How God Gave Me Back The Color Red

Sounds like a strange title why would I or anyone lose the Color Red? People lose certain colors in a lot of Urban Communities which we call da Hood. You lose certain colors usually Red, Blue, or Black depending on what Gang is in the neighborhood you live in. The CRIPS controlled my area since 1986. The CRIPS wear blue. Their enemy is the BlOODS who wear Red. The gangs used to strictly enforce the No Red Rule but that stopped about 20 years ago. This affected everyone.

My Friends Tammy and Gisele at the Free Store Gisele is the tallest one and the Second Lady of PA

Now for me a former member of the CRIPS the BLOODS were my enemies and we called them SLOBS and they called us CRABS. Wearing the Color Red in the Hood meant you were Set Tripping and that was disrespectful and could cost you your life. 

This is my friend Jen 

I retired in the 90s but those attitudes remained. Once a CRIP always a CRIP was my attitude.

Then Jesus came into my life in the form of City reach Braddock and Swisvale and another woman who became my mentor, an artist and a strong woman of God. I began working on my anger and grew in bounds but continued to hold on to my dislike of the color red. My best friend Jennifer knows not to buy me red. 

Pastor Chris at City Reach Swissvale

On September 8 I got baptised and although I 

continued to fall short in the sight of God Daily I was growing in my faith.

Last Tuesday while shopping at the Free Store I found a beautiful red sweater with Bling Bling on it. I picked it up without thinking and wore it to a conference on Thursday. 

On Friday, I went to The Hollander Project, run  by my friend and the 2nd Lady of PA Gisele Fetterman, for a Coat Drive. I looked through several coats but they either wasn't warm enough or they didn't fit me. I finally found my coat it was warm and it fit but it was RED. I got it anyway.

The next day I realized that two times that week I wore Red and didn't think about that life I lived. I had moved on to being the daughter of God and the BLOODS were no longer my enemy. 

The Arkwardness of Social Distencing in Public

It's the end of April and we have been Social Distencing for six weeks now. Masks are now required in PA and everyone is wearing them.

Going Grocery shopping has changed now everyone has PPE on. You no longer go up and down the aisle both ways anymore it's now One Way. This is like coming to a intersection when one driver waves the other one through.  People are getting better at Social Distencing but unlike with a cart no one has the Right of Way. Most people wave the other through and then both people back up if your coming down or move to the left if your going east to west.

I was at my daughter's house on Friday. We've been together since the Shut Down began. I was coming down the Steps the same time the cable man was coming in and neighbor was leaving her apartment to let the Cable Guy. We all had masks on our faces. We all took a step back as we figured it out. I said "Strange times" to the both of them. 

" But blessed to be here," 

I said "Amen" and we parted. 

There is always a line now outside of Walmart and the Larger Giant Eagles. They let 50 customers in and Everytime one or two people leave they let you enter.

This is our life at the moment and on the most part I see Americans doing the right thing and staying home. We will get through this together.

Before Everything Went Crazy. Life the Day Before and During a Pandemic

March 11, 2020

The day before things went Crazy was an ordinary Wednesday. I went out to get a new phone and a pair of pants and Tennis shoes. I didn't know then that in Two weeks both the Cricket store and Cititrends would be closed a week later. 

As I was walking my son Jamel called me to ask me if I we're going to be home I would be there later, I informed him.

My grandson Jeremyia

A couple hours later my son My daughter in law and 3 year old grandson came to visit we went to eat and then to Walmart ending up at my daughter's house. It was the first time I saw the new apartment. Then I said good bye to my children. I did not know I would not see my son again since then.

We knew about the Corona Virus and were growing more concerned. That day I thought about Small Groups the night before and talking about it. I told my group of my Church Family that I would be Self Isolating because I am high risk. 

On Thursday March 12 Governor Wolf announced that we now had 3 Unconfirmed Positive cases of Covid 19 also known as Corona Virus. 

The Health Secretary Dr Rachel Levine introduced us to something called Social Distancing. We were told we ought to stay home in order to flatten the Curb.

