Precious Jones and Delilah [No Name Given]

[00:01] DELILAH RYDER: Hi, my Name is Delilah Ryder. I'm 25 years old. Today's date is October 9, 2023. I am in St. Louis, Missouri, with Precious who I will be having a conversation with today. You're up. Okay.

[00:16] PRECIOUS JONES: Hi, my Name is Precious Jones I am 40. Today is October 9 of 2023. I'm in St. Louis, Missouri, and I am being interviewed by Delilah

[00:29] DELILAH RYDER: Hi.

[00:29] PRECIOUS JONES: Hi.

[00:30] DELILAH RYDER: Nice to meet you.

[00:31] PRECIOUS JONES: You, too.

[00:32] DELILAH RYDER: So, because I don't know really anything about you yet, I want to maybe start with your childhood and who you are, where you grew up. Anything that you want to share, for the record.

[00:44] PRECIOUS JONES: Okay. So again, my Name is Precious Jones I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. My mother is Paula Jones We moved to California, Los Angeles, California. I was maybe around four. I went to elementary in LA, so I lived in Los Angeles, Gardenia and Inglewood. I went to Warren Lane School, elementary school. I went to Manhattan Place Elementary School and 52nd street elementary School. And I did junior high at Henry Clay. We moved back to St. Louis still in my junior high years. And I did part of my junior high at Normandy Middle School and the remaining at Berkeley Middle School. And I went to Berkeley High School and Normandy Middle School. So, yeah, the rest of my teenage years, I was in Missouri.

[01:53] DELILAH RYDER: And how did it feel moving around so much?

[01:56] PRECIOUS JONES: As a child, I loved California, but I had an even bigger love for Missouri because majority of my family was in St. Louis. But my childhood memories and friends are in California, so I love both.

[02:12] DELILAH RYDER: Yeah. Do you have any favorite memories of California?

[02:16] PRECIOUS JONES: Yeah, just, like starting school and just school days, being with my friends. Yeah.

[02:26] DELILAH RYDER: Do you have siblings, or was it just you and your mom?

[02:29] PRECIOUS JONES: Yeah, I have siblings. I have two brothers. We've always been really, really close. So, yeah.

[02:36] DELILAH RYDER: That's sweet. Are you the youngest of middle?

[02:39] PRECIOUS JONES: No, I'm the middle. I'm the only girl on my mom, out of my mom's children. I have a step sister, so I have an older brother, Paul Jones Phillip Jones And I have a sister, Shayla Gillespie. So, yeah.

[02:55] DELILAH RYDER: Nice. Can you tell me about someone you'll always remember?

[03:01] PRECIOUS JONES: Someone that I will always remember is my son, Preston Jones I have a few someones that I will always remember. My son, Preston Jones my nephew, Corey Blackwell, my brother, Paul Jones and my uncle Jerry and Eddie Robinson.

[03:22] DELILAH RYDER: Can you tell me about some of them?

[03:25] PRECIOUS JONES: My son, Preston Jones he was 20, and he was murdered last year, June 17 of 2022. He was murdered in his sleep, and he was pronounced at 03:00 a.m. my nephew, Corey Blackwell, was murdered April 5 of 2022, he was murdered in a car, and he passed away on the way to the hospital. My brother, he passed away on his 40th birthday in February, on February 24 of 2021, from a fentanyl overdose. So it's been really weird.

[04:07] DELILAH RYDER: Sorry to hear that. Yeah. It sounds like a whole year of madness.

[04:13] PRECIOUS JONES: Yeah.

[04:13] DELILAH RYDER: Or that's not the right word, but do you. I feel like with these kinds of things, sometimes it feels good to talk about the experience of losing those people, and then other times it might feel healing, too. Remember positive memories of them is there, or we don't have to talk about any of them at all. I'm gonna leave that to you.

[04:35] PRECIOUS JONES: I always wanna talk about my son, my nephew.

[04:38] DELILAH RYDER: And can you tell me about Preston?

[04:41] PRECIOUS JONES: Yes. Preston was my middle son, and, boy, he was like the life of the party. He was always fun. He was always loud. You always knew that Preston was around. He was not the one to sit in the back and be quiet. He was always directing and leading something. He was just the life of the family, of our household. My nephew Corey was laid back, but he was, too. He was more laid back than Preston, but they both were hyped together, and you couldn't find one without the other. But Corey was like, the balance that would compress it down.

[05:28] DELILAH RYDER: How old was Cory?

[05:29] PRECIOUS JONES: He was 19.

[05:30] DELILAH RYDER: Okay, so they're.

[05:31] PRECIOUS JONES: Yes, very close. They were, as Corey Ma would say, what and what? Cause you couldn't see one without the other, and they were under my eldest brother that passed away a lot. Pause. So it was the three of them besides, you know, the other brothers and I, they were just, you know, they kept us going. We loved them a lot. We were a really close knitted family, and we just enjoy every moment of having them around. I mean, it's countless of good memories, funny memories, but overall, we just really miss them and having them around, and they were so young. They had their whole life ahead of them, and it was just tragically taken away. And, snuffer.

