Where is our grief Counseling and where is Black Lives Matter?

This morning, on his Facebook page, my nephew tagged his friends begging them to be safe because he doesn't want to lose anymore friends.  He's 16 years old. No 16 year old should ever have to beg his friends to be careful out there.

My Hood lost two teenagers and a 24 year old young man to homicide. Not one but three people yet we haven't heard a peep out of Black Lives Matter nor has anyone offered to give our Community grief counseling. Do they think it's so normal here that we don't need it? As for Black Lives Matter, I'm going to need for them to either start giving a damn about all black lives or change their name. They claim to think black lives matter but they don't get involved unless whites and cops are doing the killing well guess what BLM the majority of black men are killed by other black men. Do you really think to the families and Communities that lose young black men every day care that these young lives were stolen by black men? They don't. They want Justice not a group who hate the police so much that they actually tell black people not to cooperate with the police. That's because like the White Middle Class, BLM, gun violence is not something they deal with daily. I understand that but unlike Whites they deny that black men kill other black men. Well guess what it happens and I'm gonna need you to either care or change your name.

The last time BLM showed up in the hood was to protest the Klan. We have had several protests in the hood to protest the genocide going on in the hood. They get online and create cute little hash tags like #sayhername and many others but they don't even try to learn the names of people killed here.

As for mental health counsling, we never get offered that. Why not? One of my dear White Middle Class female friends pointed out that the entire hood suffers from PTSD. If a white middle class woman who lives in Maine knows this why doesn't the Professional Mental Health facilities think the Community needs to heal. Are we super human that multiple homicides leave no psychological scars. Are we so strong that no one thinks we may suffer from PTSD. We are not Superhuman and we are angry, sad, and confused. We hurt just like the people in Las Vegas, New York or any other city that suffers major loss of life. The only difference is for us this is a 32 year nightmare that seems like it will never end.

To the Hood, we have to continue to love and care about each other because it seems no one else does. #onehoodoneloveuse
#stoptheviolence
#putthegunsdown
#stopshootingweloveyou
#prayersforpittsburgh
#pittsburghisthenewiraq

Three Children shot in one night two different shootings.

This weekend in Pittsburgh was violent. On Friday night two little girls, aged 10 and 3 years old were shot in the Hill District. The 3 year old was shot in her arm and the 10 year old in her leg.
About 5 miles away in Lincoln Lemmington a 14 year old was shot in the head. He passed away last night. He was from my hood.

On Saturday night a 24 year old man was shot in Homewood. He was from East Pittsburgh.

I write RWG (Rest with God) and RIP so much that every time I type capitial R those words show up on the phone.

This is from the City which over covered the death of a dog for two weeks the police shot an unarmed black man to death because he dared to defend himself from a biting dog.  Yes he was a Police Dog but what that said to black folks is they value the life of a dog more than a human being. I've hated dogs ever since. No wonder we don't value our own lives when you learn that your life is considered less valuable than a dog.

We don't know what occurred before these young people got shot. The media will never cover an hour by hour man hunt like they did for the Cop who were murdered. So many people have died in this City but the only manhunt for the murder of someone from the Hood was the Wilkinsburg Mass Shooting. It took a brutal murder to warrant the same attention that the middle class get.

We don't even get respect from Black Lives Matter because they refuse to admit that black men murder each other. They actually believe that random whites are shooting random black people. Our black lives doesn't even matter to a group called Black Lives Matter.

What the Hood need is a respect for Education and Adult Education

What the Hood need is to stop discouraging our children from learning and since a good many adults have basic skills in both math and English, Reading, and writing.

I didn't realize my basic skills were as bad as they were until my friend told me. She began to tutor me in basic math skills. She taught me Multiplication and Division tables. She also gave me vocabulary words to learn. I surprised myself I found myself studying. After years of pretending I didn't have any issues. I had to admit that I lacked basic skills.  I am not alone either but a lot of people who live in the hood, due to either Teachers refusing to educate or parents who didn't like all that learning. The people who talk about "talking White" describing a person speaking proper English. Children are capable of learning both Ebonics and English teach him/her the time and place for each. As for the teachers its our job as parents to advocate for our kids. We have to let the teachers know that we expect them to do their jobs and educate our children.  It is very important that we be able to back up our children by teaching our babies ourselves. We need to make sure we have basic skills in both math and Laungage Arts. If our skills are lacking then we must obtain them. I was humaniliated when I admitted to my friend how poor my skills were. I have nothing to be ashamed of but I needed to acquire those skills. I still have a way to go in Math but my vocabulary which was poor in February this year has drastractly improved.

We have to not only speak English we must also learn grammar. Unless we learn what pronouns to use with what verbs and the correct tense then we will continue to work in low paying jobs with no chance for advancement.

We need to pay close attention to what is going on in schools. We need to volunteer if we can so we can know what goes on and what your kids are learning about so we can help our children.

We have to stop being so afraid of our babies leaving the hood that we bash being smart and make fun of them. The smart kids need to be encouraged and when its time for them to go to college help them get student loans and grants. Teach them to come back and teach the others and help their community.

We will never excape poverty if we lack basic skills.

You live in Braddock? I'm afraid of Braddock its full of Crime.

All my life I have heard this statement all my life.
"You live in Braddock?" They would say with a shocked look on their face. " I'm afraid of Braddock because of the crime rate." They will then clutch their purse like I'm going to steal it. I'm not a criminal despite where I live.

