"It's grind! Don't ever sleep! Aye, I come from these streets, straight from nothing. I came straight from the streets. I had to bust my ass. My kids inspire me.  White people's kids are inheriting stuff. I want my kids to inherit stuff when I leave here. I done worked hard, I done struggled ever since I had kids. When I leave here, this is my kids. I bust my ass to make sure that it's here, until I leave here. This is theirs. They'll have something to fall back on and I mean that. My kids inspire everything in me. That's my whole goal of getting something, is them. I do whatever I gotta do to survive, to make sure they're okay, whatever it is. I done everything. I done hustled, I did everything.

Save your money. If you save $20 a day, it will add up to something. You got to save your money and you've got to work hard and never give up, to get you something. I tell all my lil cousins that when we was young, there wasn't no entrepreneurs. Nowadays, it's like everybody is doing something. Everybody's selling something. Whether they're selling strawberries, they're selling cookies, they are selling everything. You'd be surprised with just the little things that you know how to do. Take it and run with it and step out on faith. You can come up with something. People have been putting everything that they know how to do to work. You just gotta step out on faith and keep up with it. Dreams can come true. I got the first black owned hair store." - Ms. Bad, Dot, & Dre

"My grandmother spoiled me and I've always been spoiled. I told her that when I got older, I was going to take care of her and I did. She lived to be 90 years old. That's the type of person I am. I enjoy people, any kind. My grandmother was 80% Indian and 6'1. She was tall and the first person I knew that had a black and white afro. She taught me a lot of knowledge, a lot of knowledge. I used to come home and tell her that one of my friends didn't treat me right and she would tell me to handle them with a long handled spoon. That would mean to be close but not too close. You know, keep em' at a distance. She had ways of saying things. And then she used to tell me to get my own and it would always be mine. That means don't be borrowing, go on and get your own. I mean, I lived by what she told me and I accomplished what she told me. I did it. That's how I got well known in the music industry. I worked and I couldn't be bought. You don't go for the love of money. You go for the love of your word, your bond, and your respect. You earn your respect and you keep your respect. That's what I did all my life." Ms. Lee, Owner of Better Days West, Parkland

"I'm grateful for life. Life, by itself. You know what I'm sayin? A lot of people get lost in the sauce and don't realize how precious life is. Man, you know? Everything can be taken away from us, with the quickness. You know, you just gotta be grateful for it. That's pretty much it, man. I'm simple. Enjoy the little things. Pay attention to detail. Don't be caught up in what's new and the latest fad. Be grateful. You know what I'm sayin? We can be gone tomorrow, you never know." - Terrell, Portland

"The happiest moment in my life is when I surrendered and gave my life to Christ. You know, when I surrendered, not born again, I repented and gave my life to Christ. That is the happiest moment of my life. I had to turn away from the bad things and the wicked sins of the world. It was taking me down, down, down, down. So, God spoke to me and took it away, man. It's good, too. - Rowland, Russell

"See, I did 30 years in prison, ya feel me? And I'm out here standing, right now, everyday. Hard work! And I'm never going back to that. Neva eva! And I ain't never took a life. I ain't never took a life. I wanted to be somebody that was never supposed to be. I was living a life that wasn't for me. This is my life, I'm free. Who wants to live a life, that you know, could cage you up like an animal? That's how I look at it, now. I'm so blessed, bruh! Pick up what I'm puttin' down. I gotta beautiful home and a loving woman. I'm sitting here, now, because she's doing somebody's hair, right now. She works but does hair on the side. And I work. I gotta job, full-time. And they love me. Them white folks love me on my job. If I tell them that you needed a job, I'd call them and tell them that you need a job. I'd start you off at $11.50 an hour. When I come and I'm 57 years old and work hard, I'd put a young motherfucker to bed. You know where I get that from? My mama. She's 77 and she'll put me to bed. She'll work harder than me. She worked 42 years in a factory. She worked 42 years at GE. 

First of all, you've got to say to yourself and nobody else, is this what you really want? Work on you. I'ma tell you something, bruh. The first time I went to prison, it was for a year. It was a walk in the park. The second time was for a few more years and another walk in the park. When they sat me down for 14 years and another 11, straight, I wanted to find a tool to set myself free. The whole time, I was the tool. I was trying to find something to make me better, but the only one to make me better was me. It was like, I'm free from the madness. Bruh, it's so much of a blessing for me to be out here, right now. I'm sitting here, chillin. This ain't my neighborhood. My girl's down the street, I live up on the Parkway. I'm just walking my dog. I ain't bothering nobody. I ran into my man. He said he gotta dog. I don't even know this brotha and he's alright. We just sittin over here, kickin it. He wants to take care of his dog and I'm just trying to tell him how to do it. We good and then you step up, bam! We're having a moment. We havin church! We havin a hell of a moment! 

