15104 Till I Die

I have lived in the same zip code for most of my life. I do not remember living anywhere else and I don't want to either. I am 15104 till I die which means I will always live in one of three Boroughs; North Braddock, Braddock, and Rankin.  Right now I live in North Braddock having just moved from Braddock.

Braddock was the place where Andrew Carnegie built his first steel mill that is still operating today. The Edgar Thompson plant was built in 1875 and continues to this day. This plant and others in the Pittsburgh Area helped turned the United States into the Superpower it is today.

The Steel Industry began to decline in the 70s and by the 80s the area was turning into a ghetto. The businesses began leaving in droves and now all we have is a butcher shop, a variety store, and a Family Dollar. We also have a wonderful Mayor and his beautiful wife. Who are working hard to rebuild the once great town.

The Streets were starting to get bad when I was a child. Drugs had moved in and the school district was poorly funded and not able to offer a good education. This has shown up recently because I have been thinking of going back to school to get my degree and I do not know how to do basic stuff like Research papers and essays. I am learning how to do this for myself now although I have a great support system that includes my best friend who has a Ph.d. I had to put that in there because I love to brag about my bestie..

I joined a gang at the age of 11 it was just a local street gang with no bells or whistles. In 1986 the CRIPS came to town and we became CRIPS. I began selling drugs at the age of 14 and sold drugs for years. Again with the help of my Bestie I stopped selling drugs.

I will go into that life in a later post because I want to get in the details of this zip code. The Community that the New York Times called "Hell". I'm still salty about that.

The Mayor of Braddock was not born here nor is he poor. His Wife was born in Brazil and she came here illegally as a child. She runs The Free Store where everything is free from donated items. She is another good friend of mine who is a kind caring person. Her husband ran for US Senator and came in third place although he did better than anyone expected. He is a leader and The State Democratic party will recognize what a star they have.

I have included a picture of John Fetterman that shows his tattooed arms. On one arm has the dates of everyone murdered in the town of Braddock since he became Mayor. He has done wonders lowering the homicide rate and not by locking everyone up but by helping the young people get jobs. When young people work they are less likely to be tempted into selling drugs or committing violent crime.  To bad people who are the so called experts never talk to him or even to the people who used to gang bang I'm one of those people.

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.

Braddock PA, The Free Store and the Fettermans

I live in Braddock PA which is about 10 miles outside of Pittsburgh PA. My hood is one of the poorest communities in the USA. The people who live here have faced many battles. We live in a place where kindness doesn't happen much so we don't understand this.
Mayor John Fetterman came to Braddock to help people get their GEDs we didn't understand him at first. He came from money and college. He fell in love with Braddock and decided to run for mayor he won by five votes. The people didn't understand why he loved Braddock or us the way he did but we opened our hearts over to him. Sure he has made mistakes but he proved he listens.
Hollywood has come and gone several times. John brought a lot of attention to Braddock sometimes that was good and sometimes not so good like when The New York Times  called our Town hell.
Gisele Fetterman is one of the kindest, sweetest people I ever met. She opened the Free Store which people donate and people can pick up things. Gisele is always there to give you a hug. The Free Store can help you find clothes and other items even when you have no income.
I ran these streets when I was young. I joined a gang when I was 11 back then gangs were small and usually based on neighborhoods. I started selling drugs at 14. The Crips came to Braddock when I was 22. I was lucky I survived that life with my life and without catching a felony.
Mayor John gave young people a job by starting Braddock Youth Project. Giving kids a job prevents them from selling drugs and joining gangs.

Rudeness the new normal

After watching both Conventions this year I was surprised by the rudeness of some of those that attended.
The Republicans booed Ted Cruz who refused to endorse Donald Trump.  Never mind that it was Trump's rudeness that was responsible for not only losing several people who refused to endorse and show up. Trump attacked Ted Cruz wife and blamed his father for killing  JFK.
On the Democratic side young white men engaged in mansplaining or  en explaining things to women patronizing way.  These men would tell women most of whom were decades older why Bernie was the only choice and if we like Hillary we were voting with our vaginas.
These same white men would also explain to the poor and minorities that they were choosing the wrong candidate.