Audio File
Transcript
My name is Wesley Smith. I’m 16 years old.
My name is Floyd Nichols. I’m 15 years old.
I interviewed Darnell Campbell.
I interviewed Darnell Campbell on June 26th, 2012.
I go to school, so I guess you can say that’s my living. I attend Indiana University, Pennsylvania. My major is English pre law, and then I got a minor in criminology. I always wanted to be a lawyer since I was like 7, maybe. I think it was Matlock. Matlock turned me on to want to be a lawyer, so… I think the way the world is today, I think I’d rather work with children and like teach English I believe now. When I was younger, there was more positivity in the neighborhood. It was more activity for youth. There was like the Y programs and the football organizations. Then you got, like, teenage years, became like drug infested or gang infested and things like that. So, like, I lost a lot of friends either like to jail or they even passed away from doing things they weren’t supposed to do, I believe, I guess you could say. And then now, I basically just, like, branched off on my own, like, isolated myself, just like me and like a couple of friends. And now I’m in college and doing what I have to do.
So I went to Burgwin here in Hazelwood till like third grade and I got kicked out for some reasons. Then I went to Liberty, then I went to Sterrett for like 6th and 7th grade. I got kicked out of Sterrett. Then after Sterrett, I went to Greenfield, then I got kicked out of Greenfield. After Greenfield, I went to the Option Center, was like an alternative school. I got kicked out of there. Then I went to Letsche and then that’s where I like, promoted to high school. Then I went to City High and Allderdice. I was definitely a fighter. I didn’t care who it was. I got kicked out of several schools for like fighting teachers, and I was…fighting was definitely one. It was like my mouth, like, I was always… even in school, like I always got my work done, but after I got my work done, I felt as though I can do whatever I please, so… and there was like some little… not gang. I’m don’t want to say gang activity but, you know, I guess you could say, like the fake gang or it was things like street violence or something, I guess you could say like. I was never like robbing and killing people or nothing though, but you know, like the-the little misdemeanors.
High School, 9th grade, girls. That’s all I hung around. Girls, girls, girls. It was like me, one of my closest friends, and girls. So like, girls really don’t like prison as much as guys neither. So I think that that kept me focused. I would say my mother too. And my mother is definitely a strong, strong willed woman. And I never had a dad, like my dad died. Like when I was, like 10. He was murdered somehow. Or, but, like, he was never around. So it really didn’t bother me. But it bothered me at some point, I guess you could say, because everyone wants a father figure around. So my mom being so strong showed me that like, if she can overcome everything that she overcame, then I could definitely do things right for my mother, like, I can definitely change my ways for her and give her a better life. She’s like the baby out of 16 kids. She grew up in Hazelwood all her life. And they never… they weren’t broke, but they never had more than what they needed. So of course, like every… I believe, everyone in Hazelwood have their little down spurts, I guess you could say, like, her-her mother passed away when she was young. Her father passed away when she was young. So it was like her and her brother. So it was like, definitely like a close knitted family to bring her up through these Hazelwood streets, I guess you can say. She worked several jobs. And then, like, she ran, like, babysitting out of her house. Because, like, she wasn’t able to work with my misbehaving in school when they keep calling at work every other day about me misbehaving. So she started like her own little business and started her babysitting out of her house for a long time. They were like baby, actually, like baby babies. Like when you see kids grow up, it’s like “ohh man”. Like this is…”this is beautiful” type of deal like but it was definitely, like, nervewracking at first.
I definitely have like the utmost respect for all women. Like I believe from the time they’re born they have so much to overcome. Like it’s ridiculous. I definitely have a utmost respect for… like, I have a-a-a tattoo of Sojourner Truth on my side. It’s just like, I have that much respect for women and-and the things that they have overcome and things that they are now doing and how they impact lives without people even noticing.
Pastor Tim here at-at Center of Life, ever since I was like 11-12, he’d been teaching us how to work. We’ve had our own lawn company for a little bit and he brings the positivity to Hazelwood. Even you think there’s none, there’s always something positive he has to say. You have to stay dedicated, determined and be disciplined at all times for whatever it is you’re doing. That’s the only way you can… not the only way, but that’s the best way of achieving your goals: Dedication, determination and discipline.