{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/tm71v5db9q/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Roberts, Marilyn (Interview #2, 2023)"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/548/original/OHA_Mark_2.0_Transp._copy.png?1752767076","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Narrator(s)"]},"value":{"en":["Marilyn (Full Name)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Narrator Pronouns"]},"value":{"en":["she/her"]}},{"label":{"en":["Interview Summary"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eIn this oral history, Marilyn shares her experience living in Cabrini Green with a friend of hers at the time. She talks about having a teaching job and how she found her place in the community through helping others.\u003c/p\u003e (summary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Public Housing Affiliation"]},"value":{"en":["Current Resident"]}},{"label":{"en":["Public Housing Locations"]},"value":{"en":["Henry Horner Homes","Cabrini-Green Homes"]}},{"label":{"en":["Content Warnings"]},"value":{"en":["Substance (drugs or alcohol) use and/or addiction and/or trade","Sexual Violence","Domestic Violence","Misogyny"]}},{"label":{"en":["Themes/Topics"]},"value":{"en":["Criminalized Actions/Behaviors Dance","Education","Investment and/or Funding","Family","Community Building/Support/Mutual Aid"]}},{"label":{"en":["Keywords"]},"value":{"en":["help","teacher","stairs","elevators","kids","parents","building","programs","experience","resources","mother","west side","door","safety","teaching","crime"]}},{"label":{"en":["Decades Covered"]},"value":{"en":["1990s","2000s"]}},{"label":{"en":["Life Dates"]},"value":{"en":["1975-10-07 (Birth)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Race/Ethnicity"]},"value":{"en":["Black, African American, and/or African Diasporic"]}},{"label":{"en":["Biographical Context"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eMarilyn is a single Mother of 12, (8 biological 4 adopted), Nana of 4. She is a Hazmat Tanker Truck Driver, owner-operator. She possesses several years of professional experience in the areas of child and adolescent psychology.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Interview materials available"]},"value":{"en":["Audio—.wav","Transcript—in Aviary time-sync","Index (in Aviary time-sync)","Transcript—polished PDF","Finding aid—rough PDF"]}},{"label":{"en":["Oral Historians"]},"value":{"en":["cosmo (Interviewer)","cosmo (Post-Production by)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Interview Date"]},"value":{"en":["2023-10-10 (Recorded)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Method of Interview"]},"value":{"en":["remote"]}},{"label":{"en":["Recording Location(s)"]},"value":{"en":["Chicago, IL (Narrator)","Austin, TX (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Audio Quality Notes"]},"value":{"en":["audio cuts sometimes but does not interfere with overall integrity of interview"]}},{"label":{"en":["Additional Notes"]},"value":{"en":["I mentioned a few times in the interview that this was a few of many interviews being conducted to encompass Marilyn’s public housing history but as of Apr. 2024 this is the only interview I have on the topic."]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eEach oral history interview is considered to be co-created, ‘joint work’ among the oral historian, narrator, and, in this case, the Museum. In joint works, the creators are considered joint copyright owners, who have “an equal right to register and enforce the copyright” (Rich Stim, Stanford Libraries, “Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What?”). Standard copyright law grants a number of exclusive rights to each of the copyright owners, including: the rights toreproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, and displaythe work(s), privately and publicly. NPHM manages these components using Creative Commons Licenses. All interviews are shared withAttribution and Non-Commercial 4.0 International licenses (CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed), meaning that they can be reproduced, distributed, performed, and displayed for the general public if the user credits the co-creators (Attribution) and does not make money from the usage (Non-Commercial). \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePlease contact the NPHM Oral History Programs Manager if you'd like to download a copy of any of the interview materials (audio file, transcript, or finding aid contents).\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Preferred Citation"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eWhen using an interview from the NPHM Oral History Archive, use the narrator's full name the first time you reference them. Use the narrator's \"Refer to As\" name in additional mentions of their name. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePlease use the following formatting when citing the interview in academic settings:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBibliography Example\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePegues, Janetta Sue. Interviewed by Francesco De Salvatore. National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL/DOI], recorded June 18, 2018, accessed June 2, 2024: pp. 10-15.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eBibliography Format\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e[NarratorFullName in Last First Middle order]. Interviewed by [InterviewerFullName in First Middle Last Order]. National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded [write out full date of interview], accessed [write out full date of most recent access]: pp. [pages of transcript cited]. