➡ A father in Philadelphia is pleading for an end to gun violence after his son, Azir Harris, was killed. Azir, a 24-year-old paraplegic and father to a one-year-old boy, had previously survived a drive-by shooting. The family is devastated by the loss, and the community is urged to seek peaceful solutions to conflicts. The incident has sparked discussions about the challenges faced by disabled individuals and the need for community support.

➡ The speaker expresses frustration with the lack of progress in their community despite efforts to improve it. They believe it’s time to stop investing in failed initiatives and instead focus on personal growth and responsibility. They encourage others to leave their familiar surroundings, start anew, and not limit their potential. They emphasize that success comes from preparation meeting opportunity, not luck.

➡ Before summer break, someone had a talk with me that really stayed in my mind.

Father of a 24 year old over in Philly as a result of a shooting. They like to start labeling the mass shootings depending on how many people get killed or get hit at one particular time. But Philly was amongst the cities that I did not cover yesterday that had a weekend of bloodshed within the black community in particular. And Cheryl, what’s her name? Cheryl Parker, the mayor of Philadelphia. She got a. She got boy. I don’t know why anybody would want to become mayor. Listen, the only reason that somebody should ever run for office unless you trump or something like that, is if you are already or already have been successful in your life.

Because she got to deal with police officers, she got to deal with shootings. They got trash that they can’t negotiate with the sanitation workers and. And the city employees and they protesting and all of this stuff. What’s going on with my picture here? What’s happening, guys? What’s happening here? This can’t get cleared up. That’s what we’re dealing with today. All right, look like we back. All right, y’, all, let’s get to it again. Make sure you hit a like for the algorithm. I appreciate y’. All. And let’s get it popping. Yeah, Fred. Several of those who were injured this morning were taken here to Presby.

It remains unclear how many are still inside receiving treatment, although I did speak to one man’s family a short time ago. They’re extremely upset by what happened to him this morning. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel describes the scene in Grace Ferry as horrific. Hold on, let me see something. He got a one too many S’s in his speech. What y’ all think? What y’ all think? He got a lot of S’s in his. In a scene and his speech. What do y’ all think? Y’. All. Y’ all think he got. Y’ all think he. Y’ all think he on that side or y’ all think he on this side? What y’ all think? Lot of S’s in that speech.

And you know me, I’m not gonna discriminate. If you’re doing a great job, you’re doing a great job. But we evaluate everybody that is a newscaster, and we judge everybody over here on the Millionaire morning show. And so what I’m trying to understand with y’, all, because what y’ all think. A lot of zest in this one says Connie. All right, all right, we’ll get there. We’ll get there. Unclear how many are still inside receiving treatment, although I did speak to one man’s family A short time ago. They’re extremely upset by what happened to him this morning.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel describes the scene in Grace Ferry as horrific. There is a lot of video circulating online. I’m sure all of you have seen it. This is. This video circulating on social media is one piece of evidence Philadelphia police sources say they’re using as part of the investigation into this morning’s deadly mass shooting in Grace Ferry. It’s one of two shooting incidents in South Philadelphia over the busy Fourth of July holiday. I think the girl who was laying on my step, she was like 15. Police say 12 people between the ages of 15 and 24 were shot and three of them killed.

On the 1500 block of South Edding Street. The sound of gunfire caused Tiffany McDaniels to come outside her home. It was very hard to see, and the bullets hit my house and just think of God that my son didn’t get hit. Commissioner Kevin Bethel says officers were patrolling the area after getting reports of large gatherings and loud music and were nearby when they heard the gunshots. It’s pretty much a horrific scene. We do know, based on what we’re seeing so far, you know, almost 140 pieces of ballistic evidence has been recovered. We definitely believe, based on our observation, a gun with a switch was involved, which we talked about has been a significant issue for us.

Another mass shooting happening just before 4 Saturday morning at Seven Elements Restaurant along 11th street at Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. Officials say eight people were injured after an argument at escalated into a fight. Back in Grace ferry today, the 17th District Police Captain walked the block with longtime community leaders, telling us he’s reminding the innocent residents who live here that what they witnessed this morning isn’t normal or acceptable. So the goal for me as the Captain of the 17th is personally involvement with these individuals who are helping me to understand some of the culture and also some of the issues.

So it’s not going to be a short run. It’s a marathon. But we are confident that we’ll be able to make the changes happen. And one person was taken into custody in connection to this morning’s incident. No arrests have been made in the Seven Elements. If anybody actually seen these shootings, if y’ all seen them on X. I caught them on X. It was some of the craziest junk that I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Nobody. Nobody. It was kids and people and young people everywhere. And when I say everywhere, they were everywhere. They were running, they were scattering.