Woodland Hills announced that the schools will be closed until Monday. The next day they were closed until the end of March then April 

  

Downtown Pittsburgh during peak Weekend Hours.

I got as much food as possible so I could shelter. I also got cleaning products. Something told me to buy toilet paper so I brought enough for 30 days. I didn't know that soon it would be impossible to find Toilet paper and Hand Sanitizer as well as cleaning products. 

My Mentor Carol went to Argentina and ended up quarntiened there. She had to deal with Military keeping an eye on them and worried about how she was getting home. She didn't leave Argentina until April 4. I worried with her and prayed.

On Sunday March 15 I went to church. I didn't know that would be the last time we would see each other. We didn't hug that day and that was the first time we streamed the Sermon.

 The rest of the week most of us began Social Distencing and learning a whole new lifestyle.

 

Remembering Wilkinsburg-Mass Shooting In the Hood.

March 9, 2016 was a very warm day in Wilkinsbug PA,  about 2 miles from the City of Pittsburgh. So warm you can cook out.
At 11 pm shots rang out in Wilkinsburg nothing unusual Wilkinsburg is the hood.  Eight people were shot including a pregnant woman.  Six people including 4 women,  1 man, and an unborn baby boy.  They werent just shot they were slaughtered.

One man stood in the back alley behind Britney Powell's house and fired a hand gun as the victims ran to safety the second man shot them down with an AK 47 on the porch less than a foot away from safety.  In a few seconds three of Jessica Shelton's children were dead and two of her nieces were dead and her unborn grandchild.

The Suspects were caught,  nothing lights a fire under people's butt quicker than an International story in your County. Cheron Shelton, no relation to the victims, was angry because he believed one of the Survivors of the shooting and the brother of Brittney, Mike,  and Netta Powell, shot and killed his best friend and he saw an opportunity to hurt him by killing his loved ones.  They are still down the County jail awaiting trail. They will now spend the rest of their lives behind bars for nothing. 

RIP Netta Powell, and Unborn Baby,  Brittney Powell,  Tina Shelton,  Jerry Shelton, and Shada Mahone.

I promise you that I will never let anyone forget you.  

What the Church can do for the Hood

I am a new Christian who is growing iny faith.  I attend City Reach Swissvale when Im not working and I attend Small Groups which is Bible Study.  This church fits me because not only people like me welcome there they are a big part of the church.  Former Drug addicts,  the Homeless,  and Former Dealers, Prostitutes and other Street people.  Most people like me are not sure we are welcome in most churches because we have pasts and we were sinners.  I found this church because they do Outreach in my community.

When a person turns from a life of sin and degagration they know their is a God but they may not know where to find him.  They also do not know how to act. I still cursed a lot and got into figjts constintly but I had a desire to change.  I found people both from my church and my Mentor who lives in Maine to help me get rid of my anger and they tought me the bible.  I had to go through Santification which was a real difficult  process because you have to change.   I began reading the bible and learning about God's grace. To a former Street gang member God's grace sounds so wonderful.

There is a lot of need in the Hoods of America for churches to come in and do outreach and preaching.  Mainly what the people need to see and feel is loved.  Remember love is one thing we dont receive very often.

The Moral Crisis in the Hood

My mentor is teaching me about Morals and Morality. She feels that the Hood has lost the morality.
This is true once our Communitties were flooded with Guns and violence morality went out the door.

I remember the days before Drugs ruined my hood.  First of all,  if you did something wrong the adults in the Community told you about it and then told your mama.  We knew we bet not talk smart to Mrs Jenkons because Mama would tear our butts up twice.  This tought us respect for our elders. Today Young Sisters wanna beat up Mrs Jenkins instead of teaching the child respect she taught her child that he will get away with disrespecting adults.  Im all for defending your kid if hes innocent but most of the time they arent.

The Unwed Birth rates in the hood is 75% and since it started rising in the early 70s has increased.  These numbers dont reflect unmarried couples who remain together or Co Parent the child, as far as fatherless children go.  Sometimes a child has no father because the man left and chose not to be in the childs life a child may have had a father but lost him to homicide or his father is behind bars.

