Shirley Fikes knows things that'll never be
taught here at Mr. Phelan's fifth grade class,
things that could save her life.
You've got to be informed. You've got to know
what's going on.
In Shirley's neighborhood, you learn to survive.
You've got to understand the language of the streets.
This is Sergeant Naaman James Beat, but he gets
to go home at night.
Shirley is home. So are a lot of other children.
It would be dangerous. I mean, it would be an
everyday part of their life, being afraid.
This is a tough neighborhood, but it was even
meaner in the late 1980s.
And it was then, in the span of less than a
year, that both of Shirley's brothers were murdered.
Sergeant James says this year, there will be 20
more like it.
The Washington hearings want to know what it's
like growing up here.
What it's like, it's not easy.
And her warning?
There's a lot of violence in the community.
There's also compassion.
A special school program is helping Shirley and
other kids cope.
Each week they meet one-on-one with what the
program calls a special friend.
This one hour per week is the only hour of
undivided and individualized attention that
they get.
The program has one rule.
Where you come from has nothing to do with what
you can become.
A spin around Shirley's neighborhood proves that.
This was a dope house.
But listen to her cheer. Shirley's address
hasn't changed, but her outlook has.
Larry Estepa, Texas News 5.