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote Example\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eJanetta Sue Pegues, interviewed by Francesco De Salvatore, National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded June 18, 2018, accessed June 2, 2024: pp. 10-15. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFootnote Form\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e[NarratorFullName in First Middle Last Order], interviewed by [InterviewerFullName in First Middle Last Order] National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded [write out full date of interview], accessed [write out full date of most recent access]: pp. [pages of transcript cited]. \u003c/p\u003e"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eIn this oral history, Marilyn shares her experience living in Cabrini Green with a friend of hers at the time. She talks about having a teaching job and how she found her place in the community through helping others.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eEach oral history interview is considered to be co-created, \u0026lsquo;joint work\u0026rsquo; among the oral historian, narrator, and, in this case, the Museum. In joint works, the creators are considered joint copyright owners, who have \u0026ldquo;an equal right to register and enforce the copyright\u0026rdquo; (Rich Stim, Stanford Libraries, \u0026ldquo;Copyright Ownership: Who Owns What?\u0026rdquo;). Standard copyright law grants a number of exclusive rights to each of the copyright owners, including: the rights toreproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, and displaythe work(s), privately and publicly. NPHM manages these components using Creative Commons Licenses. All interviews are shared withAttribution and Non-Commercial 4.0 International licenses (CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed), meaning that they can be reproduced, distributed, performed, and displayed for the general public if the user credits the co-creators (Attribution) and does not make money from the usage (Non-Commercial).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003ePlease contact the NPHM Oral History Programs Manager if you'd like to download a copy of any of the interview materials (audio file, transcript, or finding aid contents).\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["National Public Housing Museum"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["National Public Housing Museum"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/548/original/OHA_Mark_2.0_Transp._copy.png?1752767076","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/255/025/small/Roberts__Marilyn_Bio_Photo_2024.08_%281%29.jpg?1750724186","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Roberts__Marilyn_Interview_Audio__2_2023.10.10_(1).wav"]},"duration":1939.65132,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/255/025/small/Roberts__Marilyn_Bio_Photo_2024.08_%281%29.jpg?1750724186","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-nphm.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/255/025/original/Roberts__Marilyn_Interview_Audio__2_2023.10.10_%281%29.wav?1730243020","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":1939.65132,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Roberts, Marilyn_Int #2 Transcript_2023.10.10.docx [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Alright. Hello, past, present and future listeners. My name is Cosmo and I'm a [Oral History] Corps Member of the National Public Housing Museum, recording from my home near Austin, Texas. I am here once again with my mother, Marilyn Roberts. Do you want to introduce yourself?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=0.0,25.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn Roberts: Hi everybody! My name is Marilyn Roberts. I am 48 years old. Just had a birthday, happy birthday to me! And, so excited to be here with my daughter, Cosmo, doing this interview. Hopefully, it brings some—some insight and some information to people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=25.0,46.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Okay, and then, just for the record, um, where are you calling in from?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=46.0,51.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: I am calling from, uh, Chicago, Illinois.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=51.0,55.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Okay. So for those who haven't heard, we previously conducted an interview together sharing stories of queer joy, hardships, and growth. This time, we'll be focusing on Marilyn's background in public housing, navigating through systems and structures as a single parent. These clips are being recorded over the month of October, curating a chronological timeline of her and sometimes our experiences. So just jumping right in, um, what is the first public housing unit you've ever lived in?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=55.0,96.