Najwa Jackson,
Age 23

I grew up in West Philly with my grandmother, my mom, my sister and brother. A little hard but it was fine. I graduated West Philly High. I was going to tech school for forensic science, but I had to stop because I got locked up. I wasn’t fighting nobody. They charged me with aggravated assault on the officer because of my mouth, but I didn’t fight no cops. I ain’t that stupid. They dropped the charges down to simple assault. My sentence was 23 months parole, a year probation. I did the 23 months parole. I did the year probation except 1 month. I messed up. I smoked some weed and I had a dirty urine. So she took all the time I did back and gave me 3 years probation. I was supposed to go to another hearing. I didn’t go because I got scared. I thought she was going to lock me up. My urine was dirty so I didn’t go. Then I got tired of running. When I was arguing with my step father, he called the cops and they locked me up.

I got locked up when I was juvenile cause I just wanted to do what everybody else was doing, run the streets, smoke weed and all that stuff. The state sent me to an institution for juveniles who don’t go to school and stuff like that. I did a year and a half. I came home. They enrolled me back in school. I graduated. I wasn’t smoking weed for a long time. Then I started smoking weed again. I got my own apartment. I was living there by myself. I was working at a pizza place, Pappy’s, at Arizona, at Pete’s. Like 2003 I was working at Go Internet as a floor manager, but they closed it down. I stopped working completely and they put me on SSI so I don’t have to work.

December 17 will be 9 months I’ve been here. My case will be done with December 22. I’m planning to call my school to see if I can start where I left off. But now, I’m thinking of going back to college. I got good grades. I should be able to go to Cheyney. I had called the Army. I was thinking about going into the Army and completing the forensic science. But the sargeant told me he couldn’t do nothing while I was here. I think the army will be better because I could do the forensic science while in the army. You know what I’m saying.

My dad gave me my own 3-bedrooom house in South Philly. But when I go home, I think I’m going to sell that and move around the corner from my mom house. She live on 59th and Race. So that’s what I got plans on doing. I want to be near my mom, because I know if I’m down South Philly I’ll wind up getting back in trouble. But if I’m around my mom, I won’t.