I remember growing up on 18th Pl and Damen. I used to hear people say it was called “little Vietnam. Sometimes I’d sit on the corner of the block at night and watch the sparks of gunshots go off at the park . At the time it just felt normal. Didn’t this happen in everyone’s neighborhood?  It was just another day in the hood. Every so often I’d get threats by the local neighborhood gang to either join, or they’d beat the crap out of me. There were a few close calls, with fists and bruises. I managed to stay out of the way, and not look for trouble.  I am sure everyone had a different experience in Pilsen, but days like this were mine…

There were tons of people you’d hear about that lost their life in the street as a result of gang violence. You often heard street stories of people that were shot, burned, tortured…locked up for life…It was crazy.  But it was just the norm of any sunny day in our hood. I remember playing arcades at the local corner store when someone told me the rival gang of the neighborhood was driving by shooting. I remember exiting  the store  quick and running home as fast as I could, cause that is what you had to do I guess.  All I could hear were cars screatching in the background as I tried to make it home without a bullet hitting me… I look back now and I think it’s crazy and scary. I remember walking to a birthday party and seeing a lifeless body on the other side of the street waiting for police and detectives to arrive. To think this was really happening everyday in the neighborhood I grew up in…I am just grateful I managed to stay away from a life of gangs, considering I was exposed to it nonstop. These are just a few of the stories from the hood…

-fuser+