A Father and Seven year old son shot to death.

On Tuesday, December 26, 2017 the local news reported that two men and a seven year old boy was shot and killed in Swissvale. The father of the boy died on site. The little boy died in Children's Hospital that night.

The father, Walter Stewert JR, aged 29 ran the Braddock Toy Drive. He wasn't a known drug dealer and he was loved by the entire Community. He was a loving dad, his son was his life. Yet something happened in that house.

I hate reading the comments on any article about black folks because I'm tired of reading Racist Remarks especially ones about a 7 year old child. One Racist commenter referred to this innocent baby as one less Thug. His father wasn't a Thug so why would he become a Thug. This is extremely hurtfilul and ugly.

No one knows what happened in the house that night so anything is speculation. Three men were arrested that night including one who was shot. We may never really know what happened but that doesn't change the fact that we have a father and son both of whom were young.

We, Community Activists, tell the story of the victims because now their voice has been silenced. They deserve to be memorialized because they all meant someone to someone.

We are failing as a society until we start talking about what is going on in the hood. Rest with God Angels we will see you when we get there.

Our Neighborhoods are dangerous but to us its home

I have been blogging about the hood for going on ten years now and one thing that surprises me is when people ask me "Why don't you move? I don't move because any neighborhood I can afford has the same level of violence. That is not even my main reason for not moving. I have lived in 15104 since I was 5 and its the only place I will ever call home. That's right I am a lifer. The other reason is because we can change things here because no one understands what life is like here but the people who live here or spent most of their lives living here.

After my youngest child moved out I started thinking of moving to Maine and I'm considering it. I realized even if I move to Maine I will still be an Activist for the hood. I still understand this Community and I will never forget what's its like here and can never leave my people.

I shouldn't have to say this but most people in the hood are friendly and mostly we don't care about what color you are or where you come from. They will show you different memorials or even places not marked and will tell you stories of who died there and how they knew the person. We may talk loud, and Ebonics is the language for all who live there regardless of race. You may be surprised to find out where we stand on the issues. We love to crack jokes and one thing about the hood it teaches you to Rip.

As for Crime, I do not see middle Class neighborhoods being free of crime. Most of the stealing is due to drug addiction. We have our problems but we live decent lives. Poverty is not a crime its just our income status.

Sometimes God uses a Christmas Tree to give hope

I have been sick for a long time; diagnosed with Sarcodosis in 2010 they believe I actually had it since 1994. I had to cut my hours of working because it will cause a problem with my trying to get my disability.

Over the past month, my hood has had several of its young people murdered. Some of them on freezing nights. The hood gets a break from shootings and Shot Fireds during the cold season. We lost several people this year.

I also became an empty nester, my youngest left the next on Nov 30, 2017. With all this stress and sadness going on I got the blues and I was feeling hopeless.  I was losing my faith and any hope I had was gone.

Then I got a text someone donated a Christmas tree to me and it would be delivered the 18th of December. I was at work but when I got off the tree was there. I noticed it was a big tree, the tree I always wanted but couldn't afford. I also got ornaments and a gift for me. Only God knew this was the tree I always wanted. I knew then that it would be fine.

The next day my Social Worker and nurse delivered presents for my grandchildren. Today I picked up additional gifts for Christmas from Gisele Fetterman, the First Lady of Braddock. I am truly blessed.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

He couldn't control his anger now Two women and a Four year old girl had to die.

Yesterday morning I was watching WTAE in Pittsburgh, PA. They were reporting on a house that went up so fast the smoke detectors wouldn't have saved the two women and four year old little girl. I remember thinking that had to have been set. The Pittsburgh Police agreed because Homicide was dispatched to Homewood. I remember thinking that is some sort of serious anger because you have to be full of rage to just set a house on fire.

Today we find out that a few hours before the fire two men were involved in an argument about something we have no idea about what. The Suspect screams " Something bad is about to happen to you"

He was with a young woman who smelled like gasoline. She is sitting in Allegheny County Jail for assulting a Police Officer.

When the man was arrested at the scene of the crime he stated, "Yeah I did it. He shouldn't have F'ed with me."  When finding out he killed the older woman. He states "Oh Well sorry shes dead but its his fault he made me do it."
It was his Target's fault because he shouldn't have pissed me off.

We are so quick to go straight for Homicide. We, as a Community, lack conflict Resolution. We agrue with someone and the other person hurt my feelings so I'm going to set his house on fire and kill him.  We have to stop and learn to agrue or debate without it ending up with someone dead.

Now the family is left with burying their loved ones right before Christmas.