Be the best you can be and work hard at it. Don't ever give up on life. The struggle's real, we know that. Let's keep it real. When I'm blessed with another day, I'm happiest. I'm cool with it. I don't care how rough it gets." - Red, Portland

"The thing I'm most grateful for is life. Being able to just enjoy life, in general. Whether it's a good life or a bad life, it's a blessing. God's grace is amazing. 

Finishing college is my happiest moment. It took me a while. I was in school for 11 years. But you know, it's one of those things you start and you change your mind a lot and you enjoy college a little too much. Finally finishing was great. As soon as I graduated, the job market was really bad and I ended up not using my degree, at all. It is what it is. It's a struggle everyday to try to find what you want to do in life & your purpose in life is. One day at a time, you know? 

The community gets a bad rap a lot of the times. But once you're out here and see what people deal with on a regular basis, all of that melts away. People that live out here are just normal people. Some people may just be down on their luck but they're just normal people. I mean, you see a lot of the same faces, so you get to know a lot of people. So, it's pretty cool out here, man. My experience, here, isn't a bad experience at all. Yeah, there are moments but there's moments everywhere. " - Taylor, Portalnd

"You can put me in the album, but I ain't got nothing to say. If I had to say something... I love Jesus!" - Ol' Cool, Shawnee

"Being a dad makes you change your whole life around. I used to be in the streets, too, man. I had four brain surgeries. I got shot in the head and everything. It took for me to have them to quit the streets. It motivated me to do better and stay in a positive mode. You know what I'm saying? It's challenges, every day, cause I got 5 kids by 4 different women. So, everyday it's a challenge. You gotta keep your mind in a positive perspective and you'll be able to make it. Don't give up, man. Most dudes give up on their kids, because of the issues between them and their baby mama. But you know, I'm trying to be a better dad than my dad was to me.  He wasn't there for me. My main goal is to be there for them as much as I can. So everyday I spend with them is a step closer then what my dad was trying to do for me. Like I said, I done had four brain surgeries. So, there have been times when I wanted to give up and come out here and sell dope and rob people or whatever. But when I look at my kids, bruh, I know that they deserve better. Like I said, most dudes overlook the life of their kids because of the conflict between them and their baby mama.

To a young dude with kids, stay focused, man. Stay on your paper and never get on your baby mama's bad side." - Charice, Russell

"I seen her with one of my friends. They weren't dating or nothing. So, I stepped in and tried to see what's up, basically. I'ma say it like that. Advice on relationships? Let the petty stuff go & let arguments pass. You know, that type of stuff." Eric & Nike, Russell

"We've been married for 48 years. Our advice to younger couples would be to work together and understand each other. Oh, and pray a lot." - Fannie & James, Algonquin

"The needs of the community is what inspires me most. This community needs somewhere to go to eat something good. There's not a lot of different places in the West End that sells baked goods. So, I thought maybe, let's give it a try. I've been doing this for 4 years. My other restaurant is on 18 & Muhammad Ali. I've been there for 4 years. Some of my challenges are trying to meet the needs of all the diverse people. In the West End, where I'm at, on 18th & Muhammad Ali, it used to be all African American people. Now, there's an influx of all different kinds of backgrounds and ethnicities. Also, you have to keep the business going. You got to create new things to keep the interest of the community, to keep people coming back. My advice to anyone that's trying to start a business in the West End would be that they would have to plan properly and be organized.

If I could do anything for the West End community, I would give everyone free college education.  I'm almost finished with my PhD, so I would give everyone in the West a free college education. It's important." - Pam a.k.a Sweet Peaches, Russell

"I love the West End but the country life is better. My country experience was lovely. I wish everybody could experience no bathroom, no indoor plumbing, and no water. You'll appreciate the city. You'll appreciate the city life. My grandmother kept us, every summer, when were out of school. Loved it. We shared beds. We shared bathtubs. I was born and raised in Louisville, but my grandparents lived in the country. I was born in Newburg, but I moved to the West End when I was 5. I've been here ever since. I always loved 36th & Broadway and the Flaget Area. I loved all of it. I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world. All of the elementary school friends and my high school friends stayed there. I loved all of them. I miss all of them. 

