leg·end
1. a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated.
2. an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field.
When you look at Marcel Young (Vince Staples) you see an average height, sli...
Everything that's happened to you as a kid has an impact on you, whether positive or negative. -Vince Staples
Matika Long Beach, CA
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I held Marina on my hip watching kids run around Ramona Park. Today I shoot my documentary with VICE about the effects of gang violence in the L.A. County area. I took in the cameras then looked over at Marcel who was talking to a group of teenage boys.
It's been a month since his mother was attacked. Even though they found his Dad's very body in this park saying it appeared to be suicide I knew it wasn't. I'm not stupid.
I was just hoping and praying it never came back on him. I just hope they really believe it was suicide and never look into it. I don't want Marcel to go to jail.
Marina started to whine in my arms so I put her down watching her walk. I sighed when I saw Marcel walking towards us. He picked Marina up putting her on his hip. He walked up to me kissing me then asking, "You good?" I nodded my head then he said, "A lot of people came out. I guess to be on camera."
"Yeah, I'm just glad we got a couple of people willing to talk. Most people around here don't want to talk about their feelings or what's really going on. They just want to bury the emotions and never think about it."
"I know that feeling. It's a lot easier than confronting them." When I felt his hand touch my belly I closed my eyes. "Another little girl being brought into this cruel world," he said as I opened them back up. "I think they want you," he said pointing at a white woman waving me over.
"I'll be back," I said tickling Marina's stomach before walking off. "You needed me?"
"Yeah, we want to shoot you first." The woman said. "We're just going to ask you some questions...Have you ever seen anybody die?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course. I don't think there's a person here who hasn't. I'm from Compton, but I spent a lot of time out here in Long Beach. The two places are very different, but one in the same especially when it comes to gun violence. Gang violence is very prevalent in the Southern California region. It's normalized. There's no second thought about it."
"When you find out someone got shot and they died what's your first reaction?"
"Damn, that's sad. You sit in the moment for a few seconds then you move on...Until it's someone who's close to you. That's when it really effects you and that's the sad part." I said thinking about it myself. "That's the sad part," I mumbled to myself.
"Do you think what goes on in these communities has long term effects?"
"Absolutely. This a new form of PTSD and nobody can tell me otherwise. Depression, anxiety, alcoholism, drug addiction, bipolar disorder, ADHD, you name it and these people are going through it. The people in these communities will never know or get the help they need because they lack the resources. They lack having someone who cares and is willing to help. They just need help."
