1:20 that Tuesday morning my phone rung. It was the Van Der Bildt hospital, medical hospital
in Nashville. And they said that
we have
a young man up here, that, a shot victim that we believe is your son. And I was like, no,
I doubt that.
You know, everybody was there,
you know, my uncles and all and then the doctors came up to me and they said,
Miss Greenlee, you know, we'd really like to talk, for you to talk to Doctor such-and-such,
and so she gave me that look.
And when she gave me that look,
it kinda just, my heart just kinda dropped to my foot.
I said, "Just let me see my son."
And I pulled the curtains back, and he was laying on the little
iron table. Still had his coat on,
and blood everywhere.
I just laid on top of him.
I just laid on top of his and I closed my eyes.
I put my hand on his forehead
and I just started praying.
I found a release in the peace on his face.
He was in was such misery, such pain, we was so caught up outta here in this cycle of
misuse, mistrust, injustice.
Just no one there for you.
I was at one hand relieved, and at another hand
I was just devastated because as a mother I failed my kid.
I couldn't
protect him, I couldn't raise him. I didn't know how
to teach him the values of life because I
didn't know
the values of life. And that right there just started a whole other journey for me.
I found out he was gunned down by a gang member.
Well tell me, you know, what did he do? You know, did he rob somebody, rape somebody,
break into somebody's house? They were like, "No ma'am,
he came down
the sidewalk with a blue scarf on, and it was a
a red scarf territory" which was Crips and Bloods.
I'm like,
"So you're telling me you killed my only kid, for a scarf?"
And they say,
"Yes ma'am."
You know because the last thing he said when he went out that door he said,
he said "Mama if anything happens to me you have to promise me that you will take care of my peeps, my folks."
And I'm like "What the...?" you know, what kind of language is that? You know,
some peeps, some folks.
And young kids started showing up at my job and I found out the kids was gang members.
So they start coming, they just kept coming and I didn't
understand it.
It was like they was either getting out of juvenile, they was getting expelled from school
and coming to me. I was like, I don't know nothing about you getting expelled from school, how to get you back in there or none of that.
They are human, they are young kids that just made a left turn and wasn't nobody
standing there to guide them.
And just knowing, even all the trips I made over,
close to 200-something trips in and outta jail.
If anybody just had have been at that
iron gate door,
one time,
when it opened,
other than my drunk uncle and my drunk daddy,
maybe something would have
triggered in me.
Yeah, I know for a fact that if somebody had of been at the other end of that door,
I wouldn't have made as many mistakes as I made.
If I get some of these young gang members out of gangs
and become advocates themselves, community leaders, and show them this
justice system they could go back,
and fight
for the rights of their other fellow mens and then more than anything just show
society that you got one that's not scared of you.
Because I been through your system, so I know how your system sucks.
God gives me the health and the strength to wake up every morning and it's like I be like,
what I got to do now, what's next, what's next, you know.
And I think this is their second chance in life
to get it right.
That's the way I take it.
I never thought I'd be doing this, but I'm taking care of his peeps, his folks, you know,
I'm fighting for them.
And of course, my grandson is seven now.
And I know what to do for him.
And that's another main reason I won't look back.