[06:23] DELILAH RYDER: Do you have a favorite memory of Preston?

[06:27] PRECIOUS JONES: Something that you just. His smell, like, his smell. I have so many memories and so many favorite ones. It just depends on the moment, the day, and what I'm thinking. Sometimes my mind just freezes up when I think of him, because I just cannot believe that he's resting. But his smile. He just had such a beautiful smile. And I would always know when he did something that he had no business doing, because he'll give me that smile, you know, that sneaky smile. And he just thought the world of me. So yeah.

[07:09] DELILAH RYDER: Yeah. I am wondering. It sounds like you've said that Corey and Preston and your brother all motivated you and kept you going, as you said. And I know it's also only been a year and change, and so I'm wondering how your family has been able to come together and take care of each other.

[07:32] PRECIOUS JONES: So my mom, my brother, my sons, Preston has two children that he left us. His son, Preston junior was nine months when he was taken away. He never got to meet his daughter, pressure Jones So we have his children, and it's like the medicine, the natural medicine and healing that we need, they are identical to Preston. I mean, you would, you know, you. It wouldn't seem as though he's not around, you know, his son, he walks like him, he looks like him, he's built like him. He does things exactly like Preston. Preston would. Sometime if everybody was quiet, he'll be the one that jumps up and start dancing and singing loud, you know, and his son is the same way. You know, it's like we are watching tv. Sit down, please. His daughter, she does. She smiles just like Preston every time you can look at her, and she's gonna crack that smile. He left us two huge blessings, and we are grateful for that. My nephew, mother, we talk a lot. We are. We are supportive of each other, of course. My mom, my nephew, mom, we're just all there for each other. We never know what our day to day is going to look like. So we live in our moments, and we all have gotten into the community to help the community. So my organization is called breaking generational poverty, in which it was founded in memory of my son, Preston Jones Corey, my nephew, Corey Blackwell, and my brother, Paul Jones And my sister has a foundation to Corey's way of caring that was also inspired by Corey, her son, Cory Blackwell, and Preston Jones So we've just taken our tragedies and turned them into a cause to stand up against gun violence, opioid overdoses, and to try to help other families. I have another sister that I've met on this journey as well. She lost a son, Monta McLaurin, from an opioid overdose. And she also has an organization that she formed in memory of Monta, you know, to speak about drug overdoses. And she's also opening up a substance abuse center. So she makes sure that she keeps me in a loop of things and supports, you know, my movement. She supports my sister movement. Her Name is Quinn Jones and she supports our movements, and we support her movements. So with the three of us, you know, and then we do have support from other mothers that's been been through what we've been through. We are planning to go far and reach hundreds and thousands of children to save lives in memory of our kids that we lost.

[10:54] DELILAH RYDER: So what does that work look like? And maybe we can just talk about your organization specifically, because it sounds like there's a lot of stuff that you guys are tackling, which is impressive to me, but, yeah, if we could maybe talk about you.

[11:08] PRECIOUS JONES: For me, it's a day to day thing. It's like my day to day life is. I basically. I'm sorry. I basically am breaking generational poverty foundation. Every day. Every day, I'm thinking of a new program to roll out. Every day, I'm thinking of, what can we do to save a life today? What can we do to bring awareness today? What can we do to create safe spaces today? Every day, it's just basically me figuring out what is it that I need to do so that another child doesn't die at the hands of a gun, so that another child doesn't lose their freedom by picking up a gun, so that another mother is not weeping over the loss of a child or a father or sibling or a family member. So every day, I think about, what can I do to help our community? What can I do to stop the homicides? What can I do? So. And with that, it's just like, I'm never not busy. I'm always busy trying to create something, and I think I'll die trying to create something and being impactful to our community. My life has changed forever. I didn't see myself as being a community leader, an activist, or any of that. I saw myself as volunteering in a community. But my life has changed forever, and I will never stop the fight on ending gun violence. I will never stop the fight on saving a life. It's an everyday thing for me. Now.

[12:52] DELILAH RYDER: Can you talk about maybe what, as Preston's children grow up, what you're gonna tell them about him and what you'd like to know about their dad.

[13:05] PRECIOUS JONES: Mm hmm. So, as they get older, I will continue to tell them about their dad. I'm always showing them videos and pictures so that they can hear his voice. And, you know, they're in constant contact to see, you know, who their dad is. Even though they're young, I still think that it's very important. I will tell them who their dad was, not only me, but also my son. So when Preston was taken away, we. A friend of mine gifted me a keepsake box with notes and we wrote different notes, and so these notes, we wrote two. We put two in his resting bed, which I referred to his casket as his rest in bed. We put, you know, each one, we put a duplicate in the resting bed, and then we kept one and put it in a safe box. So as his children get older, you know, throughout certain birthdays, we'll open one, and then we'll read it. And Preston has a copy, so when we read it, we'll talk about it, and we'll explain it. All the Preston's belongings are stored away for his children, even down to his shoes, his socks. I made sure that the same socks that he's in his resting bed, I got a pair so that his children would have. It's very important that they know about their dad, and it's very important that they. They see the fight that they grandmother have when they get older. I want them to see their dad in his three museums. I want them to know their dad as being a legend, and I want them to know their grandmother as being an activist that changed and saved the world through their dad's loss. So it's really important.