The one dude. It was one dude that was shooting and he Couldn’t even control the gun. It you could tell that when he was shooting, it was shooting up in the air like this. He, he, he, he did like this, and then he was doing like this. Probably majority of it actually hit the top of the house or something like that. It was incredible. And I was like, yo, this is a war zone. This is a war zone. The entire video was the craziest thing that I had ever seen in my entire life. You saw it on IG and Facebook.

I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe. And everybody is running and they just get up and start shooting. And these. Everybody got switches. Don’t y’ all know that they handing out decades if you got switches? Don’t y’. All. Dawg dog, listen, man, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Who else can you blame except for the parents? My daughter would never be anywhere near this nonsense. My daughter could not go out. Y’ all got y’ all young girls out there for any parents. Listen, it’s bad enough that parents is bad in the first place. If y’ all letting y’ all daughters go out and hang out in the streets to where they getting into gunfights and this type of situation.

Y’ all are crazy, bro. Crazy. I got everything on my daughter. I got the, the, the IVINE mask. She call in at certain times if everything. A hundred percent extra insurance, every. All kind of junk. Who you going with? No, no, I’m all on it. I’m a hundred percent at 100 of the time. Every time she go out of town, I’m going with her. That’s why I’ll be on the plane half the time. Half the time I’m on a plane, I’m chasing her. All right, well, we gotta go. We gotta go to this competition over here.

Okay, so we get you a hotel room. Get us hotel room. Her hotel room is literally right next to mine. Y’ all kids want to move out as soon as they turn 18. My daughter was like, so where we. Where we moving? After I graduate, that’s what my daughter say to me. Where are we moving, dad? You know, we gonna need a bit. We need a bigger house. We. Cuz, you know, I’m not going nowhere. Y’ all daughters is out here hanging out with monsters. You left your most precious jewel out here in the streets with monsters.

And they just shoot like an issue for us. Look at this. Another mess. Look at this happening just before 4 Saturday morning at 7. Elements. Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. Good God. Anyways, on top of this, a father decided that, you know, a father of a fallen young man that was out there in the streets. He said he wanted to speak out and this is what he had to say as a result of it developing. Tonight, we’re learning more about some of the victims in that deadly mass shooting in Grace Ferry. Philadelphia police say it was one of 19 shooting incidents over the July 4th week weekend.

Three people in the Grace Ferry mass shooting were killed and nine more injured. Investigators returning to the scene today. And Kelly, you spoke with the family of one of the victims who died. Unfortunately, this is not the first time they’ve dealt with gun violence. Yes, Sheba, sadly that is the case. The father of 24 year old Azir Harris had a heartbroken plea to the city of Philadelphia today to put the guns down. He says Azir was a father to a one year old little boy and a paraplegic because he survived a drive by shooting when he was only 17 years old.

This family has been through so much and they are devastated. Did y’ all hear what he said? The father said the kid was already in a wheelchair in a paraplegic because he survived a drive by shooting. So the kid was. Think about this for a second. The kid is already in a wheelchair. Let me play that again for the people in the back because I want y’ all to know what’s going on in the community because everybody want to hide it and say oh no, no, we shouldn’t be talking about that. Yes we should. Yes we should.

Sadly, that is the case. The father of 24 year old Azir Harris had a heartbroken plea to the city of Philadelphia today to put the guns down. He says Azir was a father to a one year old little boy and a paraplegic because he survived a drive by shooting. When he was, he was a father to a one year old boy. He was already in a wheelchair as a paraplegic and now he is killed. So now the father gets to raise the grandchild of a slain son that had already been in a driveway drive by and now the grandfather can become the father.

He’s only 17 years old. This family has been through so much and they are devastated. I carried him at his time when he was down and now I can’t be able to pick him up no more. And it hurts but he do hurts me bad. Troy Harris says he keeps a close watch on his son, the youngest of six, 24 year old Azir Harris, who has been wheelchair bound since he was 17 years old following his injuries in a drive by shooting in South Philadelphia When Azir’s friends got him out of the house last night, he says he didn’t question it.

Well, I figured they’d go either go to the store, get some juice or something like that. Never thought that he would be. I’m confused right now. Let me watch the full video. I’m trying to figure this out. Be on the other side of town. That happened to him. He identified Azir, an outgoing positive, father to a one year old boy, as one of the three victims shot and killed on the 1500 block. Are y’ all thinking what I’m thinking? Am I the only person thinking what I’m thinking? Or is all. All of us thinking the same thing? Give me a second.

