Katrina "Shorty" Shelton
Katrina Shelton is cool and a great storyteller. When she was young, she walked around the neighbor with a boombox on her shoulder because she loved music. She climbed on trees to check on a house where a man and his German Shepherd dog lived because she was curious. She had heard a story that people disappeared in that house. She got yelled at by her mother for doing so. When she graduated from Hamilton High School in Milwaukee, she began working in the home health care sector caring for people with dementia. Now, she has been working for twenty-two years. When introducing herself, she said, “Everybody call me shorty, …[So,] if you … ask, ‘who is Katrina?’ Nobody [is] gonna know!”. Ms. Shelton has been living on Cherry Street since she was a four or five years old child. According to her, when her family migrated from “down south,” they tried to rebuild a small community in Milwaukee. They lived near each other, in Hillside, Lapham Park and nearby areas, or as she explained, “we have a lot of family members, we all kind of stay within the same block” with the intention of staying close to each other. She still has family living in Stuttgart, Little Rock, and Pine Bluff in Arkansas. Ms. Shelton remembers that the neighborhood “was pretty rowdy” when they moved in, but she adds that her mother, Sandra, “really love[d] this area.” So, her mother tried to make positive changes to the locality. She started communicating with her neighbors, organized events in order to make the block feel more homey, and prepared and shared food with residents. Every weekend, one of the households in the neighborhood would have a barbecue. That meant that in addition to that family, other children, some poor, could count on being fed. Soon these small actions of care made a big impact. The neighborhood became a place where families felt safe, and residents cared for and supported each other. Children came from nearby neighborhoods in order to hang out on Cherry Street because “this street always has stuff going on.” Ms. Shelton knew her neighbors when she was growing up. She lovingly describes these characters from her past. There was this lady who offered kids cookies whenever she was in a good mood. And there was a drunk man, who was mad about stuff and argued with a woman who seemed to be upset all the time. There was a cool neighbor who gave kids money to buy snacks. There was someone who didn’t like the kids much and got upset when children rode their bikes on her lawn. She explains how each of these characters had a part to play in making her neighborhood so memorable: “You know, that was the neighborhood, everybody knew everybody so for us kids. When you got into trouble, you did something, you know you’re gonna get into trouble cause you know they going to write to your momma!” Ms. Shelton’s mother was particular about her education, and she was “meticulous when choosing [her] school.” She attended an environmental elementary school until Grade five. This is where she learnt about the environment and the science of planting. She also learnt about gardening at home. Her mother, Sandra, Ms. Lee, Ms. John and her mother-in-law started the Cherry Street Garden when she was young. Her family lived in a town house across from that block. When their townhouse caught fire, the Housing authority moved her family next door. Then, the authorities knocked down the burnt homes and build a new building for the residents. She remembers that there were two duplex homes located in the block where the garden is located currently. When the duplexes burnt down and neighboring homes were demolished, a team of elders picked up the bricks and debris, cleared plots of land, and planned a garden. Then a high school kid, Ms. Shelton was not fond of gardening—sifting dirt and bugs in a garden was not what she wanted to do. Unfortunately, she had no choice but listen to her elders. She added, “This gardening thing came on nature, because [her maternal grandfather] was a farming type guy,” and he owned a lot of land in the countryside in Arkansas, where young Katrina and her brother would visit during summer. She remembers her great-aunts, who had smaller gardens in their backyards. Often, they gathered together and spent time exchanging stories of what grew in their gardens. They also exchanged vegetables. Today she is proud that she learnt about gardening at an early age and has even taught her mother some gardening tricks! As she gardens, she finds “satisfaction when the plant grows fruit and you can eat it.” As years went by, adults residents in her neighborhood grew old. Some moved and others passed away. Their adult children decided to move out too. The community witnessed increased drug dealing and crime. Around 2000’s, thing got wild with increasing violence. Tenants were being evicted by landlords. The neighborhood ceased to be what it used to be. Her mother fell ill too. But things have turned around and the Cherry Street Community Garden has brought back her neighborhood. |
Katrina Shelton talking about her family history, and how gardening is a very nature skill to her due to her grandfather.
Ms. Shelton recalling first memory about the Cherry Street's neighborhood and how her mother has taken action that bring positivity to the neighborhood.
Ms. Shelton sharing about her great-aunt's gardens.
Ms. Shelton recalling how the gardening activity was started in the Cherry Street.
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