MADENOW
to Jamaica for the second time together .
MADE : Personality wise , who was she as a person ? LF : She was very chill . Every time I saw her she was calm and cool ... I ’ m just here to have a good time essentially . Every family or friend party she was there . She never failed not to show up . The last time we saw her before the Jamaica trip was at my dad ’ s 49th birthday party . MADE : So now going in the realm of gun violence . There should be some type of action that people within Chicago should as a community . We talk about it , we ’ re upset , but what are we doing ? Where is that action kicking in ? So my question to you is what initiatives or precautions do you believe we should do in Chicago ? LF : Honestly , it starts at home and also in the schools because as you can see , a lot of Chicago Public Schools on the southside are not involved in the children ’ s ’ lives . When I was in school , our teachers were heavily involved with us . And now , students are dropping out at eight grade . They don ’ t believe their teachers have any hope in them . What they see on television and around their neighborhood is all that ’ s left . MADE : Because these kids are dropping out , not having no type of direction to educate them , why do you think youth turn to gun violence ? LF : It ’ s what they see . It ’ s all they know , see and are surrounded by . A lot of the parents are young , probably around my age . They just see what their parents are doing . Their parents aren ’ t really getting them out of their surroundings ... there ’ s no one there to let them know that it ’ s something else out there that you can achieve and aspire to . MADE : If you were able to see the gunman facetoface ,
how would you respond to him ? LF : First , I would want to ask him “ why ”. What was in your mind ? You see these other people ... it ’ s Starbucks . People are just trying to live their lives …. Why did you think this was okay ? It ’ s a mind thing , I don ’ t want to hurt him or do bad by him . What made you think this was acceptable ? MADE : Do you feel safe in Chicago ? LF : It ’ s one of those things where you have to know who you associate yourself with . For example , it was one person I knew from a long time ago ... he was a cool person , but I noticed that he was associated with certain people . That ’ s when I knew I couldn ’ t hang with him like before . You just have to know of your surroundings . Personally , I was in my car coming from the store , just two blocks away from my house , and I saw two guys were in an argument at the corner later starting to shoot at each other . It ’ s just one of those situations where you ’ re just trying to live your life ... and that ’ s all you can do . You honestly can ’ t worry about it because it ’ s all God ’ s plan . If it ’ s your time to go , it ’ s your time to go . If He has a plan for you , then He ’ s going to make it happen . MADE : Could peace actually exist in the city ? LF : I think it can . It starts from the higher power though ... but it also starts at home . It starts when people talk to each other . Just talk to that one person , you don ’ t have to kill them . I mean , what did they do to you ? MADE : Gun violence , it ’ s a really powerful topic that I think a lot of people need to know about constantly … LF : It ’ s always talked about on the news , but I was honestly becoming numb to it . But when this happened , it woke me back up essentially . Like I mentioned earlier , I was shot at twice , simply just doing me . You want to educate the people , but it ’ s just trying to figure out how . MADE : I do appreciate you speaking on such an issue and reflecting back on this memory . LF : It ’ s a not a problem . I want to tell her story ... I want to let people know that she was one of the nicest people that I met in my life . We always used to joke that she was similar to an old lady [ chuckles ], but it was just the sake of keeping the good memories of her with me . She lived her life . She was only 49 , but she lived ... that ’ s what I had to remind my other relatives . ◊
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