Children are being taught that its OK to use profanity even before they start school.  The children cant read or write yet but they can cuss like a sailor.

We have abandoned Faith all together replacing God and Church with Love and Hip Hop.  Church is where we learn morals and values.  The kids are learning their morals from Youtube and TV.  Children like adults

Because we have lost our sense of right and wrong for the third generation we are now in a critical stage of our existence. We may not survive as a people.

The Quiet Before the Storm

Last Tuesday around 8 45 Pm I heard all these sirens rushing past my house in North Braddock PA they were heading towards East Pittsburgh. I paid little attention to the Sirens because this is the hood there is always sirens in the hood especially in the Spring and Summer.  Then I got on Facebook and the first post I see is from my niece who posted that the Cops Killed a kid.  My heart sank because we had already had 9 murders in the City most of whom were unsolved now a child was killed by the Police. This was not a good thing. The Community and the Police have always had a strained relationship and recently there have been some improvement in that relationship, but this could set that progress back. 

A Police officer shot a 17-year-old boy who was running from the car. The boy had no weapons and witnesses stated that the cop was roughly speaking to the Jitney driver he had in hand cuffs.  He did not tell the two passengers not to run but as soon as they got out of the car he shot without yelling stop or saying anything to the young man. He shot him three times in the back.  His name is Antwon Rose Jr and he was from Rankin.

The Officer stated that he stopped the car because it matched the description of a car involved with a Shootout/Drive By and he could tell this was the car because of the Bullet holes in his car.  This is a discrepancy because how can it be a car involved with a Drive By but had bullet holes.  If the car had bullet holes, then that would indicate that there was no Drive By but a shootout.  I know the area where this shooting took place its on a corner about three blocks from my house.  They are notorious for shoot outs that occur daily. The Hood says that it was a shoot out but of course the media states Drive by so some citizens of Allegheny County can make Racist remarks on media pages.  However, as Journalists you would think they would want to report fact.

The Protest began Wednesday in Downtown Pittsburgh which was peaceful. Later that evening the Activists from the Community organized a Protest starting at the police station in East Pittsburgh that caused the Parkway East to close for several hours.  The Parkway East is part of the highway system in Pennsylvania. They also protested at the PNC park at a Pirates game and over at the South side of Pittsburgh. The protest at the South Side was majority white. 

The People here are emotional and hurting because it is bad enough we have young people in the community shooting and killing each other and to have someone outside of the community shoot one of our children in the back is unbelievable.  Nothing says your life doesn’t matter more than the people who are PAID by your tax dollars either by Property taxes or by your rent, shooting a teenager from your community, in the back.  Like we chanted at the Protest. “Three shots in the Back How are You gonna justify that?” The Police is already trying it and they have John and Jane Redneck saying “He was a killer” The person shot was treated and released and as I said before was a shootout people are going to get shot.

Yesterday was the funeral for Antwon Rose Jr, held in the Junior High School that he attended as a 7^th and 8^th grader.  There was a long procession of cars of people who were there to say good bye to the Honors Student who wrote a poem about Violence in the Community. He was afraid of being murdered by someone in his community. He had no idea that he would be murdered by someone who should have protected him.  Yes I said he was murdered being shot in the back means you murdered someone who was no longer a threat.  This is no different then being shot in the arm pits that means you had your hands up.  However, the Police will always win when it comes to this. They lose when the community loses faith in them again and NO CRIMES get solved.

The past seven days, the local media has gotten more wrong about the stories than correct. The District Attorney, who already has a strained Relationship with the African American Community, announced that he wouldn’t be making an announcement before the family buried their 17-year-old son. He said he would make the announcement soon but since he is a Democrat who lost a state wide Primary to the Current Attorney General because of his fractured relationship with the black community in Allegheny County.  The people in this community reached out to the communities of Philadelphia and Harrisburg and all over the State of PA and let them know that he ignores us and our issues. He lost in a landslide.

