Introduction

Shamayim Harris, known in Detroit as Mama Shu, knows all too well the pain of loss. In 2007 her 2-year-old son Jakobi Ra was killed in a hit and run accident, and in 2021 her other son Chinyelu was murdered. Mama Shu talks with Anderson about how she worked hard to, in her words, “turn my grief into glory and my loss into love.” Focusing on one block in her neighborhood, she began cleaning up blighted properties and has created the non-profit Avalon Village, which aims to be a safe and welcoming space for kids in her community. “This is grief,” she tells Anderson, “it just looks beautiful.”

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