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Um, the first public housing, uh, development that I lived in was the Cabrini Green development. They used to call them like the Cabrini Green Towers because it was two tall towers with, like, 17 floors, but, um, yeah, so it was Cabrini Green. That was roughly From about 1997 to about 2001, three, four years—unofficial. I say unofficial because, uh—because of the fact that I wasn't on paperwork, per se, on the lease, but, um, what you know about public housing, it's a little hard to get [laughter] get on the lease, but there's a lot of people that live there who are not officially on the paperwork. So, yes, I lived there. Um, with—at this point, I only had three children. I would get pregnant during the course of living there and give birth to a fourth child, but at this time, I only had three children. My oldest would, would live with my mom because there was—Cabrini Green is on the West Side of Chicago. I was living with my parents and my oldest son was going to school out where my parents live was way on the South Side. So, uh, being with them to go to school, I worked in a children's development center on campus, um, of the green, green housing development for the smaller children, like the 3 year olds, the 4 year olds, before they go to kindergarten, some 5 year olds. And, um, through CPS, through Chicago Public Schools, I had gotten a job at the CDC.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=96.0,206.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: So that was like my introduction into that community. And that's how I ended up living out there. I, um, was struggling going through a abusive marriage. And so there would be times when I couldn't go to my parents house or didn't want to go because I didn't want to bring that trauma to their house. And I ended up befriending a young lady who lived out there. I reacted to children. And she had a, uh, a drug problem, but she was a really good mom. A really good mom. I had to take her kids home a couple times because she was late. You know, you can't, we get out about 3, 15, 3. 30, you know, about four o'clock. They're ready to call DCFS if you haven't been touching up your child. So on this particular occasion, it was like the third time she had did it, ready to call DCFS. And I was like, no, I'll just take them home. Not knowing that. Well, I knew she lived on the 12th floor, didn't know the elevator never worked. So, yeah, I mean, the babies had to trudge up all those stairs to get home and she was there, you know, in the high state. So we really became close that I just really was concerned for her. And then it was like when she found out, you know, the troubles that I was going through in my marriage and needing a place to, to be safe that away from My ex husband, you know, and it was, it was really good arrangement because I was able to make sure her kids got to school and make sure they got fed and then just kind of help her through that drug dependency that she was going through. And then with her living by herself, she was privy to just a lot of, um, unsavoriness we'll say. And it provided protection for both of us. Living there together because it was like, okay, now she's not alone and her kids are not alone. So we just helped each other in that way. I think I answered about 15 questions all in one.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=206.0,333.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: That's so nice of you to stay and help out and just be a friend and another authority figure for the kids. I'm sure they enjoyed that too. .","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=333.0,345.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Indeed, indeed. They were really excited that, because they felt like I was their teacher . So they were really excited, like, oh, teacher's coming to live with us. Really excited about that. But like I said, it worked out really well for, uh, the both of us.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=345.0,363.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: So, um, do you remember the unit number or like what the unit looked like on the inside?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=363.0,371.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Well. I'm sorry. I do remember the unit number. I won't say only because I was unofficial, but I will say the floor. It was the 12th floor. I remember the unit being, she had a little boy and little girl, so they gave her a three bedroom. It was a nice size unit, considering that it's public housing. But I do remember, and then she kept it clean, which was really, really good. But it was like, no matter how clean Um, you know, she, we tried to keep it, you would always see a little critter, the roach running in it. And it's hard. And that's one of the biggest things about public housing. Really hard to keep like roaches out of your apartment because no matter how clean you are, you don't know how clean your neighbors are on each side. And like the walls were not. You would think of a wall as keeping out these types of things. So that was one of the things that I noticed when I first moved in. It was how flimsy, like the walls were. You know, you really, if you were big enough and strong enough, you could, you could knock a hole into the wall, easy. And then there were cracks, you know, in the walls. So that's how, you know, roaches could get from one unit to another. It was like a roach express, a tunnel, underground roach tunnel. So it was like. So that's what I noticed about like the unit and even though I knew a little something because my dad was like a really good handyman and so I came in with like my little caulking and filling up holes. I'm like that's the only way we're going to keep you know the the critters from getting into this apartment or whatever and it worked. But it was like I noticed that about the public housing. It was like even though she had put in work orders for things like you know her sink. I mean, when she go to turn on her sink, it was spray water, it would work, but it was spray water everywhere. And it's like, she had put in so many work orders, you know, the toilet was always stopping up, or, there was a couple times we turned on the water, the water was running, you have to, she was like, y'all let it run for about 10 minutes. Cause it would run brown. It would run brown first, you have to let the water clear up. And then it's like, that's still the water that she would have to use to bathe and wash her kids.