You can read about it here http://www.wtae.com/article/police-identify-suspect-in-homewood-south-fire-that-killed-3-including-4-year-old-girl/14476831

My Birthday Wish for my Grandson

A year ago today, my grandson Jeremyia was born. He is a happy baby who is always smiling. He enjoys making his parents chase him while he runs around. He has a ton of toys and loves to play.

As a grandmother of a Biracial boy, my birthday wish is that his life will be considered important to everyone not just his family.  He faces two dangers once from any cop who is nervous about his race. He may also run into a real bad cop who has killed before. When a cop kills the public will often say he should have complied although video tends to show that the officer did not give adequate time to comply before the person is shot.

The public also tends to believe you are a Criminal when most of the time they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. My wish for JJ is that by the time he is a teenager the police have received better training and are patient enough to give a person time to comply. My hope is that big Cities and small towns alike are sued so many times that abusive officers are fired and proper training for others are extensive training. I also hope Community-police relationships have developed that trust between the two reduce the problem of nervous cops shooting innocent people.

The second part of my wish is that Community Violence is reduced to the point that it becomes so rare that he doesn't have to be terrified to leave the house. He will be able to attend parties and hang out with his friends without concern that someone shoots up the place. My wish is that he doesn't start losing his friends until he is in his late 40s like everyone else outside of the ghetto.  I hope that people who shoot others are caught through people reporting to the police what they seen instead of thinking "its not my business".

 The one part that shows up for both police and Community is the relationship between the police and Community.  Once it becomes strong then people reporting what they know or see will be reported. Once young men realize that they are going to Prison if they hurt someone people will snitch on them and they will be held accountable. I'm also praying that programs for the youth in at risk Communities will help the young people stay out of the drug trade and that they are taught conflict resolution.  

My grandson deserves a full and happy life to make his mistakes and learn from him. I don't want him to ever think his life doesn't matter.

What the Hood Needs Most Community Activists and Leaders

I've written several blogs about what the Hood needs. We need a lot of things all are very important but one thing is usually over looked and that is Community Activists. I'm not talking about kind hearted Middle Class folks but people who know what the hood is like because they live there. Because, people who live in the hood are all races, the Community needs Activists of all races.  We are here but the media ignores us because we are trying to destroy their bread and butter because we want to murders to stop.

Most Activists are women and most have lost someone important to them due to Community Violence, formally known as Black on Black Crime. Thanks to racists using that to justify white on black murder and Black racists saying it doesn't exist that random white men were coming into the hood. I'm not kidding a member of Black Lives Matter told me this is what is happening. Neither group helps our cause.

We also do not need Very Pro Police that they never admit bad cops exist and those that view the Police as evil, rotten, Racist bastards. The former group would be ignored by the people because we know a lot of cops are abusive. The second group do not want our people cooperating with the police which is also ignored because not all cops are asses. Most of them are decent people who love what they do and they play by the rules. No matter what you think of the police they are on the front lines and Community Violence kills them too. They are also charged with the task of comforting Grieving mothers who lost a son to violence.

Community Activists must be strong enough to stand up to Killers, drug dealers, and addicts. They do not want to lose a lifestyle that is beneficial to them.

Our first mission is to end Community Violence by both changing the way the hood thinks to working with police to build Community Violence and to get justice for the family of the victim. We have to build a relationship with the police. The police have begun to change their ways and realized they need the Community as much as the Community needs the police.

We need to be strong enough to let everyone know that we will not allow drugs to be bought and sold in our neighborhoods. We will no longer tolerate the middle class to purchase their drugs in our community. If they are so proud of their drug use then they can buy them in their own neighborhoods.

We have to be strong enough to get the Criminal Justice to see that we vote and if they are Democrats refuse to solve these crimes we stay home or vote Republician and vice versa. We want crimes solved without the lame excuse about no snitching nonsense. We want Justice for the people in the Community.

We also have to be brave enough to take on our peers about how we are living. We need to be able to tell parents to get their Children and continue to say that to their faces. We have to keep telling them that they would not like it if it was their family.

Yes people there are a lot of people speaking out about the hood but the news won't cover us.  Some of us have histories of selling drugs, using drugs, being in Prison, being Gang Affiliated, and other problems Society can point their fingers at. This may not be good when your a Politician but when you are trying to reach young people who are gang affiliated drug dealers; that actually looks good on your resume.

Struggling to give kids a simple Christmas becomes more difficult

It's Christmas time and parents are busy shopping and making plans. Poor parents struggle with trying to get at least one of the things on their children's wish list. When they are children and even Pre teens it is easier but teenagers are extremely difficult. Poor teens are aware that their parents can't afford the items they want and most hide their disappointment and enjoy the gifts they got. Poor parents feel like failures when they can not give their children the things they want. People want to know why poor parents buy Jordan's for their children. When you constantly fail your kids because of poverty you are desperate to do whatever you want to do like buying your son the Jordans or Timberlin boots.

