by Maurice
The church has been like that over six years. Fire was so hot it melted the windows (next door). We had to come in and board up the windows. The fire was starting from the roof, and they were still working…we were down here until 10:30 pm. I see a couple people come every few years. They come every blue moon and they never come back. I’m thinking…they gonna start, if not this year, two or three years.
I stayed in so many buildings in Stateway Gardens. It was beautiful, they weren’t calling it the projects then. When the crack came it was over with, it was like zombie town. With the crack…through the years, the crack made people not give a shit. It left mothers not caring about their kids and fathers. When you’re black…it’s different for us. That’s the hand that I had, learned about it and then started to think of a way out. I got out early. Everyone I know that’s an OG, they got jobs now. When you grow and you develop into something else, you figure out something else.
Chicago is divided—you want me to tell you how it’s divided? By race. I just started seeing white people on the south side, and I’ve been on the south side my whole life. It’s the system though. The system that Illinois has creates this race thing. If they could get a better system for the world, imagine how good the world would be? It’s a good city, there’s some good people here. You want to get along, cool. You want to be disrespectful, stay over there. Respect other people. That’s the main thing: respect.
