Jabari Parker is as eloquent and well-rounded a person that you’ll ever come across, so it was no shock to read this awesome piece from The Players Tribune — on the Bucks stars love for his home city.
ONe night when I was 18, I was walking to the Walgreens that was on my block. It was December and freezing in Chicago. Usually that means it’s a little safer, too.
I was just going out for some chips and a drink, but before I even got to the store, shots rang out. Another drive-by. I hit the ground for a few seconds and then started running back home.
I wanted to keep running though. Away from the South Side, away from Chicago. I just wanted to get out.
Let me tell you about my city.
Growing up where I did on the South Side, it was easy to think that there wasn’t much beyond those city blocks. Because not many people were telling us any different. We were expected to live in the same house we had grown up in, which was the same house our parents had grown up in.
In a deep essay, Parker spoke about the growing violence in the city, lack of education, jobs and most importantly opportunity.
Parker pledged to one day return to Chicago and become a public school teacher as well.
Flip The Page To Hear Jabari talk more about saving his city:
