RIP DERRION ALBERT

i am a chicago native. when most people think of my stomping grounds their minds only picture the skyline and michigan ave. i was born and raised on the southside. violence was a really real thing from a very early part of my life. my parents tried hard to shelter my brother, sister and myself from the world but they couldn't shield us from everything.

i'll never forgot my freshmen year of high school i was on my way home from school on the cta, passing julian high school, when this guy from my school got pulled off the bus and beaten by a blood thirsty mob. the bus driver was pulled off the bus as well and beaten. it was one of the scariest days of my life because it took the police a very long time to reach us and break up the fights. the boy and the driver were rushed to the hospital. from that time to the time i graduated from school i carried a razor blade and mase.

derrion albert was walking home from school, thursday afternoon when he was killed in a gang fight near Fenger HS(its crazy because i took night school classes there and remember being scared to have to walk there even in a group of friends). albert was an honors student who never was involved in any sort of violence. three teens have been charged in his murder and are being tried as adults and being held with out bond.

**i am praying for my city because i know what its like to be scared to even come and go to school, something has to change and it has to change fast...god please bless my city and my former neighborhood....its sad because no one should ever have to look back at their childhood and remember the killings, jumpings, and senseless violence***

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RTG