So here we sit we know that if the announcement is the Officer is cleared then the streets of my neighborhood will erupt first followed by one hood after another until this city is on fire.  We know this because the ONLY thing to cause a riot is POLICE BRUTILITY and especially what the community views as a cold blooded murder.

We have not gotten any word about when or if he will announce today because he will more than likely not give to much of advanced notice and will try to hold off as late as possible. We always hope and pray that there is no riot but its been a long time since 1992 and this community is ready to blow.

My heart goes out to victims of Mass Shootings but what about the mass killings in the Hood

This week another school shooting happened. They were saying there were 30 in the past 45 days. My heart goes out to the families. The people in the hood unlike the rest of America know we don't ask "Why?" We know there is no answer and we have learned to face facts that some people are just "Rotten to the Core" as my mother used to say and there ain't nothing you can do to prevent this. No amount of blaming guns and the Mentally Ill is going to change that.

Every time there is two things people say is the gun debate then the Mental illness. First of all most homicides are committed by illegal guns. They beg or yell at the President like he can help. He can not prevent this and neither can congress. Passing new laws won't stop it because someone bent on killing a massive homicide will not care about obtaining a legal weapon.

The killer is Mentally ill. That makes me so mad. You stigimize this group as a person who works with these folks its really annoying. Medication is really effective treating mental illness. You might have spent an hour talking to a schizophrenic and not even know it.

Losing a child is heart wrenching no matter what the cause, homicide is However, worse because someone stole your child. I'm sure for those parents the non stop news coverage and your child is now a victim in another mass or school shooting. They also know that when the next mass shooting occurs the media will leave them alone with their grief. The country will move on but those families will be forever be destroyed. The Hood knows this because the hood is an expert at burying our young. Now if the media would cover Urban Violence the way they cover Mass shooting s maybe it would be better.

Allegheny County Jail strip searches inmates after visits from lawyers and Therapists.

Allegheny County Jail is one of the worst jails in the Country. As most of the inmates in this jail have NOT been convicted of crimes, they sure violate the rights of all inmates.

I am a Mental Health worker, who frequently get our Consumers from the Allegheny County jail I have had several of them state that while they were incarcerated they did not receive medication for their mental illness and were on the Psyche floor. Sometimes they did not receive meds for a week. Most of these men are not hardened criminals they are Vagrants or other petty crimes. They also have not been convicted.

My nephew was an inmate in Protective Custody because the Ayran Nation targeted him with violence. One day another inmate in protective Custody, charged with Homicide stabbed my nephew seven times including in the face.  Instead of medical treatment he was thrown in the hole despite the fact that my nephew wasn't fighting he was attacked. My nephew sued the jail and they removed him from Protective Custody putting his life in danger. My nephew did not back down and obtained an attorney.  He is currently serving a harsh sentence for a crime he did not commit. He actually is safer where he is than he was in the County jail.

Today, I found another article from a local paper, about the jail strip searching women after returning from seeing their doctors and therapists because according to the Criminals who run and work at the jail they want to prevent drugs from coming in. This makes no sense to me. Do they believe lawyers would be stupid enough to risk their careers to sneak inmates drugs. They haven't stopped there and now strip search inmates who are in therapy. Again, do you really believe Therapists would risk their careers for drugs. I do not buy that anymore than I buy Lawyers ate doing it. You can read the story here http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2018/02/05/Allegheny-County-Jail-strip-searches-contraband-impede-therapy-with-inmates-sexual-assault/stories/201802050086.

This jail needs the County to straighten up this place and stop violating people's rights.  Everyone has rights and Convicted or not no one has the right to not be abused and have their rights violated.

Allegheny County Jail needs to fix its broken system.

What the Hood Needs Community Elders

I am a Community Elder for my Hood. I lived for 53 years and I still live in 15104 my hood.

Our young people have lost direction and because they grew up in a war zone violence has become a way of life. Prison and jail are considered cool and instead of college many aspire to "catch a Case". They are young so they do not realize this decision can ruin their lives completely. They do not realize that most employers shy away from Convicted Felons even if they did their time.  They will struggle with money for the rest of their lives or end up behind bars.