We have a lot to deal with our children. High murder rates and constant shootings and trauma of living in the hood. Kids here are affected by trauma due to that and add to that a loss of utilities, not having enough food, a loss of income or any other issue that might come up. The kids here don't complain but they can take only so much before they come to you and beg you to move out of the neighborhood because of more shootings or a homicide of a good friend it makes you feel hopeless. Well meaning people ask Can't you move? It's not that easy when most places that are affordable are just like your current one. All you can do is comfort them at that point.  You still feel helpless.  So at Christmas time we make more money by working overtime or taking a second job just to be able to give our teens something that they want so bad.

The cut off age for  toys and gifts from Charity is 12. I understand why because no one likes teens but poor teens wind up being forgotten except by their families.

I remember when my son wanted a pair of $175 Tims but his feet was growing so fast so he got the cheap boots. He was disappointed but now he understands that you don't drop $200 for a pair of boots for growing feet. I did get him a new game he wanted though.

Girls are a lot easier than boys because boys want a lot of expensive clothes and game system. I don't care what you heard my boys were more expensive or at least they are in the ghetto.

When the temperature drops the Homicide rate goes down

It's very cold this morning, for most people that may not be a good thing, but for those of us that live in the hood freezing temperatures mean that no one is going to lose their lives. It means the Killing Season is over. To us it means a reprieve from worry about the young people in your life being murdered. It means that shots won't ring out in the night.

I live in North Braddock PA, which is located 5 miles outside of Pittsburgh. It's located in Allegheny County. This means that winters here can be cold and brutal.  Today is one of those days. I do what I always do turn on the news to check the homicides and shootings. Today there were none.

The past two winters were warmer with less snow. Allegheny County have a bump in Homicides for both years. That is because in 2015 and 2016 were both warmer than usual. We had very little winter. Although, winters have no effect on some murders but it drops the street murders in the hood to close to zero. The first time the temperature outside hits 50 degrees the first homicide happens. In 2016 that turned out to be March 9, the day of the Wilkinsburg massacre. 2017 murder rates have hit 100, a slight increase over 2016.

Activists should be busy during this time trying to work with the young people teaching them anger management and Conflict Resolution so the next time a beef pops up between two young men they settle it in a way that results in both of them living.

Five Woodland Hills students or former Students die in six months

There have been at least five students or former students murdered in the past six months. The Allegheny County District Attorney's office assures the people that there are no Serial Killers nor are these deaths gang related. Talk about telling people what they already know. I guess the DA understands that it was the hood talking to other Hoods that caused him to lose his primary for District Attorney. He now understands we want deaths in the ghetto solved and proscuted. We are tired of unsolved crimes especially when we notice how quick other murders are solved. He sent out the report the same day a suspect was caught in the case of a 17 year old killed in May.  Sounds like they had a suspect but people won't let up this accountability issue on not only the police and Prosacuters to solve and try these cases.

We knew it wasn't gangs because the gangs around here will kill only if one of their members get killed. In other words this is like the other murders outside of the hood. Now they have to work as hard on our cases.

The Braddock Police Chief wants to meet with the Communities involved and many Activists, including me, plan to do just that. We already know that the police and Prosacuters can't do their jobs without the community doing their part and cooperating with law enforcement. We also need to convince others to tell what they know.

We got 1 down and several hundred if not thousands of unsolved homicides of the past several years.

A year ago today I became Homeless. How the experience showed me how caring people are.

Last year on December 1, 2016, my daughter, granddaughter became homeless. We were in an unsafe environment and were moved to a hotel by Children and Youth and Families into a hotel. It was a difficult time and I didn't know how I was going to get back and forth to work. My co worker and Supervisor brought me back and forth to the job.

My daughter found out she was pregnant with her second baby while we were living in the hotel. She really rarely got out.

We found a house but couldn't move in until January 1st. We stayed at the hotel for three weeks but were told we needed to find another place to stay with six hours notice. We spent the next ten days staying with my daughter.

My mother always told me that when you are down people will show you rather they are friends or aquaintences. I found this to be true. My church family helped me a lot and so did my friends on facebook. Three of my coworkers, including my Supervisor and a former Co-worker. My family of course was there for me or some were.

People helped me with Christmas presents or giving me much needed rides. My church family made sure I had a refrigerator and even took me to Goodwill to purchase used furniture.

I'm in a safe place now and looking forward to my first Christmas in this home. I'm in a much better place than I was in before.