Imagine this:

Laying down in your bed, about to fall asleep when

BANG! BANG! BANG!

You hear  someone shooting on your block.

You hear a mothers cry for help. 

You feel her pain because her baby has just been killed senselessly in front of her.

 

That's my childhood. That's my life.

You see, 7100 block of Race Street is where I live.

My street is always on the news for someone getting killed.

Every night someone gets shot, every night.

They say it is the new Compton.

 

I look out my window and wonder why am I here. 

Why do I need to be scared to leave my house in fear that I may get hit by a stray bullet?

I pray to God every morning and ask him to protect me and my family, but I still wonder why I live on the 7100 block.

 

God told me that I have a purpose for being here. One day, I will make it.

 

I am determined to be somebody. I am determined to make it out of the hood.

 

When I look in the the mirror, what do I see?

I see a strong, beautiful and educated black woman.

I see a girl yearning for a way out of the ghetto.

By the help of my mother and grandmother, I am the woman I am today. They didn't let me hang out with certain people because they thought they were bad news. 

I didn't understand it then..

But those people I wanted to hang out with so bad?

Dead. 

I'm only 19 and half of the people I knew growing up, all dead. 

It could have been me.

 

I have never turned to the streets for satisfaction because I didn't see glory in that.

I turned to God. He has been the one who has protected me my whole life.

I've almost been killed 4 times but because of Him, I'm still here today.

I have a story to tell, and I want to be alive to tell it.