Community Elders, both male and female, must stick our noses into other people's business and tell the youth the truth that their lives not only matter but that they are very important. We must educate a kid that refuses to attend school that school is more likely to get you out of the hood than Prison. Employers hire those that go to school and college can be possible if they work hard enough or even if they graduate they will still do better than refusing to go to school or not doing anything when you attend. We have to start telling ourselves that Education is FOR us too.

The entire Hood is sick of the Violence and drugs destroying our Hoods and its up to us to end it. We have to change the way we live. We have to learn how to control our temper. I still struggle with that. We need to stop blaming others for our mistakes and learn.

The Violence in our communities have nothing to do with race as generational poor whites are also imprisoned in massive numbers in fact, poor White men are the majority of Prisoners. Do not let the media's lies make you believe it's Minorities and think If its only Minorities in Prison than why do they have so many prisons in Maine or North Dakota. They are both white states and I'm sure the entire 3% of minorities are not ALL in Prison.

We need to get morality back. Although most of the Community Elders have never married ourselves. We have learned that marriage is the best. The middle class of all races did not abandon marriage only the poor. Although our young people are getting married more there are to many single couples.

I actually believe that we need to get back with God. I, myself, found Jesus but if Allah keeps you on the straight and narrow then I'm fine with that.

As the Elders we must listen to all of our Youth and withhold judgement. We need them to come to us and tell us how angry they get and advise them that violence causes more problems than they solve. We have to also stop ourselves from doing it.

We need to start programs that gives teenagers jobs and after school programs for younger kids. We have to keep our babies off the streets and our teenagers with legitimate money in their pocket because a kid with his own money won't sell drugs.

We have to build a Relationship with the police and get rid of the no snitching. We need to encourage the police to participate in Community events and become partners with them.

Last we need to learn to love and respect each other. We are all in this together. Community Elders need to lead the way.

When You Think your ready to go back to Full Time but Your Body has a different idea

I have been unable to work Full Time since July 2015.  I am still with the same company I was at when I had to leave. I have been feeling so good lately that I started thinking of going Full Time. However, my body had other ideas.  I woke up sore and unable to move. A sign to me that my illness was in full stream. So I sucked it up and I rested. I spent the entire day in bed and cancelled my bible study.  This is extremely difficult because I continue to struggle financially and between January 2018 and the extreme cold and my body rebelling it makes it even harder for me to not struggle.


I love my job and have done it for a long time but in 2010 I became ill with a disease called Sarcoidosis.  I went to the Emergency Room with abdominal pain and had a CT Scan.  The doctor came back and told me and my mother that I had cancer.  This started a long 8 year journey including two different attempts to get SSD.  The first time I applied I had to do this in order to qualify for Medical Assistance. I was turned down twice.  I did not reapply again I went out and contacted my present Supervisor and I was offered a job.  I have known her for years because I worked at her site when I worked for the Temp agency.


In March of 2015 I passed out at work and needed to go to the hospital Emergency Room. They told me that I had Kidney Stones and my heart was not working right that I was having a Silent Heart Attack. I was in the hospital for three days and that began the second nightmare with this disease.  I spent the next several months  going back and forth to the doctors and praying I didn't have to quit. My immune system was failing and the doctors didn't think I would be able to make it through another Winter working with so many people.


I quit my job on July 10,2015 and my last day was on July 24, 2015.  I kept in contact with my Supervisor and she offered me a job as a Casual Employee. I was thrilled to be back at my beloved Southwell.  I am only allowed to make $1180 a month in order to qualify for Social Security which makes things difficult for me.  I will not live with a complete stranger because you never know what kind of drama people in the hood may have.  I'm not trying to get shot because my roommate has drama.


I will continue to live under or at the amount needed and pray that my decision from my appeal is positive and I will be getting a monthly check. If I am denied then I will reapply and pray that it doesn't take another two years before I get a final decision.  With Congestive Heart Failure I doubt it will be hard. The Tough part is to not push myself to hard and remember to not go over the limit of what Social Security sets. 

