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On our first day of shooting, we went to see a popular block in the neighborhood that used to be filled with people. The city, now like a ghost town, still holds a place for the resilient residents who still call this place home. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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“Bone” shows us where he was shot in his abdomen and his tattoos. He has been shot multiple times on different occasions and has survived. His tattoos read: “Gods Son.” Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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Mrs. Rogers, who has been an active community leader in the area, said its effects from that time is like the effects of a war: You can see it and feel it now. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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Once a gang member during the era that was explained as a “wipeout,” a father who thought the violence had gone down, holds a photo of his 16-year-old son who was shot and killed. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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A father holds the photo of he and his son. His son is currently on death row, awaiting execution. His son said, “you grow into the shape of the container you were born in.” Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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Taneisha sits on the stoop with her two children. She once ran and ducked from the drive-by shootings during the era that took most of her friends away. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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The first time we meet “Gangster.” Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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These Black men are some of the last few in this community. The rest have disappeared over the years from death by violence, prison or drug abuse. The two men in brown are former opposing gang members. All four continue to do work to better the community and its youth. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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“Gangster” and his brother grew up in this small city during the violent years. He said, “I don’t know why I made it, I just know I\’m blessed.” Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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Reminiscing on a block filled with boarded-up houses all the way down from the beginning, a man stands in the community he grew up in. It has become a ghost town that no one wants to live in anymore. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
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An elder talks about the playground across the street from her home, a place where children can’t play. This is a known park where murders and rapes have happen because it is so rundown. Photo by Jean Melesaine of Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project
We traveled to a small city in St. Louis to do a video to stop a young man from being executed. When asked about his life he said, “You grow into the shape of the container you were raised in.”
To tell his story, we needed to tell the story of the city and era he grew up in. The city was war-torn from what many called a “storm,” a plague of violence, poverty, drugs and incarceration. The height of that war was the 1990s. We asked the community members who survived to describe their city during that period.
The first person we asked, while showing his bullet wounds, said, “Do or Die.”
Editor’s note: Long before Ferguson became another Ground Zero for race relations in the country, a team from the San Jose, Calif.-based Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project (ACJP) visited the St. Louis area. Member Jean Melesaine posted this photo essay on July 28, about two weeks before Aug. 9. ACJP, which is hosted by Silicon Valley De-Bug, is an organizing and training model for families and community members to participate in their local criminal court system. Equal Voice News is publishing her photo essay a day after the “Ferguson October” rallies ended to give a better sense of a place before it changed forever and large numbers of people shouted the words, “Black Lives Matter.” Melesaine, who has an interest in the Pacific Islander community, has her own blog.
