By Randy, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, September 18, 2019
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. You might know it by “Chiraq,” but we all call it Englewood and it’s a lot of love and a lot of hate out here. Where I live, in my neighborhood, there’s always shootings. Have you ever heard that motto, “Kill or be killed”? That describes Chicago to the fullest in my experience.
I first saw my cousin get killed when I was 11. I’ve been arrested on gun charges three different times. Right now, I’m 24 years old with a pending federal gun charge — I’m on house arrest trying to change my life around. In just the last five years, I’ve lost a lot of childhood friends to gun violence. Yes, I been through a rough life, I’ve been through it all, and gun violence seems to follow me everywhere I go.
I was only 16 the first time I got arrested for having a gun — a gun I had because I was in a war and needed protection. It’s like everyone has a gun, like everyone needs a gun, because it isn’t even just gangs fighting gangs anymore — it’s the streets fighting streets and it seems like the only resolution to these fights is to shoot.
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