Chicago's Daughter A Memoir (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781087957982)

Not everyone from Chicago is or was a gangbanger, drug dealer or user. Despite the face of inner-city Chicago, the majority of us were the casualties of this lifestyle chosen by others. Others that were wounded and hurt in their own childhoods and decided to pass down the dysfunction and pain. After decades of sifting through the chaos I inherited I decided to give some things back. Some things that belong to others so that I can work on only what belongs to me.

This is my story. These are my experiences and reflections about growing up in the foster care system during the 1980s-90s after losing a brother. With a father in prison and a negligent mother, I wanted to know how (and why) my siblings and I got to where we were. Separated. I wanted to know what was going on in my family that so many (like my parents) were involved in gangs, drugs and violence. Becoming a victim to murder was too common and prison was a norm even for minors.

With my D.C.F.S. (Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services) file along with included reports from family members, counselors and psychiatrist from that time, I was able to gain more insight to what I had really experienced. I was a daughter of the system. I was taken from my grandparents at six years old with no one in my family thinking of me until I was ten. Even after coming into the family, I was reminded that I didn't belong. I was a ward of the state. I was Chicago's daughter.