Humilitating the Poor for Amusement. Wonder how you would like to be taking advantage of

Three middle class young men see a Homeless man and offer him $200 to eat mud; Two inner city Drug Dealers offer a young mother $300 bucks to lick a trash dumpster.  Three women trick an uneducated person into cleaning their house by having them sign a contract that they know she doesn't understand. The woman ends up thinking she is going to be paid just to find out that she has signed a contract to work for free or two dollars a day. Yes the third one is not legal in the United States but some people are not aware that this is illegal. They may keep her working there for months or even years for no money. She may also be physically abused by her employer because she was convinced that is legal. 

This happens to a lot of people in the hood or poor people in general thanks to poverty and lack of Education this is a reality for a lot of people and because humans today lack a sense of compassion for their fellow human beings. They either want to laugh at some poor homeless man by paying him to humiliate himself for their enjoyment. The drug dealers should know better because they have experienced poverty but in their case selling drugs have robbed their humanity from them so they no longer have compassion.  Still others want free maid and child care service and have figured out a way to get this without being caught. Find a woman who either can not read or can not comprehend what she is reading and convince her that you will pay her well for her service and then refuse to pay her. They may convince her that because she signed a contract she now must work for her. They may use her fear of the Police by convincing her they will call them on her if she does not work for them.

Most poor people have been so deeply humiliated or mistreated by people for so long that they are not humiliated easily which would explain both the Homeless man and the woman paid to lick the trash dumpster.  They have been humiliated for free so much that now someone is giving them money they need to pay a bill or buy some food to do humiliate themselves.  Yes they are not happy to do the humiliating act but for them they are more worried about the bill they need to pay or they have some other financial difficulty that needs taken care of.  Men who love to be humiliated also pay the women to humiliate them.  This actually tends to be easier for the women because after all they are not being degraded they are the ones doing the degrading.

We as a Society are losing our compassion and respect for our fellow human beings. Life is precious and all people should be treated with the same respect that we want to be treated.  Unfortunately, we have lost that compassion.  Now we want what we want and after all the Poor are there for us to mistreat and abuse.  Just a reminder Jesus started life poor and homeless. 

When the Hood Protests Things get Done

Yesterday, despite a snow storm, the Hoods of Pittsburgh, protested a pizza shop because an employee assulted a woman because she didn't move fast enough. He banged her head off the floor despite the fact that she did not put her hands on him. Someone captured it on camera and it went viral. The Hood reacted quickly and a boycott was organized online. The Justice for Jade movement was born.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette and WPXI were the main two that covered the story here is the link.http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2018/01/13/Pittsburgh-investigating-beating-in-Uptown-s-Pizza-Milano-restaurant/stories/201801130083

The woman was trespassing but she asked to use the rest room but it was for paying customers so she brought a drink but he still told her no. He then became aggressive and started pushing her. She told him to stop pushing her. He got mad and attacked her he head butted her and slammed her head off the floor instead of calling the police. The police station is about a minute away. He kept saying Why you no listen to me and I say please the employees had to separate but he went outside and continued the assult.

The Hood is used to this treatment by foreigners, he was middle Eastern. In the 90s it was Koreans coming into our Hoods and treating us bad. They often assaulted us and sometimes we were even killed. Regardless of what things wlives  we do not deserve to lose our lives and we deserve respect.

The hood protested outside of the building and ended up closing it down. It was so epic that a business with a similar name had to take out an ad saying they were not the same people. Finally the Pittsburgh Police issued a warrant for his arrest and he turned himself in. She was also charged with Trespassing and he with Simple and Aggravated assult.

It was a successful and non violent protest. This should inspire us to protest the murders every day in the Communities and become involved. We need to protect equally the abuse and murder from others and from our neighborhood. Our lives matter no matter who harms us.
 #Onelove
#Onehood

Business Owners in the Hood You are guests Act like it or Get out

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10208732822476689&id=1795785628

A note to businesses inside of the Hood. Remember you are a guest and we also can shut you down.

