July 30, 2019
Ive been living in The West End for six years. I came from Valley Station. Its been hard; the violence gets to you. My brother just got killed two months ago, changing his tire. The community is very hard to bring together.
The case is still unsolved, and the dudes are walking around doing the same thing. His birthday was just two days ago. He had a baby, and he was only 7 months at the time. Its just hard. He was a good person. He really wanted us to get out. He reached out to groups to help him get out of the lifestyle he was in. It was just too late.
Im 18, and I wanna accomplish everything. Im going for everything in this life. I got so much more to get out of it. Thats why Im sitting right, walking my son to the doctor without anyone in my corner. I have myself, and I want so much more out of life, and thats what Im going to get.
Next month, Im going to nail tech school. Im starting a little business. Other than that, Im just trying to make it. I wanna help other people. I wanted to do something this summer about this violence. Its just hard to do that when people arent on the same page and wont come together and be positive.
My grandmother is the most influential person in my life. I shouldve ran with everything that she told me. Youre supposed to listen to your elders cause theyre not going to tell you wrong. If I wouldve listened to my grandmother, I wouldnt be in the position that Im in now.
I would be so much further in life. I would have been more focused and not falling into the statistics and waiting for public assistance. I would have been working harder, and my brother wouldve never got killed. He used to talk about us getting out of here and doing better. I blame myself for where Im at right now.
When my brother was murdered, we didnt have anybody. He didnt have any life insurance. We had to come up with the money and wait three weeks. He didnt get the proper burial. Hes at Green Meadows, and were trying to put the money together for his headstone. We just went to go see him and really dont know where hes really located. Theres so many bodies that theyre laying close together because there are so many murders.
My son and my nephew keep me going. It keeps me going all the way. I wanted to give up plenty of times, but I cant because I have them looking up to me. Thats the only thing that keeps me going every single day.
Dont rush anything. Dont force anything. Go with life and dont let anything stop you. Never give up and keep on going. Dont think that you have too much on you because theres always another person who is dealing with more. Keep on going.
West of Ninth began as a Louisville photography blog, westofninth.com, by two Russell residents, Walt and Shae Smith. With a love for their community, Walt and Shae see the value and potential of all nine neighborhoods that make West Louisville. Armed with a Nikon DSLR, a recorder and the ability to never meet a stranger, their goal is to shed light on the attributes that make West of Ninth the greatest.
This article appears in August 14, 2019.