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.  

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.

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.

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.

How the hood deals with murder and what America can learn from us during a mass shooting.

Last Sunday was the Mass shooting in Las Vegas.  My 7 year old granddaughter asked me why the people didn't drop to the ground instead of running.  I explained that there were to many people there for people to drop because other people could step on them while they were trying to escape.   She knew that they should have gotten as low to the ground as they could get in order to survive.  She then wanted to know why they didn't seem to know this.  I had to tell her that most of the people who were there do not live in violence prone neighborhoods.  Aleara pondered that for a little while then asked. "Why not?" she looked at me puzzled. I explained to her that middle class people do not have shootings every day or most days.  She then looked at me and asked why it was like that in the hood.
"I can't go play with my friends in the back now because they were shooting there." I knew it was only a matter of time before Aleara started asking me the same thing my kids asked me back in the early days of the new Century and actually as far back as the early 90s.

Aleara knows what to do when shots are fired because she has to remember that.  She knows that if she forgets that she may die.  We do not need drills because our reality is that we have a lot of shots fired between the first and last warm days. A period of time I call the Killing Season. Little kids learn what to do when they are 3 and 4 because they go out without their parents to the back yard. 


Aleara is right people in Vegas should have ducked down but since he was so high up in the air I doubt it would have changed things in the least.  When shots are fired and its not a massive crowd then you should hit the ground and if necessary then play dead so that if he does come by you he doesn't shoot you again.  You should also listen for sounds but do not open you eyes until you see someone that you can trust.

My granddaughter wanted to know why someone wanted to just kill all those people and why did he do that?  She stuck to the known problems that will get you killed in the hood.  Drugs and gangs I told her no one knows why he shot those people. She got a little sad because she is her mother's child and is very tender hearted. 


I also want to know why people shoot people?  I want to know why our children have to know what to do to survive a shooting but with all the knuckle heads who cant deal with life wants to take as many people out with them as possible.

Why do you care about the hood? We are set up to die anyole way?

I am asked by some people from the Hood. "Why do you care about the hood?" They begin.  "Ain't nothing you can do about it anyway because we are set up to die any ole way?"  I explain to them that I care about what is happening in the hood and its time someone speak out on our behalf. They, like other's have stated.  "Only people who care about the hood is the people who live here. The rest of America either don't know or don't show that they care about the hood."  This is a common belief in the hood.  I also used to feel this way. However, I no longer believe this.


In 2008, I was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton, and as she started losing her Primary I joined a forum for Hillary Supporters.  I never expected what was to happen next. I told everyone I was from the hood and actually began to become very popular.  I met my best friend, a Republican, on that site.  She and I were outsiders on a forum where most of the people were life long Democrats.  I voted Democrats most times but not always and I tended to vote for the person I thought would be the best for the Hood.  I always voted because people died for the right for me to cast that ballot.  Jen was the first Republican I had ever really met.  She was the Least Racist person I ever met and she didn't hate poor people.  She and I remain best friends to this day.  I began to think if the media can lie on Jen maybe the Republicans didn't hate poor people and people of color. 

I became face book friends with a lot of  people both Democrats and Republican and what I found were racist people on both sides of the aisle and that most people in both parties are good people. I also found a lot of people who were concerned with the hood and poor people in general.  However, most of them blamed the other for what was going on. "Its the Democrat's fault they run the Cities."  I guess they forget the Poor Rural whites who's lives are not so much different than the people in the hood.  Why do they over look that? Because the Poor Whites are live in areas where the Republican's control.  Its the Republicans fault because they are so racist and they hate the poor." Forgetting that Bernie Saunders and many other Democrats believe that all blacks live in the ghetto forgetting that there are millions of white people who live in the Hood and they are no different than the blacks that live there.  Democrats ignore Urban issues because they listen to middle class black people who tell them that their is no such thing as "Black on black crime" and for them to talk about it makes your party a racist.  Apparently according to some members of Black Lives Matter, random white people come into the hoods of America to shoot unarmed black people.  I do not know where that crazy theory comes from but we do not appreciate it.  Object to the name Black on Black, Urban Violence is more that blacks killing other blacks.  Its also Latino killing Latino, Asian killing Asian, and white killing white.  CRIPS are multinational and are in all 50 states even in states where there are no black people. I have warned several Democrats that they are playing with our votes and that we do not like being ignored or discarded.  It is very unfortunate most people fall in line with party politics instead of what is good for poor people. 

I have found Republicans to be very interested in what is going on here but they are often to concerned with the life of the unborn instead of worrying about the people already here. Its hard for people in the hood to worry about people having abortions when so many of our little kids, teenagers, and young people are adults but of course they don't think so.  I really just wish both sides would listen to the people who live in these neighborhoods before they listen to others who have never lived here or who moved out in the 70s.

Urban Violence In the United States is ignored by UN. Why the UN ignores problems in United States concerning the poor.

                                         Police trying to investigate a shooting in Chicago




I am doing research into Urban Violence in America.  I found a lot of information from the UN report on Urban Violence.  They talked about the drug trade in all these third world Country but ignored the United States. This is not surprising to me because this isn't the first time that the UN ignored problems that plague the United States.  I get that they can not afford to piss off the United States but they need to be held accountable. They are to blame for the racism, sexism, and the failed war on drugs and oppressive laws that have destroyed the Urban communities in the United States.