First of all I love where I live its the only Zip Code I remember. I am one of those people who think we should make 15104 a better place by staying here and doing our part.

Most of the people who live in Braddock aren't criminals. The crimes are generally committed by addiction. A stint in Rehab will cure that. The majority of people are hard working poor people. We are also well known for changing the World. We sued the Commonwealth of PA and HUD we won both. We stood up to the Federal Government under that scrondral George Washington who wanted to tax whiskey. You know that as the Whiskey Rebellion. George Washington was here in 1755 as a Colonol in the British army. They lost the Battle and General Edward Braddock was shot here.

AWe have played a big part of history in the United States; we would not be the Super power we are if Andrew Cargnie hadn't of built his first Steel mill in Braddock along side the Monaghelia River. It soon became the Richest Bourough in Allegheny County.  Although, we had a large population of the Wealthy we also had a lot of impoverished and middle class people. Andrew Carnegie insisted that his employees live in 15104.

I grew up in the 70s when the decline began. I do not remember the movie theatres but I remembers the grocery stores and the Bakery. I loved growing up where the adults looked after all the children.  You couldn't misbehave in Braddock without your parents knowing. Unlike today, if an adult told on you parents believed you.

Now the Fettermans have come and has gotten attention and showed a love for our town. They are building it back up but a lot of people are still afraid to come here because of the crime rate. Despite the decrease in violent crime and even non violent crime Braddock still cannot overcome our reputation. That's your loss. Braddock is a wonderful place with good people.

Raising My Kids in the Hood During the Wars

Yesterday was one of those rare days that I heard from all my adult children.  They are busy living their lives and raising their families. I thought about raising them in the Hood.

I was a poor single parent, who lived a lot of places although in the same zip code.  No matter what part of 15104 we lived, gun violence and the drug trade was always there. Sitting outside gunshots ringing out and everyone hitting the ground. My two and a half year son witnesses a drug bust across the street; He told everyone about the "Ninjas breaking into the Broken House" describing the undercover Task Force police officers dressed in black ninja outfits pulling a raid on the Crack house. We had to worry about the color of clothes they put on their body we were not allowed to have red clothes on because the gang members would threaten the kids.

As they grew up and started school I worried about the fighting and bullying that happened so often at schools as well as racism from some teachers at school.

The fights got worse in highschool but as a parent I was terrified of the children outside especially the boys. You not only have to worry about your sons and daughters being shot you have to worry about your kids entering the Drug trade or becoming a member of a gang. I was lucky my kids were nerds and preferred the company of nerds.

There were plenty of time when outside violence did not threaten our kids; Trips to Kennywood Park,  a local amusement park, Church Picnics, Christmas celebrations,  and Trick or Treating on Halloween.

The hardest thing for a parent happened after a homicide when the children and teenagers would beg you to move but you knew that you could not move anywhere else.

Yes growing up in the Hood is tough but it is home.

Preparing for my Newest Grandchild

 My youngest daughter is about to have her second child, another girl, and while I am excited and busy trying to get what the baby needs; I am also wondering if she will live in peace or will the violence ends. It's not like I'm not used to this type of thinking, it's not much different than when my own children were little.

More people are becoming Activists than when my own kids were little. People, mostly women, who are using their anger and Social Media to stop the violence and get justice for those murdered.

We are Stop The Violence and we actively support the families of people murdered across racial and income levels. We also work to get young people to report what they see and also trying to remove the no snitching rule. This rule and fear has to end. No one is being tortured now and this rule is hurting us not helping us.

It's time we start living in a non violent world and start loving each other.

Writing My Story

I'm in the process of writing a blog about my life it's been quite an eye opener.
I wasn't planning to write my story.  Who would want to read it?  I am not rich or famous. I'm just a poor woman from the Hood.  Then one day I wrote a facebook post about some of my life's most difficult challenges  and a good friend and wife of the Mayor of Braddock read it and texted me she thinks I should write my story down because she would read it.  I told her I would.
Well life turned upside down and I ended up Homeless.  I had to find a place to live and start over.
Now I'm settled and began the process of writing it all down.
All my troubles and celebrations.  I realized that my life is reflective of most of the people who remained in the Hood after the MLK riots. After the riots came the drugs and then the violence. Yet I remember life when it was much simpler and we were still a loving Community.  How everyone black and white knew not only who you we're but also who your people were.  People cared about each other.
We were all poor but we had each other.  I remember my friends parents we're also mine and vice versa. We rode bikes and played Release The Den and Red Light Green Light on hot summer nights
We walked to school with friends and went to Church.
So although life was hard in the Hood it was also good.
As much as our parents loved us they could not protect us from reality we we're impoverished people.  In the USA we are the Unclean,  unwanted and invisible to everyone but each other. We saw this in the teacher who segregated the poor kids into a group called the Dummy Group. The Girl Scout Leader who used Racial Slurs. Our parents had to explain to their kids that they are special and not dumb.
I still despite many bad times feel lucky I had the childhood I did growing up in 15104, the poorest zip code in the Country according to The New York Times.  They also referred to my town as Hell.  I often wonder why they would ever think it's OK to insult poor people after visiting our town call it Hell.
I will be writing more as my book develops. I want to start writing daily.