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=371.0,506.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: And I just never felt like that was really necessary. Because it's like, well, if there's, there's something in the pipes, turning a water brown just because it runs clean doesn't mean those elements are not still in there. What about lead? What about rust particles? You know, all of these things. So, uh, that was some of the things that I noticed just initially with the unit. She had it decorated very nicely. She had the kids rooms very nicely, but it just seemed like there were so many It just seemed of low quality and cheap, and it was hard for her to get things fixed. So I basically came in and was just like helping her, you know, like playing handyman, really. I was going through there and fixing what I could fix, um, just to make, you know, our lives and the kids lives a little bit easier. In the midst of, um, in the midst of, uh, all of that, in the midst of the public housing issues. Another thing that I will, will, will mention was the security. Um, we ended up using, she had like two flimsy locks on the door, which sometimes the bottom lock wouldn't even lock all the way. Which, you know, made me feel really uncomfortable and really unsafe because this is a high crime area. Especially within the towers, you know, so no, we gotta be safe. So we built like this, we got a two by four and I put brackets on the door so that we could slide the two by four in at night and kind of like bolt ourselves in. But when you think about that, if you can envision it in your head, there's only one way in this apartment, there's only one way out. Yes, there's windows, but we're not going to jump out the window on the 12th floor. So it was like, you know, you have to be really safe as far as fire. And smoke detectors did not work. So we just had to be really cautious when it came to things, like, you know, fire hazards and things like that. Because it was like, man, if a fire breaks out in here, and it happens to be toward our entrance, and it blocks our only entrance, we're dead. So, those things were unsafe. It, it, it really sticks with me. Y'all unsafe. Something like that was, or the public housing units really were. And those families just have to make it work.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=506.0,653.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Yeah, that is really unfortunate to have your home just be a bunch of safety hazards and then still have the threat of having DCFS called on you if your children are in another unsafe situation outside the one that was created for you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=653.0,673.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Exactly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=673.0,675.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Um, so So, just for a little context, you said you were there around 97 to 01, which would make you how old?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=675.0,688.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Um, let's see. So I was about 20, 25. So about 24, from 24 to about 28. Okay. And then? I was young.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=688.0,706.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Um, with being that young, um, how did you like, cause you had to come in and like, basically, um, like build up a safe haven, but with being that young, like, where did you learn or like, what did you pull from to be able to like provide that in a, uh, unfamiliar setting to you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=706.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Basically my own home environment that I was brought up in. That's one thing, you know, my, I pride my parents on. We always had stable, safe housing. Um, I would watch my dad literally, he was literally our handyman. There was nothing he could not fix in that house. Never saw him call a plumber, never saw him call a roofer or anything like that. Carpenter, he did it all. So in watching that, um, one of the biggest things that I felt. Living anywhere but you, it has to be stable to say for you and your children. And so it's like, I, I, I really surprised myself because once I got in there and once I began to point things out and me where her would try to fix it, I surprised myself with how much knowledge that I had. Yeah, I sat and watched my dad do it, but I didn't, had never done it by myself. And then he was on call and my dad was still living then and he knew where, he knew where I was. He knew why I was there. And you know, sometimes I like with the plumbing and the toilet, I ran into some issues, you know, go and call him like at work, I would call him, let him know what was going on and he'd give me pointers on what to do and the tools to use to rectify that situation. So yeah, like I said, it was surprising once I looked back on it because I was very young myself, but I still had more of a background. And in creating and maintaining a safe and stable home because of the home that I care.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=729.0,828.