[15:06] DELILAH RYDER: It sounds like you're already well on your way.

[15:08] PRECIOUS JONES: Yes.

[15:09] DELILAH RYDER: What are these three museums? The boxes with all the artifacts in it, or.

[15:15] PRECIOUS JONES: Um, no, I just want them to be in actual, like, museums around the world, you know? Like, I just. Those are my goals. And when I was. When you all contacted me, I was like, wow. Like, how did they find me? You know? So I just feel like it's. I feel like it's Preston and it's God working and saying, we are going to make sure that we make this path because you are doing the work, so we are going to continue to help you.

[15:47] DELILAH RYDER: Yeah, just give me a second to think, because there are a lot of things that you said that were really powerful. I would also invite you to ask some questions, too, if you have. Wow. Okay. How has your life been different than you'd imagined?

[16:12] PRECIOUS JONES: Oh, it's been really different. Really, really, really different. I never imagined losing a child, especially my own child that I carried. I never imagined that. I just feel like my life was different with Preston from the time that I conceived him. I was in prison, and my entire pregnancy was in prison, so that was different. I was really depressed. I didn't eat. I didn't. I didn't do much when I was pregnant with Preston, and because I wanted to be out, you know, I wanted to be with my son, my oldest son, and I couldn't think of, you know, having another baby, and I was away from my oldest son, and the doctor at the facility would say, if you don't eat, we're gonna, you know, put a tube down your throat. And, you know, I was losing weight and everything, but Preston was a fighter, and I heard his heartbeat, and he was fighting through everything. He was fighting through the depression. He kept me alive and going in a situation, so I always knew that he was a fighter, and I always knew that he was special. And when he came out and as he grew, he still was a fighter. Preston just seemed. He seemed as though he was the leader of the house. And so after losing him, I remember telling Preston before, if something ever happened to any of you, I would just die. I couldn't make it. And I thought that that's what would happen if something ever were to happen. But after losing Preston, I found an energy and a strength in me that I didn't know that I had. And I felt like it was only through him that that energy and that strength came out. So when I look at me today, I am very broken and very heartbroken. But I am powerful and strong in my work and in my belief, and I'm standing for something, and I'm not falling. You know, I'm fighting, and I'm fighting for a cause, and I just can't believe that I have the strength to do it because I'm still so heartbroken. But it's like a yemenite super powerful energy that I have, and I'm like, where is this coming from? And then I think about it, Preston.

[18:56] DELILAH RYDER: Yeah, I mean, it sounds like he's been that influence for you, even when he's not been physically around, both now and then, also while he was just in your stomach. The question that I was thinking of earlier was, it sounds like you're understanding the impact that gun violence has had on your own family, and then also realizing that there's this bigger issue and perhaps why you've created your organization. So I wonder if you want to share about that a little bit more specifically or give some context. I don't know if it feels like St. Louis is important in this conversation or if it's a country thing or.

[19:34] PRECIOUS JONES: Yes, I do feel like St. Louis is important, but I also feel like it's our country. I feel like our communities, wherever there's high priority gun violence is really, really high. I feel like a lot of things that we're allowing on our tv screens for our children are creating the madness. A lot of things that we're allowing on social media is creating the madness. I mean, from the video games to the, you know, violent videos with, you know, guns being drawn and people carrying guns and, you know, doing just different things. And these things are allowed. It's creating a very bad platform for our children. So I think that we, as the parents and the adults and the community leaders, we have to notice it and put a stop to it and bring awareness.

[20:33] DELILAH RYDER: Mm hmm. Yeah. Is there anything else that you want to share right now? We have about ten minutes left that.

[20:44] PRECIOUS JONES: We can use, I would say. I mean, I just really want each parent, even if you're not a parent and you're an adult, just reach out to, you know, a youth or just go into these areas, you know, that is real high in crime, and give some wisdom, give some knowledge, you know, pick up a few kids and teach them some things, teach them some trades, teach them some, you know, some life lessons.

[21:19] DELILAH RYDER: I think just building off of this for future generations of your family, listening to this, is there any wisdom you'd want to pass down to them?

[21:32] PRECIOUS JONES: Yes, I'm sorry. I would say for my future grandchildren and my offsprings, I would want them to continue the torch, continue breaking generational poverty, continue to build relationships and bonds in the community, continue to be impactful, and continue to Carrie Preston's legacy, on Corey's legacy, on Pa's legacy, Eddie legacy, and Monta legacy, continue to carry those legacies on and do great things in the world. Know the bloodline that you come from. You come from a great bloodline and continue to be great and continue to save the world because your grandmother is going to be in heaven watching.

[22:27] DELILAH RYDER: I like that. Well, thank you, Precious

[22:30] PRECIOUS JONES: Thank you.