
We're still here
We're going strong
And we're getting tired of proving we belong
Ooo we're still here
We're going strong
And We're getting tired of proving we belong

Verse 2 (Derek)
We’ve come a long way, but what’s changed?
Since Vincent Chin, the difference just - names
Xiaojie, Daoyou, Suncha - know these names
Hyun Jung, Soon Chung, Yong Ae - we have names

Victims, silenced, evicted from our lives cuz
Our skin is the color they love to villainize
But if it’s food, movies, or women, they love to fetishize
But if it’s COVID-19, then oh - China Virus

Fuck these colonizers, calling us outsiders
We built this country too, and they built it alongside us
1 generation 2 generation 3
To the young generation, you generate me

So T, Taiyo, Ann One, and Chucky
And anyone who feels like a guest in their country
And everyone who’s ever lost somebody to the struggle
Know you’re not alone, I promise all of my people, y’all we love you
And we’re here
Chorus
We're still here
We're going strong
And we're getting tired of proving we belong
Ooo we're still here
We're going strong
And We're getting tired of proving we belong

Bridge
Because these hands have washed the clothes
And these hands have served the food heaven knows
And my neck has felt the mob's rope and it's been behind barbed wire
My arms have nailed down railroad track and our back has been for hire
And these hands have fought injustice and this soul is still on fire

Verse 3 (Taiyo)
We belong to each other, magnitude and bond
Black feminist scholarship indigenous songs
Belong at the center like ethnic studies
Be the robinhood and invest in us, we
Be living pleasure acts abundantly
Abolition is healing our suffering
Belong in our purpose, to the ones in need
Cause if one ain't got it, ain't no one free
I speak from the streets of Lenapehoking
All my relations need reparations
Power to the people, our disposition
Belong to the land with first nations' permission
--Maktub--the word that was written
When we decolonize, we belong to wisdom
The cry for liberty
The right side of history
Overstand the bigotry it's never really finished, see here
Ending Chorus
We’re still here (even when the smoke is cleared)
We’re going strong (even when the hope is gone)
And we're getting tired of proving we belong
(but we keep holdin' on)

We’re still here (even after all these years)
We’re going strong (even when it all went wrong)
And we're getting tired of proving we belong
(but we keep holdin' on)