Let me work this out. Because I’m slow. So I’m a. I’m a. I’m a C student. Are y’ all thinking what I’m thinking? Don’t say it. You thinking it too? What am I thinking? What am I thinking? Nope, that’s not what I was thinking. I think Molly caught it. That’s what I’m thinking. Molly. That’s what I’m thinking. Molly, that is exactly what I’m thinking. You hit the nail on the head. I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking the same thing. Okay, so they said. Listen, this is what they said. And again, I’ll be trying to understand some stuff, so y’ all got to slow down with me.

He said that he got hit and he was a paraplegic in the wheelchair, right? If you’re a paraplegic in a wheelchair at 17, but you got a one year old kid and you 24 years old, how does that work? Am I the only person. Does it. No, honestly, I’m wondering, does it work? Also, how does that work? How does that work? Y’ all gotta. Y’ all gotta keep me up to date. Somebody help me. Somebody help me. And I’m not asking. I’m really trying to understand it. Asterisk says it works. How? If you. It doesn’t mean a D, don’t you.

Aren’t you. If you’re a paraplegic, how does that work? How. Nah, I don’t believe that that works. I gotta find out for myself. I gotta find out for myself. I don’t believe it. I don’t believe nothing that y’ all saying right now. Paralysis of the legs and the lower body. So if your legs and your lower body does not work. All right, a man is paraplegic from the waist down. Does his penis still work? Really? I did not know that. All right. So here’s my bigger question. Now here’s a bigger question, right? One question begat another question.

Another question begets another question. So you can still get an erection. People in the chat have educated me. And then I went and I did the research for myself. Okay? So it’s a possibility that you said blood is flowing but no feeling. All right, so I’ve learned something today. All right? So with that being said, here’s a bigger question. Here’s a bigger question for y’, all, all right? Because we all learning. We all in school today. Here’s the bigger question. If he is able to still get box and have children respectfully, as a paraplegic, I don’t want to hear no more excuses from any men that say that they can’t find no woman to get some box from.

If. If. I have seen several stories over every single live stream where I’ll be just questioning myself. And I’m saying, wait a minute. He getting. He getting chicks pregnant. How he gets chicks pregnant? Honestly, I’m genuinely. This is the stuff that. This is how my mind works. This is how I want to be thinking to myself. And I don’t know why I’m this way, but I just. I just think this way. And so if he can’t even walk, how he able to get boxing? You came. How was he able to have children and you can’t. There is never an excuse.

I don’t want to hear anything from anybody. Oh, I’m too ugly. Oh, I’m a short king. He couldn’t even get up and he getting boxed. That’s no excuse. You can do it and is confidence. He probably had the confidence of everybody. He probably had more confidence than anybody else that’s watching this live stream right now. I don’t want to hear nothing from nobody. Oh, I’m. I’m got braces. All my teeth is crooked. He got. Let’s get back to the story of south edding Street. Around 1am he says Azir’s son’s mother was one of the nine other victims injured in the shooting.

Emotional loved ones gathered outside Penn Presbyterian Hospital all morning for updates as police were seen towing vehicles away gathered outside Penn. Look at, look at, look at, look at the people. Look at the people. This is y’ all community. This is the community. Right here. Is right here, Coach. Purses galore, sheen hookups, sundresses, most of them big, bigger than they need to be. Rolls everywhere, falling out on the street. Sandals and Crocs everywhere. This is it right here. This is your Community. This is your community right here. Right there. You see it? This is. This is the scene of something that can.

Can go wrong every single time, bro. All morning for updates as police were seen towing vehicles. What is that? What is that, y’? All, man, you can’t make this up. You can’t make this up. What is that, y’? All? What kind of car is that? I ain’t gonna say it. I’m gonna let you say it. I’m not gonna say it. This is the. This is the baby mama starter kit. Yo. Buy. You buy some hair pieces that fly off some. Some baby hairs that’s in the front. Get you a crashed up Ultima slash Nissan Maxima. You really doing it if you got a Nissan Maxima every single time.

AB this is a starter kit. This is. This is a starter kit right here. You can’t, you literally can’t make this up. Evidence as seen in this surveillance video. Police say they believe more than 100 shots erupted during an impression impromptu block party gathering on the block. Police say this video is part of their ongoing investigation. The gunfire striking homes and cars, one of them towed from the neighborhood today. Commissioner Kevin Bethel said he believes at least one gun had a switch on it. A device that can convert handguns into fully automatic machine guns. We had a significant level of violence over the weekend, but we can continue to see our trends are not heading in the opposite direction.

We will not go back to the, to the times where we have 560 plus homicides that is not happening. Frustration, you know, I’m, you know, I understand what happened last night, really about understanding what we did yesterday and tomorrow. Tyreek Glasgow with the Young Chances foundation says they set up most days like this on the block with other agencies, including the 17th district police. He says he had to cancel summer camp today as many children were scared to leave home. To wake up this morning from what happened last night is a travesty. So it takes us to change this.