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Thank you for sharing. So, um, Going back more to the community aspect of Just living in Cabrini Green. Um, you mentioned working, having a child development job. How was it like working there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=828.0,848.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: You know what? To this day, that is one of my favorite, absolute favorite jobs. Being, I was a, I was an instructor assistant was my official title. And it's, it's different from a teacher assistant because I specialize in Children with special needs, special learning needs, things like that. So there was more, you know, I also went to school for that. So there's a bit more experience than just a teacher assistant. You have to have a couple of more levels of experience in education in order to be an instructor assistant to help, um, to help our Children that learned differently. So I really, really. The kids are so excited. They came in. That's an age from three to like five years old. It's like they're sponging. So they come in so excited about school. So happy. They haven't gotten that chip off their soda. I don't want to go to school. They haven't gotten a, you know, so they're happy to be there. They're participating. You know, you can just sit down and say a story time and everybody's like, yay. You know, you just read the book. So I think that I will say that within the community, there was definitely a strong sense of community with the teachers, the parents, and the children. Like we really did try to create, and a lot of the children were coming from unstable homes and backgrounds, so our main goal was to create safety and stability within the school. So for the 6 to 7 hours out of the day, these children don't have to worry about whatever issues they are dealing with outside. And you could tell that it was a good place for them. They would come early and wouldn't want to leave when they used to have to go home. They don't want to leave. They want to stay at the school. And I get it. I totally get it. And it was like, I noticed that yes, there were resources available to help. parents with their Children to help parents be parent better parents. But funds were so limited. So it's like even when we could offer these resources, we would have a cut off of maybe we could only help 10 families or we could only help 30 kids and we're dealing with hundreds of things. So you can imagine how quickly these lists filled up, how quickly these resort resources were used. Um, and then there were, there were also times when the staff, we would put together, you know, pool our money just to create, especially around like Christmas time. We didn't want any of the kids going home and not having to pool our money. Or we would, you know, call out for sponsors and things like that just to sponsor programs so that these kids can have a good holiday, a nice Christmas. You know, we had kids come in there that didn't have, you know, had holes in their shoes or didn't have socks on and we would just keep, we would pull our money and just keep like a, a box full of his shoes, underwear, socks, just simple things that you probably wouldn't even think about not having, but these, these babies were coming in here and they did not have that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=848.0,1054.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: It was a luxury, you know? And like I said, I can't, I can't fault the system because I, I understand that Everything requires money, um, uh, resources like WIC, you know, big, big, big resource. They really helped bring healthy foods and things into the homes. But once again, everything costs money. They don't, they only allot so much money to help the poor. It's just how it is. They would rather, and when I say they, I mean like government and state funds, state funding. They were rather a lot more money for wars and things like that than to help the next generation. And especially when it comes down to public housing, which, as I've seen, the minority, the majority of people living in public housing are African American. African American and then are, are, are Mexicans or Latino. And they just don't reach for us like, like I feel like they should. So the resources and the opportunities were there, but they were extremely limited, extremely limited. And then like, you know, those young lady that I stayed with was able to benefit from the fact that I did work there. And yeah, I was putting, I was putting those kids, the minute I would see something, I would put her kids on there the minute. Yes. Put them on a list of knowing that I have to get them on this list or it's not going to be any phones left. So she benefited from that and even though part of me kind of feels bad because it's like, oh, did you take a place? But then the other part of me says, no, I can take anyone's place. These kids are just as needy as the next ones. You know what I'm saying? And even though we couldn't help everybody, we tried to help who we could. I tried to help who I could. But I definitely think that, um, the resources and the budgeting for all of this, it should be more than that. I think it should be more to help These parents and families who are living in low income areas and below the poverty level.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1054.0,1189.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Yeah, I agree. Um, so, With just the lack of funding and resources, and I know you mentioned earlier, things are like the elevator not working and Um, Um, multiple work orders, like haven't been placed and not getting answered. Um, how did you see, like, was it always like that? Or like, how did you see that change over the course of you staying there? And then how did that affect the community around you?