- My name is Gwendolyn Baxter.
I am a hospital responder
for an organization
called Acclivis.
Anytime somebody's shot, stabbed
or brutally traumatized
in the city of Chicago,
they call a hotline and
the hotline will call me
to go into the hospital,
speak to the victim,
or the victims family,
if the victim's not available.
Like most young people today,
I was young, at one point,
participated in street stuff.
You know, doing
street, selling drugs.
All of that, because I
was trying to survive.
You know, I hadn't
had an education,
I was a young mother
of two children
and I wanted to just
have things in life,
and I saw a opportunity
whereas someone offered
me a opportunity
to make a little extra
change and I did it.
I kind of like grew
from that, you know.
I looked at it as
a job, you know.
I looked at it as
a way of survival.
I cringe when I hear people
say gangs, gangs, these gangs.
It's not gangs anymore.
You know, gangs was structure,
there was organizational
structure.
These young people
today are clique,
there's like blocks
against block.
It's just, they just
out here wilding.
You know, nobody giving
them structure,
nobody giving them direction,
nobody telling them the
consequences of their actions.
Before that happen, we
were given consequences,
we was told what would
happen if this happened.
But now, they don't care
cause they just keep
picking up a gun,
and if they see somebody,
they don't care who they
with, they just go after them.
Back in the day, that
didn't happen like that.
It starts on social media.
People beefing, talking
about one another,
and they taking
it to the streets.
These young kids
these days they,
any little thing, they
like a ticking time bomb.
My son was Larry Harper.
(exhales)
He was killed December
the 16th, 2003.
He was home putting
up a Christmas tree,
when a friend of his called
and wanted him to ride over
to another friends house.
I was told that when
they were leaving out,
a guy walked up, was
trying to rob 'em,
my son ran.
When he ran,
the guy shot, shot at him
and hit him in the
back of his head.
That night, my life changed.
From who I was or was
gonna become, it changed.
It sent me on a whole
emotional rollercoaster.
It took away any fear
that I might've had.
It numbed me.
So I used that, I used my pain,
I used that hurt.
That the idea of, you know,
because when they're
out there doing that
they're not thinking
about the consequences,
they're not thinking about
what it does to their family.
Often I ask question is
your mother in your life?
Do you have a relationship
with your mom?
You know, you keep
living this life,
you keep being out
here on this street,
you know, and if you die,
it's gonna affect her.
You know?
That smile, do she
smile, do she laugh?
Well she won't be
laughing no more.
Nothing is funny anymore,
its hard to find humor
in anything, anymore.
You know, when a
mother loses a child
she goes into a dark place.
A dark place.