My advice to the world is that I need the men to raise their sons to be men and I need these women to raise their girls to be women. That's my advice. We want to keep the world going. If we want to keep the world going, skin color shouldn't matter." - Gary, Russell 

EJ, Parkland

"Never settle and breathe life instead of spitting fire." - Sylvita & Larry, Algonquin

"Stay woke. Pay attention, out here. Stay in school because your future is everything. You know, and be positive. We in the West End, man. Be positive. Everybody needs everybody, you know what I mean? Not everybody's out here doing this and doing that. Everybody needs to stick together. Everybody's for themselves but everybody's together, too." Ashley & Eddie, Russell

"I've been up here since October '89. You probably wasn't even born in '89. The biggest changes that I done seen, since '89, would be with the residents. Now, when I came up here in '89, the residents were more neighborly. You didn't have the issues and the problems with drugs and killings. I done seen a lot of changes. Since 1995, that's when I started to see the changes. When I moved up here, there wasn't no in between, it was just black and white. Now, you got Hispanics, you got Africans, you know, whatever. And then you've got all the different generations. It's different from when I first moved up here in '89. I can see it. These young people up here nowadays, man, they off the chain. Now, I lived back here, off this court, in 55 for about 25 years. I'm 70 years old. All the people that were down here, back in '89, either they moved or died, one of the two. Once that happened, that's when the new generation started moving in. I seen the change coming, just by the handwriting on the wall. Man, these ma'fuckin people are off the chain. They can't distinguish the right from wrong, or nothin else. They had me miserable back there, cause I didn't know what to do about it. It was an African lady, living right here, about 3 years ago. I was walking through this court, and I got right here. I looked over and she was sitting on the steps. She waved at me, every day. She would always say hi and I would smile. This day, I walked over to her and she told me that she was moving out. I went over to the rent office, that same day and told the lady that someone was moving out of 57 and could I get that. The lady said that she'll look into and guess what? I been here, ever since. They keep on claiming that they're gonna tear this damn place down. I'm like this, I ain't nowhere until I see the first brick fall down. I'm in, like Flynn. That's the documentary of the day. This right here is my empire. The other side is where my garden's at." - Michael D., Park Hill

"The happiest moment in my life is when we was playing in the L.I.T. We had gotten far, but didn't win." - Tae, Algonquin

"My happiest moment is when I made my hydroplane. Yeah, a water hydroplane. I built it. I got 2nd place in a contest. You build these little water boat type things and get to race them. It was for a program I was in and we built them in school for a grade. " - Twan, Algonquin

"Don't ever give up and have total faith in your ability. Block out the outside noise. Do what you want to do. It has to be a passion. A lot of times, we're out here doing things that we don't have a passion for. I come and do this, free. I just happen to make some money. It's something that I like doing and I have a passion for it. Whatever I make is a blessing. Have a passion for what you do. Don't do it because you want the money. You can go get a job for some money. Go work at Ford or something like that. Don't worry about the numbers but have a passion. People just see the finished product. They don't see the process. They don't see me buying the shirts, making the designs, getting them printed, and pressing the shirts. I'm staying up all night. They don't see that. It takes work and dedication." - Robert, Parkland

"My advice to the world would be to stay with God. If you don't know him, get to know him." - Rev. Senitha Hughes

"I'm trying to get these kids off the streets and show them that you can sell CDs instead of selling these drugs. I be out here, everyday, doing it. They can do it the same way. You know what I'm saying? Someone taught me how to engineer, I ain't got no problem teaching someone else how to engineer. I ain't go no problem with it. I get more fans supporting me than I my own family. That shit's crazy. I'm staying positive and people don't like that. They don't like seeing you be positive and doing good things and helping other people out. I don't understand that shit. 

The most challenging times while getting my project out is having to support myself, for real. Moms, she's disabled, so she don't work. So, I have to work a lil bit, take care of the bills. I pay them in advance, then I go back to doing my music and stuff. My family don't really support me, it's just me out here. Don't get me wrong, it's hard. I be hearing no's. I can go back to my old ways, but that's the devil wanting me to quit. If I quit, I'd be quitting on everything and will never succeed in life. Believe in yourself cause ain't nobody gonna believe in you the way you do. Ain't nobody wanting to see you succeed the way you do. At the end of the day, you gotta look in the mirror and make sure you happy, for real." - Tay Tay Laflare, Parkland