This is a pizza shop in Uptown section of Pittsburgh, PA the video has no sound so we couldn't hear what was said only that a big White Man who only works there thought it was a good idea to beat the woman down and repeatly slam her head against the floor. I don't care what she did or didn't do. He had no right to put his hands on her. He is about to learn because he could possibly lose his life or go to jail.

We got two state Reps from Wilkinsburg and The Hill District who is launching an investigation.

A boycott of this Restaurant is being done now. Your white Customers do not want any problems after all they are also guests in the Community as well.

You come into our neighborhoods then remember you are guests we allow your business to operate there, you are not doing us a favor by being there especially since we are not being hired. We expect you to use options besides beating an impoverished woman. He could have called the police but because he is an abusive man he decided to beat this poor woman and bang her head off the floor. I can assure this punk that he will regret that. The hood doesn't like men putting their hands on women and our penalties are a lot stiffer than the law. The media and our state Representatives better make sure we get justice. Stephen Zapplalla we are watching you. We want justice and we already showed you at the polls that we can prevent you from going further. If the GOP runs for that seat you might lose.

We deserve respect in our neighborhood and we will no longer put up with this.

Giving A Voice to the Voiceless

Ten years ago I was a normal poor woman from the Hood. I worked hard to provide for my family and struggled all the time. I lived through worrying about my sons surviving the violence that was common in my hood and I worried about the temptation my kids would face with selling drugs. I also prayed that someone would save the hood. I knew that no one was listening to us and that we did not have a voice.

best friends Jen and Carol

I love Hillary Clinton and was excited she was running for President. It was the media's unfair treatment that angered me enough to start blogging on Hillary sites. It was on these sites that I realized that I had a voice one rarely heard. I began talking about Poverty and violence in the hood and discovered that not only did these women listen they cared. I met the White, middle Class Republican woman who became my best friend on a Hillary site. I talked freely about being poor and worked hard to dispel the myth that poor women were sad, long suffering victims but strong women who were mostly happy despite poverty. My other mission was to shed light on Community Violence.

Because my friend Jen was a Republican and not the racist boogyman that most people in the hood thought they were I figured she must not be alone so I began befriending Republican women on Facebook and I was right not only were there more Republicians who were not racist the vast majority were not. Like their Liberal sisters I found them to not only care about what I was saying about poverty and the violence in the hood they learned about what life was like living in the hood. They cared about poverty and believed their ideas would help. A lot of their ideas were actually good ideas that the hood liked. Carol was in this group. She is actually a real time friend of Jen. She has become what my granddaughter Aleara says is my second best friend.

I realized also that I was a voice that was rare and not often heard and I started talking about more issues like mass incarceration for non violent drug offenders and the problems of public education and how often times Educators ignore us and how many fall beneath the cracks.  Issues I wanted to see change.

I continue to work hard educating women on what impact things like Prosecutors and Public Defenders pushing Plea Deals on terrified poor people who are innocent. My nephew who is serving time in Prison for a crime he didn't commit, encouraging me to continue to be not only his voice but the voices of the men serving time with him. Its a tremendous responsibility but one I must do because the hood needs not only my voice but others like me.

Ending the Myth that poor people lead sad lives

Ten years ago when I started blogging I realized that as a poor woman I was supposed to be an object of pity and that everyday of my life was supposed to be hell. I was shocked because NONE of the Poor women I knew lived that life. I looked at the pictures that media used for poor people, both black and white, are dirty with sad faces. People were stunned I wasn't sad and depressed. I don't have money but I have a full life. I don't know anyone born into poverty and even some who ended up impoverished live horrible lives.

Poor people work very hard, we complain about taxes (yes it hurts our pockets when they deduct payroll taxes. We do not want rich people's money we just want our taxes to go to Medicaid and Food Stamps instead of to Corporations or tax cuts. That makes us no different than the middle class and wealthy, looking out for our own interests. We are not fans of poor people who play the system and refuse to work living on the dole. We are more effective with getting them off welfare because we are their peers and shame from us is felt. Most of us raise our children to be moral and most of us care about our Children's education. We over indulge our kids at Christmas and vote. We enjoy our friends and we do not judge people by their race or income level. We don't judge people on Political Parties most of the time we stay out of that area. We make friends based on their character not things like race, income level, or Political parties. This enabled me to become friends with Jen, Carol, and Kim middle class Republican women and also Rosemary, Jess, and Amy middle class Democrats. All of these women enriched my lives. We are able to elect an Upper Class White Man as mayor based solely on who he is as a person.

