[Call: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Whose hands clean it? Whose wheels move it?
[Response: Mixed Tenant Crowd]
Our hands clean it. Our wheels move it.
[Call: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Whose lives keep every late shift moving?
[Response: Mixed Tenant Crowd]
Our lives do. So where do we live?

[Chorus: Full Cast]
Whose city? Our city. Say it plain.
A deed lists the owner, not who runs the trains.
Whose city? The hands that sweep,
The nurses, drivers, cooks on their feet.
Dawn crews and night shifts carry us through:
The city needs our labor. It should house us too.

[Verse 1: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Six in the morning, trucks at the gate;
Contractors show early, the hearing runs late.
Northline security shows us a list;
We block the entrance. No truck gets past it.
Cole parks her chair by the front handrail;
The twins stream video and forward the mail.
Behind us, three hundred fill Calder Street,
Bus drivers and teachers pack curb to concrete.

[Pre-Chorus: Narrator and Mixed Tenant Crowd]
Brick by brick, shift by shift,
Who keeps every ward and hallway lit?
Name by name, street by street,
Which homes get cleared when the numbers meet?

[Chorus: Full Cast]
Whose city? Our city. Say it plain.
A deed lists the owner, not who runs the trains.
Whose city? The hands that sweep,
The nurses, drivers, cooks on their feet.
Dawn crews and night shifts carry us through:
The city needs our labor. It should house us too.

[Verse 2: Ma, Mature Female Rap]
At city hall, I get two minutes straight,
Green light on, microphone, six faces wait.
I lay three work badges down in a row:
Cleaner, hospital kitchen, overnight store.
"You called us essential when the fever ran high,
Now one rent increase can drain three jobs dry.
I am not asking favors. I came with a fact:
A town that sheds its workers cannot call them back."

[Chorus: Full Cast]
Whose city? Our city. Say it plain.
A deed lists the owner, not who runs the trains.
Whose city? The hands that sweep,
The nurses, drivers, cooks on their feet.
Dawn crews and night shifts carry us through:
The city needs our labor. It should house us too.

[Verse 3: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Three days later, a court clerk stamps the stay;
The trucks pause outside while inspectors make their way.
Nobody cheers. A short stay can end;
One missing form could start the trucks again.
Northline's representative turns at the gate;
I hand him Lila's drawing, every name in place.
He says, "I don't decide." I answer, "Then who?"
He folds it once and walks back to his crew.

[Bridge: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
The fund points to market. The broker points to law.
The office points upstairs whenever tenants call.
But every order carries a date and someone's pen;
Follow every arrow. A person waits at the end.

[Instrumental Break][Live drums drive a sixteen-bar break as brass answers the ascending Calder motif and the crowd claps on beats two and four.]

[Verse 4: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Weeks later, the council schedules a vote;
A right to return is added to the scope.
Our purchase plan gets a hearing at last;
No deal signed yet; they request a new draft.
Ma names the night bus and the borrowed floors,
The cost already paid each time they clear a door.
Keys keep time outside, block after block;
No victory chant, just steady metal knocks.

[Call: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Who built the walls? Who serves the halls?
[Response: Mixed Tenant Crowd]
We built the walls. We serve the halls.
[Call: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Who paid the price?
[Response: Mixed Tenant Crowd]
We paid it twice.

[Final Chorus: Full Cast]
Whose city? Our city. Say it plain.
Every floor, every shift, every name.
Whose city? The hands that keep
Schools, bus routes, hospitals on their feet.
Raise every key. Let the old bell ring.
We are still here when the night shift clocks in.

[Climax: Full Cast]
Calder! Still standing!
Rafi! Still remembered!
Alvarez! Still named here!
Every floor! Every year!

[Outro: Narrator, Young Female Spoken]
The trucks reverse. The gate stays closed.
Tomorrow is uncertain.
Tonight, nobody goes.