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1189.0,1231.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: You know, it didn't get, I didn't see a change. I saw the small changes that I did see were happening to the community were coming through CPS. We're coming through the schools and the outside organizations trying to help. I did see that change as far as like once those communities started to kind of grow, there was more of an avenue for resources for that community. But once again, these, these, um, These resources, they were, they were creating their own resources. They were getting sponsors, they were getting volunteers. It wasn't the state or the government, right? So I did see that change as far as a community, helping community more. But overall, the conditions in which they were trying to pour these resources into, it just got worse. They got worse. The building. Buildings got worse. The safety issues got worse. Um, like I said, when an elevator not working might not be such a big deal to have to walk up the stairs, but then when you enter the criminal element where women can't walk up the stairs by themselves for fear of being raped or sexually assaulted, where it's Um, the kids even have to, you know, you don't want your kids walking through the, through the staircases by themselves, there's incidents with kids coming up missing or beaten or assaulted. Um, gang, the gang element. So now, elevators don't work. Where do you think the, where do you think the gang members are hanging out at, smoking at? You know, uh, there was one incident when we were, we were literally running up the stairs to get in the apartment because they were shooting On the lower, on the lower floors. Just imagine if we had to go out the building instead of up. So, those things I saw, I saw the conditions deteriorate. Deteriorate. And it was like nobody cared. But, I will say in the midst of that deterioration, community really did help community. I did see more families helping each other. You know, within that, because it's like they realize, hey, we're all we have. We can't depend on the state or the government to save us. We got to save ourselves. So in that, I did see a change in our, our, our community, our families, and coming together with each other on a unified front, just to, just to be able to survive within the environment that we're living in and, and help each other.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1231.0,1400.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: It's good that community came together in a time when people really needed it. I think people underestimate the value of community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1400.0,1409.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Yes, definitely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1409.0,1411.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: So, um, before we wrap up here, I just have a couple more questions. Um, you mentioned that your parents always had like, stable housing and you were able to grow up, um, just in an environment where you had like good examples. So do you feel like, do you feel like with having, like with not having previous experience with public housing that You held any bias or stigma towards it, like up on having to live there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1411.0,1461.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: What's that question for? I want to make sure I heard you right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1461.0,1463.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Okay. Sorry, really loud car passing by. But no, I was saying that with you having like, you mentioned your parents were always in like stable housing and you grew up like having good examples around you. Um. With having to move into public housing and that being like a first time experience, upon moving there, did you hold any like stigmas or biases towards public housing?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1463.0,1494.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: You know, that's that's a really good question. Um, you know, I always pride myself on being a nonjudgmental person. And that's something that's always been something that I've held on to, even though And it was like, even though people expected me because of the statutes that my family carried that my, the way that my mom, the reputation my mom and dad had already established for our family, um, people expected me to pretty much look down on others, but no, never because we're, we're all people. I never had that, that haughtiness. Because it was like how, you know, I was always reminded of how closely, you know, a person is to being in the very same predicament that they looking down on you're literally only maybe a check or two way in homeless or needing public housing. But it was like coming into that. My first experience with that. I did notice how maybe some of my behaviors or reactions to certain things were kind of privileged. And the young lady that I lived with, she was actually pretty funny about it. She would tease me about it. Like, when we first came in, like, the first time I saw a roach. The first time I saw a roach, I freaked out. And she laughed it off. She was like, yeah, we got to tell you, you never lived in public housing. Oh, I haven't. We don't have roaches. So it was like, I began to see how certain ways that I might react or my certain behaviors might make me appear to be a little judgmental or bougie for lack of a better word. And um, she really helped me through that. You know what I'm saying? Cause she was like, you know, people might get offended. She was like, I know you, so I'm not offended. But she was like, people might get offended and think you're looking down on them because the way you act about certain things, but it really was just me being used to my home being a certain way.