I never call my kids at risk, I call them at promise.

They're like, yo, we thought you only had one kid I'm like, yeah, I only got one myself, but I've been doing this 25 years, I've got hundreds of kids out here in the DMV.

Some of them call me dad, some of them call me unc, some of them call me OG, A lot of kids feel like there's just one answer.

I'm just here to let these kids know that they have choices, To show them that they have multiple answers.

I was talking to one of my kids last week, And I asked her, how many people do you know that've been killed by gun violence?

And she said 19 or 20.

This girl is 15 years old.

Alright everybody, thank you so much for attending the Hustle and Shine awards.

Can I get a hand clap?

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right.

So these awards are going to be for a variety of different things that I’ve noticed in all of you.

So you guys start to come up If I called your name, please.

So you guys can get your certificate.

Thank you Aliyah for doing the right thing.

Tay's my man, that's my little guy right there.

Our relationship has always been tight.

We always laugh.

We always joke.

You know?

I always pull him up and make sure he on point.

He understands that I care about him, that he has somebody who he can talk to.

When I was 15, I didn’t have anybody who I felt like I could talk to and get good advice.

And being able to have the freedom to have those type of conversations with these kids and with everything they’re going through, because the average 13 year old is not going through what I was going through when I was 13.

February 23rd, eight-something in the morning, I was coming from the store trying to pass the bus stop and there was four dudes, all of them had, like, masks on.

I saw my friend, I tried to speed up to them, but I didn’t get to them in time.

And when I looked back, one was running up on me with a gun.

They took my phone, my new Jordans that had came out.

My mom had my location, but they had my phone so they turned my location off.

I was panicking, like, I was silent.

My heart was pounding.

I didn't know what to say and I was crying cause I was mad.

My life flashed before my eyes.

I try not to live with that.

But I have to even though I don't want to.

It just kept popping up, like, I just kept seeing a gun.

I thought I was going to die.

I don’t wish that on nobody.

When I was growing up in Philly, I may have to worried about getting jumped or getting robbed, but I never really had to worry about dying.

I never had to worry about getting shot at.

I never had to worry about being murdered.

It’s a feeling only the loss of a child can bring.

And it's so sad because look at who it caught up in it, the innocent.

Her son, Taquan Pinkney, left home Sunday afternoon to get a soda and never came back.

It's a big hole.

They broke us.

Like, we are never going to be the same.

TaQuan Pinkney., That was like a son to me.

Sunday afternoon, I’m chilling with my daughter.

My phone starts blowing up like, yo, we heard Tay got shot.

Like, Tay ain't get shot.

Tay chilling, he ain’t doing nothing.

You know?

I’m like, let me call his mom, I'll figure this out.

Called his mom, she ain't call me back.

Couple hours go by, keeps going by, then I start worrying.

So, word gets to ear that, you know, he got shot and he got murdered.

He was walking to the store, my other kids saw some of their opps, gunshots happened, and course Tay is the only one who's hit.

So, yeah.

That's still something that I don't think any of us are over yet.

Senseless death.

Good kid, I miss him.

So, that's why his picture's up in the studio, because we're always gonna keep his name alive.

I don't really compare Tay'On to TaQuan because if every time something happened to one of my kids I thought back to Tay, I'd be in tears everyday.

I wouldn't be able to do my job.

I think one of the things that we don't talk about enough is how the people who do this work survive.

Because, you know, Tay gets murdered on a Sunday and I'm back out in the neighborhood on a Monday., you know what I mean, and I'm trying to help his mother plan a funeral for somebody who was like a son to me, and I have to still go on to work.

When he was murdered a lot of kids started to worry.

So many kids may have to catch a bus and two trains.

That means you could be going through six different neighborhoods every day, going to and from school, all while you’re literally trying to dip and dodge 5 to 6 different crews from robbing you every day for four years through high school.

You wanna provide an environment for kids where you see other kids graduate, go to the league, go play basketball.

You wanna see these positive things that happen.

That's the seeds being planted right there.

Tay'On really enjoys this.

That's really dope to see him grow like that.

A lot of our youth are desensitized to the violence that goes on because they see it so much.

You almost have to turn a blind eye to it to survive.

Even though our kids may be desensitized to it, We want to provide that space where they’re able to still talk about it in real time.

Our topic today is violence in the community.

First, I want to ask you, how do you feel about the violence in the community?

For every one of my kids that I work with I'm looking for something that can grab their attention enough so that it fulfills the need of just allowing them to have something else that they can reach for and something else that they can look forward to every day.

Y'all see that, who wanna do that?

This is the base color.

So what’s behind this Carolina blue and these white highlights that we're talking about is this color.

You see how it's underneath?

So if I have if I put a lot of color on, the shadows already there waiting for me.

Just start building on top.

So we just gotta like, get the creases and stuff too?

Yeah.

It's gonna start, like, somewhere right here, and then it’s gonna end, like, right here where I put that blue stain.

We're painting a bird.

Like we're sketching it and then we're painting it.

So, what my job is right now is I'm painting it red right now and I'm stopping right here and I gotta get in the creases to make sure all of it is red and everything like that.

I’m trying to get every inch, every crease, everything.

As I got older, I started to realize, why did I like art.

It helps me get my mind off things I don’t like to talk about to others.

It's my comfort zone.

The key thing is finding your voice.

J Root of Damage, one of my favorite MCs said something once, he said, When you have a voice to say something, say something.

So that’s what I also want to plant the seeds in my kids is, okay, you have this voice, let’s have fun.

But let’s also use that voice to talk about how we can make change.

We have to come together and really start figuring out what are our superpowers.

What do you do well?

What do you do well?

What do you do well?

And then let’s all do it well together.

And I think once we can do that and put ego to the side, then we can see a change in this neighborhood.

Days after her son was murdered, a DC woman met the man who tried to save her son’s life and stayed by his side as he died.

A vigil was held tonight for 18 year old TaQuan Pinkney.

He was killed on Stanton Road Southeast as he walked to a store to buy a soda.

♪ Look, ♪ ♪ One time for your mind, two times for your woes ♪ ♪ Put three up for Tay, know God watching his soul ♪ ♪ Watch his soul ♪ ♪ know God watching his soul ♪ ♪ got three up for Tay ♪ ♪ Lord, keep me in control ♪ ♪I’ve been trying to find myself ♪ ♪ I’ve been lost for some time, I smile in your face ♪ ♪ But it mean sun don't shine, no third eye ♪ ♪ I've been blind but For the bros I can’t cry ♪ ♪ I can't cry no more lies man ♪ ♪ I'm losing my mind ♪ ♪ But I’m good, I’m good ♪ ♪ Don’t you worry about me I’m good, I’m good ♪ ♪ Just don’t leave without me ♪ ♪ We good, we good ♪ ♪ Please don’t worry ‘bout me I’m good, I’m good ♪ ♪ Just don’t go without me.

♪