On February 5th, 2008, I received a shocking reality check. We were on the tech scout for our music video, Shawty Lo's "Dunn Dunn", and one of the locations was off of Simpson Rd.. For those not familiar, Simpson Rd. and the rest of this west side Atlanta community is infamous for low poverty living, drug-infestation, and poor living conditions.
The location was AMAZING (Visually)...being that it matched the hardcore look we were going for. However, I had no idea that people actually LIVE there. It looks like condemned apartments that are just waiting for a bulldozer to come through and tear it down. So imagine my disbelief when I seen a little girl who was maybe 6 years old coming home from school dragging her backpack through the pissy terrain smitten with empty liquor bottles, trashed food, and used condom wrappers. The shyt is sick.
The imagery really left an impression on me so I went back yesterday just to chop it up with the people who were still living there. I talked to a young woman who is raising her 12 year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. She told me that basically, they've been left to rot there. Some of the units are still occupied because they have no place to go. Meanwhile, the furnaces and water heaters have been ripped out of other units causing flooding in some of the apartments. And I do mean FLOODING!! And the water is constantly running. It makes me think about all this talk that's been going on about this drought that we're having and they have water constantly flowing over here and no one from the City of Atlanta is doing shyt about it.
She also told me that the city's sanitary workers haven't picked up the trash in almost four months. FOUR. FREAKIN'. MONTHS. Wow!! I don't know about y'all, but I can easily fill up a few trash bags within a week's time before the garbage man comes to get it. Can you imagine living in an area where you have trash from an entire complex that hasn't been picked up in 16 weeks??
The woman did tell me that they will be tearing the place down in the months to come...thus leaving these people with no where to go. And just keep in mind, it's not just adults living here, but KIDS also. It seems like Katrina in Atlanta and the government isn't doing a damn thing about it because it's not affecting the more affluent Atlantans.
Anyway, I just felt the need to say something and share that...here are some more photos I took while I was there:
In the railing above, you can see that some of the wooden posts are missing, making it VERY easy for a small child to fall through...*smh*
No place for children to be playing at...
Flooded Apartments...
And please believe that places like this exist all over the country...
Are you willing to do anything about it??
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5 comments:
That just hurts my heart and I am only looking at pictures...I can only imagine what it must have been like to see this up close...unfortunantely I have no idea what I could do to help this situation...but if there is something you intend to do then just drop me a note and I'll do what is in my power to help...I mean I don't live in ATL anymore so I don't know what I can do from here but if there is something let me know....I hate to see my people live this way...SMH
It's crazy to see some of the situations that our people have to tolerate in order to have affordable housing. I look at these pictures and want to cry because I feel like I am back in Baltimore. It will take more than "us outsiders" complaining for something to be done. The community itself has to make a fuss and make an effort to show that they want results. Ok the trash hasn't been picked up in 4 months, but can the neighbors just get together and put the trash on the grounds into trash bags? Not placing blame, but thinking people should take more action to control their destiny. This is definitely one example of "No Voice No Choice." We need to encourage our people to stand up and speak out. If you organize a neighborhood clean up, count me and my teens in and I'll even bring lunch for the entire crew.
i'm glad you took these pictures and then returned to actually talk to the people living there... let's do something... for real.
also, like i get what princess kandy was saying on the general level- but i don't know how realistic it is to expect them to pick up the trash... like, where are they gonna put it? if the city has not picked it up in 4 months, that means the dumpsters are overflowing....are they supposed to drive the trash somewhere and illegal dump it??
@princess kandy,
They were cleaning at first (for the first few weeks) but then got discouraged because EVERYONE wasn't participating. Like 4cryinoutloud said, there wasn't any place to send the garbage.
@telese
You can smell the piss in the pouring water...THAT'S how bad it was. I really hate to see KIDS live in situations like that. It's funny because kids adapt and feel like this is how it's supposed to be. Their only outlet becomes drugs, entertainment, and sports...very limited role models.
Honestly, I don't know where to start...
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