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Hood Sweet Hood
"Shootings happen all the time in my city – I’ve even grown to expect them. "
By Ayesha Walker
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Richmond is known as "Oakland’s little brother." However, because of its gang violence and drive-by shootings, Richmond is also known as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. For Youth Radio’s Ayesha Walker, these shootings have become all too familiar.
I live in Richmond, California. Some people call it "Oakland’s little brother."
Richmond has definitely changed over my years of existence. Gentrification has made certain areas unaffordable. I don’t live in Point Richmond, where bike trails surround parks near the San Francisco Bay. Or the Hilltop of Richmond, where fast food restaurants have restroom floors that look spit shined.
I live on the grimy, gutter, flat land. The Southside of "da Rich", where you can't even rub your bare feet in the sand by the Bay because you might step on a used needle. I’ve heard little boys here brag about living in one of the most dangerous cities in America.
Shootings happen all the time in my city – I’ve even grown to expect them. But soon after my nineteenth birthday, there was one shooting that shook that attitude. It was my 17-year-old cousin Junior - my best friend. That night, I called around trying to get in touch with him. Junior’s friend J-Rock said, “Oh you ain’t heard?” Right then, man, my heart dropped. He told me my cousin was shot.
After the incident, Junior told me it boiled down to the youngsters he kicks it with. The bullet was not intended for him, but someone standing close to him.
He’s all right now. But even though Junior wasn’t the one they were after, I knew there was a slight chance he might consider retaliation. I was scared for his life. I needed my cousin to understand that he could avoid being a victim by doing something productive and getting outside our city more often. I talked to Junior about my fears, and I helped find him a job.
He managed to move on. But I’m not confident his mentality has evolved. In some ways, he’s a testament to the old saying, “You can take the boy out the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the boy.” No matter what good I get Junior into, the urban distractions will always compete.
My mom says we’re living in a bucket of crabs: the people around you are going to pull you down. In Junior’s case, the people around him are trying to live that street dream: to have money, and still stay in the hood. The dream seems possible, until someone watching gets jealous and tries to take your life. Or the government catches you slippin’ in pursuit of it…and you get arrested.
Junior is still caught up in the chase. But for both of us, no matter how bad it is, no matter how many people we’ve seen go down in Richmond, it’s still home. And there’s no place like home.
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