Beyond the Block Ep.5 - 2825 Thomas Tolbert Ave
Description
Sharon Horton, my mother, is the last participant. She will speak about the house we have been living in for the past ten years.Growing up in an area where poverty and crime rates dominate social media narratives lessens the great experiences, people, and companies I've grown to adore as a young girl. I was able to bend time by presenting memories that I had repainted using my individual vision. I discovered that place is connected to memory through each interview that is associated to a different paintings I produced. Which gives my audience a chance to consider their current location and illustrate the possible effects that location might have on a person. In the end, our experiences are all similar because we all work hard to make ends meet by using what we have. I want my audience to walk away knowing that there is beauty in where I come from.
Participants
-
Sharon Horton
-
Celia Johnson
Interview By
Languages
Transcript
StoryCorps uses secure speech-to-text technology to provide machine-generated transcripts. Transcripts have not been checked for accuracy and may contain errors. Learn more about our FAQs through our Help Center or do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions.
00:00 Hello. I'm gonna let y'all know where I'm from. Begin here in a part of south Dallas that unfortunately is no stranger to shootings. Police say the victims of mass shooting at a weekend party in south Dallas were not the intended targets. Ten people were shot in what police say was a shootout. The youngest victim, 15 years old. Another victim, an 18 year old, is in critical condition. Police say there were. What can you tell the people about this neighborhood? I mean, shit, you get some good size out this neighborhood, you can get some bad size about this neighborhood. It all depends on you, you know what I'm saying? But the neighborhood, it's a bad neighborhood. Get out there and do what you gotta do to get what you gotta get. Welcome my neighbor with number crackhead, dope dealer, prostitutes, and pimp.
00:58 Still gotta get the people to understand we is not violent, though.
01:02 Yo, man, we not know. If you were described as someone who had never been to Dallas before, what would you say? I put it to you like this. It's the closest thing you can get to heaven without dying. We're talking about Malcolm x Boulevard in Hatcher street and a convenience store called Little World, where last night a woman was shot in the head. A man also shot in the side. I'm playing the game on my phone. I just feel the Wall street. He could hear the gunfire from his home blocks away. I was like, God, Lee. Like, it's not even so much a frustration. It's just like, sort of getting to the point of being overwhelmed. It's just like, damn, man, another one.
01:53 Okay, we recording? How you doing, mama? I'm good. Okay. To start the interview, if you can describe our home, how would you describe it? It's peaceful, and it's filled with love. We enjoy each other's time together, especially around the holidays. 4 July is one of our big ones. Thanksgiving, Christmas time, and birthdays. Okay, so if you can state your name, your age, what part of Dallas are you from, and how long have you been there? My name is Sharon Horton. I am 48 years young. I am from south Dallas, and I currently live in south Dallas. Okay. Would you say it's difficult living in South Dallas? You live life one day at a time. Every day is something different. It's never the same, but I never thought that I would be living in south Dallas as an adult. I chose to come back this way because my kids were still going to the schools in south Dallas, and it was a lot closer to my job. Mm hmm. Okay. Do you believe anything has changed in south Dallas? I believe that they're rebuilding south Dallas. I mean, you used to see a lot of homes that were abandoned, and now you seeing a lot of new development, especially the area where we live. This was nothing. This area we live in was nothing. So these new homes that we're in now, they are, you know, building up the neighborhood, which I'm happy because we live across from the old historic homes in south Dallas, which they used to me, I used to think they were mansions. Mm hmm. Do you think South Dallas is dangerous? I mean, you make your home where you want to be, but me being in south Dallas, I'm comfortable with it. I'm okay with it. I mean, it's. There's gonna be issues everywhere you go. But I'm glad that I was able to purchase my first home back in 2013 to actually raise my kids so they can see, you know, where I grew up. Mm hmm. Okay. What is a memory do you have that you carry with you, like, about the house? I was excited when I closed on it two weeks before my 40th birthday. Like I said, we moved in this house in 2013, and I bought it a year later. And that was a big accomplishment to me because, like I said, I never thought that I would be living back in south Dallas, and I wouldn't change it for nothing in the world. Okay. Do you think South Dallas is dangerous? There's no right or wrong answer. Yes and no. But to me, everywhere you live, it's dangerous. You, you know, it's just the way of life, you know, and you just have to adapt to it. Okay. What do you love about South Dallas. Still close to family. The house I grew up in is just a couple of blocks away. It's convenient to go downtown. It's convenient for me to get back and forth to work. It's just an easy commute to get to point a, b, and c. Okay. All right. To close out the interview, I asked each person I interviewed, like, how are they doing in life now? I'm doing wonderful. I have a job that I love, working at Baylor Hospital in the OR. I'm proud of myself because all three of my children have graduated from high school, and I have one that's graduating college soon. So me raising three kids on my own, that's a big accomplishment to me, and I'm very proud of myself. Okay. You did good, mama. That was all the questions. Yay. You did good.