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1494.0,1626.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: I wasn't used to coaches running out of the cabinet. I wasn't used to not being able to come in and walk into my house. I'm smelling food. I'm smelling clean. You know what I'm saying? I don't have to run into my house and duck, duck, uh, bullets. Like I don't have to do that. You know what I'm saying? But once seeing, seeing. It's an experiencing it for myself. It changed me forever. It changed me forever. It really made me examine myself, you know, and how I am in reaction to the plight of my African American brothers and sisters. And it also made me feel responsible. Like, well, like she didn't know even as far as like all of the different programs and things that were offered, right? She was clueless. You know what I'm saying and then I was like, okay, how can I help this situation? Boom, you don't know about that but I do. Let me help you with that. So, it's like that gave me an avenue to come into the community and be a help to the community rather than sitting there going, oh my god, I can't deal with this. I'm the guy, you know, that's not helping. That's not helping. So, I think that with to be coming from. a different background from a different type of home with a different set of parents and then being immersed into, um, a a community that was that came from single parent homes and high crime areas and low income housing being immersed into that. It really, really made me self examined first and then to Find my niche within that. Okay. So now that you know, this is how this is, what are you going to do to help? And it made me help me find my niche, which my niche end up being, cause you know, a bit of a I don't want to say nerd. I love the word nerd. I love calling myself a geek. I just don't want to say it because I don't, I don't want to be offensive.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1626.0,1753.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: Just being so intelligent and having a mom that knew her way around paperwork and things like that. I was able to embody that and bring it. So now some of these people who Can't fill out this stuff probably 'cause they can't read. Well, I can sit here and say, well, okay, well this is, and explain it to 'em and help 'em get their paperwork. Now their, their, their access to those other, the resources that were cut off. Now you have access. I've opened up access for you and your family. I've helped you open up access for you and your family to get help. So it, it really helped me find my niche and my purpose within the community in a way to help effectively help. Like our, our rate as far as like some of those, a lot of our programs, when I first came in and people didn't know about you, you have a, you have, you're ready to help all these people, but you only got two or three families that came in. But it wasn't because they weren't interested. They just didn't know what to do. So our our rate by the time I left there. Yeah, all of that stuff was full. Everybody on the 12th floor because that's what that's where I started. I would just go to the neighbors. Are you got kids? You know, you can get this problem, right? So the whole 12 flow had like wish lists and everything because those were the direct people that I was direct in contact with that I could help. You know, so yeah, I think, I think that once I got over the The surprise, the disgust at what was going on in the community and just the overall negative emotions. It really evolved into something beautiful, but I still do that. That literally was my calling, like even 20 some years later, I'm still helping people. I'm still helping the community. I'm still filling out applications for people. I'm still helping people read and understand things like my niche in that community is, is, is even deeper now. So, um, I appreciate that experience going through it. Was I scared? Was I nervous? Yes. But, you know, at the end, it really made sense and it made me a better person and the community that I affected was made better because of it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1753.0,1894.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Okay, well, that was great. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. I'm glad you were able to have that community aspect during a time where you were kind of like in between or running from a scary situation. Um, that's pretty much all for our interview today. Thank you for your time and thank you for sharing your years in Cabrini Green and we will reconvene next week. For the next part of this interview.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1894.0,1933.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1933.0,1935.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Cosmo: Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1935.0,1937.0"},{"id":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025/transcript/72207/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Marilyn: You're welcome!","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://nphm.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2733/collection_resources/137784/file/255025#t=1937.0,1939.65132"}]}]}]}