Our lives are affected by poverty but it doesn't take over we take the hits and get on with our lives. We face Homelessness and overcome it without becoming sad. It's stressful but just one more obsticle to overcome. We may battle hunger and may require assistance but we get over it. We know that all we need to do is sound off the alarm to other poor people because the truth is no one helps the poor like other poor people. I once had to tell a middle class friend not to tell poor people she had no food in the house when she really meant she needed to go grocery shopping. She ended up having several bags of food and was embarrassed. I told her to keep the food and give it back to them when they needed it.

I'm usually a very positive person as is most of my friends. We sit in our kitchens or back yards and talk about our lives, jobs, kids, and men. We laugh and cry on each others shoulders. I may not have money but I have been blessed with a lot of good friends. I wouldn't change that either despite my struggles.

The next time you hear about poor people living horrible lives spend time with them and your discover we lack money not full lives full of happiness, sadness, struggle, good times, tradagy and love.

Braving the Cold

Today the Mid Atlantic states is going through a deep freeze. Wind Chills are going to drop to between -25 to -30. I work in a group home so I have to catch the bus to work and hope they show up on time.

My friend lives in Maine so she was hit with the Blizzard. I worried about her losing power. I know very well what winter is like without heat.  During the winter of 2008-2009 thanks to a flaw in the way both gas and water lines in North Braddock is the gas and water lines are on every other streon. The houses that held my lines were abdoned and were condemned noone informed me why both my gas service and water was off. I had to call CYF (Child Welfare) and get help. I found out and had to find a place. I found out why in August of 2009. So my children and I spent the entire winter with no gas and water. We bundled up and used space heaters but I ended up loosing the feeling in my pinky permentaly due to Frost Bite.

 

Lots of poor people have no gas but thanks to Mayor John Fetterman and Peoples gas company joined together to help poor people get their gas service on. I will never forget that winter.

Remember to check on your sick and elderly neighbors to make sure they are warm.

Happy New Year The Hood needs Resolutions in 2018

Midnight on the East Coast rang in 2018. Millions of people are trying to stick to their New Year Resoultions. The Hood need several this year. The following are things we as a people need to adopt.

1. We must resolve to learn how to handle conflict. We tend to jump straight to "I'll kick your ass" mode instead of stopping and thinking of our response that will attempt to squash any beef we make it worse. I did this yesterday when a young female tagged me in the post and I got angry and posted angry words. In the mean time she was speaking to my sister. My mentor talked me into deleting my comment.
 We do the same with fist fights and guns. We fight and now instead of trying again or even better accept our loss we get a gun or a gasoline can. We would rather steal a life. We are not God. We have no right to take someone's life because we can not handle our anger.

2. To much sex and drugs on our pages. We are not animals or sex objects. All the smashing and passing games prove to others that we are lacking morals. Most people who live here aren't having sex with multiple people or doing the drugs like crack and pills. We have to stop doing this nonsense on our pages. It's only hurting us.

3. Education: We got to stop thinking Education isn't for us. That is a lie. We just have to fight for it. We need to demand the Public Schools treat us as tax paying Citizens and it is our right. We have to get the basic education so that we can help our children and Grandchildren.
The most important thing we need to know is OUR rights and fight for them. Once we know our rights than they will stop scaring us with plea bargains.
The second thing is Financial Literacy so that we can learn how to manage our money better. This will prevent evictions and utility cut offs.

4. Voting We need to vote and not just for President but for Mayor, and Council, School Boards, State and Representatives and Senators on both State and local elections.

5. Regaining Hope We need to go back to before 1986 and get our old traditions. We Ole Heads have to tell our kids, grands, and greats what life was like when we were kids.

We have to start changing our lives depend on it.

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.