Noe Perez (24)

Using one word, what comes to mind when you hear “Little Village”?
Hood

Childhood in Little Village
Throwing snowballs to cars in the winter
Having bullies in elementary school- Eli Whitney
Mom had to go to work and he had to go to school alone with siblings and come back home and wait for mom to get home from long day of work 
Dad wasn’t there because he left when he was a small child
Even in elementary school there were kids that acted like gang bangers
Kids that came from gang member families, and some of them have passed away now 

Young Adult
Going to the music room afterschool
Program for skateboarding through After School Matters.
In high school you try to figure out who you really are or who you want to be.
People in high school are not as mean but still a little mean and have their own cliques and mostly hang out with people within those cliques.
Still hangout with the same group of people from high school even now.
Not much to say about high school, it was kind of boring except in high school you have more freedom, which means you get to go outside more and explore such as exploring abandoned buildings.
Buildings in cicero that he would go explore especially the tower in Hawthorne Works Plaza.

Adult
After high school years, I didn't do much with school or work for a few years, and then got a full time job which consists of just working and sleeping most of the day since I work 3rd shift from 10pm to 6am.
You learn to watch your back at all times as an adult 
He doesn’t walk out in the streets of Little Village much because it’s dangerous, never walk around here especially now having a car. 

Change in Little Village?
There are things I don't like about Little village, but I wouldn't change it because I think everything should be left alone the way it is, naturally.
“Gentrification will happen here, it's just a matter of time. It is bad for people like us who live here but good for white people who come here. I don't care for gentrification.”