The Politicians in the United States usually ignore the poor people in this Country both Urban and Rural because they usually do a good job of making the poor seem stupid, trashy, or violent.  The Middle class throughout my life time have always screamed and  yelled about various issues that resulted in outrageous laws regarding sentencing.  The Republicans can bare some of the blame but the Democrats really can't call them out because the most oppressive, racist laws are those in Blue States like California with its three strikes your out laws and New York's Rockefeller law that tripled the time served for selling crack rather than cocaine. There are literally people spending life in prison for pick pocketing. Then they want to know why their damn taxes are so high. Your paying to house and feed people for picking pockets instead of giving them maybe a year or two. New York's Rockefeller laws put mainly black and brown men in prison for 30 years even though the most you got for the same amount of Cocaine was 5 years. You would think Politicians would learn right? Nope they did the same thing to poor whites with Crystal Meth, mainly used by Poor Rural Whites.
Heroin used to be a biggie but since Middle class whites are now the Primary users of Heroin now they get rehab.  What is the difference between an addict hooked on Crack, Crystal Meth, or heroin.? There is no difference at all.

A ritual done every day in the hood for someone we lost to homicide

Marijuana, which has a lot of medical uses is a Class One Drug, that is appalling and needs to change but the screamers and snowflakes continue to cause people to be forced to take poison into your body such as Chemo, because they are so holier than thou. I bet the majority of people who bitch about weed are those that drink wine. What is the difference? Your still getting high. The next Federal vs States rights is going on now with a half dozen or more states making Marijuana legal and will not cooperate with the Feds with arresting people.


Why does the UN refuse to believe all the legitimate claims that the hood has against the United States for unjust and illegal laws? Because they are afraid of the United States and Russia. Those two counties and commit Genocide on their people and the UN will ignore it and pretend it is not their business.  How ever let some despot in Africa try doing that and watch what happens.  They can do something. Shame the Middle class who actually with all their crying and screaming and being the snow flakes they are so that they at least try to find out what is going on before they start screaming and yelling and crying.  Then people wonder why we look at the Middle Class like they are dangerous its because to us they are.

A Street gang hanging on the Corner

People in the hood would not sell drugs if they had jobs but no one will give them a job especially if he did time.  A person convicted of selling drugs is not likely to steal from your store any more than any one else and with the job you give him/her maybe he or she can actually remain out of trouble because you took a chance on them and gave them a job. Who knows they may turn out to be your best employees.   No one dreams of becoming a Drug dealer but if no one gives them a chance then they have no choice but to sell drugs.

A gang member holding his gun

Now of course not all Middle Class people are snowflakes, most men are but most women aren't. Yes Middle Class men you really are the biggest snow flakes white and black..


So UN if you are allowing The United States and Russia to get away with things that you are not allowing Africa or North Korea to get away with then what good are you. Remember something Africa and the rest of the third world countries can not do without sanctions. then perhaps you should disband because you are not helping anyone. 

What the hood needs? Building relationships with the police.

I was scrolling FB when I saw a post about what they can do to help the black community. By their post,  I can tell they were confusing the Black community with the Hood , whom they were referring to.

One of the most important things we need is to build a relationship between the police and the hood.  The police have started to reach out to the Community we need to meet them half way.

The rift started because of police brutality before the Wars started. Now things have changed and the police have started to change and we have to meet them half way.

I think the change began in the police for two reasons the community stopped talking to them and crimes went unsolved,  it's real hard to see people as inferior to you when you are holding a grieving mother and father in your arms after their child was murdered. The police have to see the devastation personally daily. Yes, terrorism started the no snitching custom but police brutality also was affected it as well.
We still believe in holding the police accountable, but painting all cops as racist or brutal is just as wrong and destructive as painting all blacks as criminals.

When a cop or cops see a group of kids playing basketball and the cops join in, this is Community relations because now these kids see Cops as Human beings.  Rap battles or dance battles joined by cops also are community relations. We need to set up games where the police do not have their uniforms or guns (kinda dangerous to play basketball with a gun and it's hot as is running around the bases playing soft ball with a hot uniform on)on in a relaxing atmosphere is a good thing. Seeing the Community on the field also let's the police see us as not different from them at all.

It's time for the killings to stop and the first thing that got to go is the No Snitching rule and start reporting what we see because in the end it's the entire community that needs justice. The police are doing their part it's time we do ours.

Just Another Day in The Hood

people attending a funeral

Today on my way to church, I was walking through the Hood.  

First I walk by three drunks stumbling out of the bar.  Talking real loud and singing.  Young people were sitting outside smoking weed with their music blasting. Couples were fighting about cheating and baby daddy's and baby Mama's. Because this happens every day, I do not pay attention. 

I could see the local funeral home and because of the number of youth I know it was someone young. I search my mind and remembered earlier this week a 26 year old Jitney driver was murdered. The tee shirts worn by the family and friends that bear the name of the deceased and the Sunrise and Sunset. I felt sad for the family,  his child who is only a toddler, and for our whole Community  This is something we can never pretend it's nothing just being hood.  This can never become normal but sadly it has. 

Fist fight 

The teenagers outside and even inside of the Church want to fight each other.  Women fist fighting over kids.  No one sees that one leads to another.  What starts as a fight ends up with the funeral of one and Life in Prison for the other. It's a lose lose situation for us as a people.