Harris also hoping for a change as his family manages a new nightmare. I just want to say put these guns down, man. It’s a better way to solve it. Really do. It’s a better way to. Ain’t y’ all tired of people talking about, hey, it’s our responsibility to change this? No, respectfully, respectfully. Are y’ all not tired of people saying, you know what? It’s on us. We got another block club, we got another. A food drive, we got another basketball drive. We got some more government benefits, handouts, all of this stuff. Yo, aren’t y’, all, honestly, Honestly, I’m starting to think that most of these organizations, these hood organizations.

Yeah, we gonna give back backpack drives and stuff. I’m almost thinking that, like, it’s a waste of time. It’s literally a waste of time and a waste of resources. Yo, I am at the point where it’s like, what we still doing pouring into the community? What are we still doing pouring into the community? At some point, you have to ask yourself, like, are we tired? Are we done? Are we tired? Because at some point, it’s like, all right, listen, it’s time to go, big dog. Time to rock out with my out. I gotta go. I. I can’t.

I can’t, bro. I can’t keep putting myself in this situation. I don’t want to subject my future children to it. At some point, you have to get out of the situation, and you have to completely walk away. I don’t need another can drive. I don’t need another Walk for tots. I don’t need another Put the guns down drive. I don’t need none of that no more. It’s. It’s over. We’ve been doing that since the 70s, bro. Since the 80s and the 70s. There is nothing that has changed in a community. Honestly, the only thing I think that people need to do from now on is just divest themselves against the situation and get up out of there.

Make sure that you’re not the one that’s perpetuating the violence and the behavior. And once you realize that you’ve actually taken responsibility for your life and you no longer want to bring your ghetto, ghetto self and your ghetto blocks and yourself over to other neighborhoods. Get out. You got to get out. You got to get out. Some of y’ all got to leave your city. You got to leave your city. Maybe not even leave your city, but leave your neighborhood and go somewhere else where you’re not known and, you know, start over. Just leave. Leave your block and go to another neighborhood.

Don’t go. Revisit your friends and get the heck out of there. I ran into a guy yesterday. Shout out to everybody that I ran into yesterday. I ran into a guy that I used to work with 23 years ago. 23 years ago, I ran into him. T. He said, t. Remember, we used to work in a steel mill together, man. We was babies. We were so young. He was telling me about all of the people that had died and all of the different stuff that had happened, and this person crashed out, and this person is this, and this person is that.

But we’ve been watching you from a distance, bro. We proud of you. And I was really appreciative. But it helped me to realize that in order for me to grow, I had to separate myself. It’s just the facts. In order for me to grow as a man, in order for me to get what God had for me, I had to separate myself from the things that was around me at that particular time. And that’s not a knock on them. It just means that God has something special for me. And you don’t have to realize. Some of y’.

All, some of you guys. I’m gonna speak to the guys right now, but this is applicable to the women and to. Some of you guys are so dedicated to Stan, Dusty and you are so dedicated. You have an A calling on your life that is way greater than whatever it is that you are. And I can’t stand when I see guys that say, man, you know, all of us can’t make it. All of us can’t. Can’t become successful. All of us can’t make more than $100,000 a year. All of us can’t be great. All of us.

And so you’ve. You’ve literally set your tone and your destiny, bro. Most of the stuff that I do in my life, I manifest it before it even come true. I visualize it, I see it, I confirm it with God. Honestly, I talk to God every day, and I’m like, man, is this the thing that I need to be putting all of my energy into once I receive my confirmation and the witness that go along with it to confirm it? I’m gone. I’m gone, bro. I’m out. When I set my sight on something, I’m off to the races.

I’m never gonna sit and. And settle. I’m gone. I’m out. And then I’ll be like, hey, who coming with me? One or two people out of a hundred be like, I’m down. They give me my Jerry Maguire moment. Who co’s coming with me? And it’d be one or two people, hey, man, I’m rolling with you no matter what. Whatever you do, I do. The rest of them be like, he don’t know what he talking about. I’m off. I’m not waiting. I’m not trying to convince nobody. I’m gone. I’m out. Some of us been raised, raised in the hood, but we not still there.

Some of us was raised in the projects. We not still there. Some of us was raised to believe that we were Democrats. We not still there. Some of us was raised to believe that we can do better. We not still there, bro. You don’t have to have your kids running around growing up the way that you do. You don’t have to, you know, have your children having student loans. You don’t have to do none of that stuff, bro. You are. You’re only limited by your own imagination and your own dedication to your success. And when people just continue to subject themselves to the nonsense.

I can’t. I can’t. It’s time to go, bro. It’s time to go. Denise says you the lucky ones. No, we are not lucky. We’re not lucky. We’re intentional. That’s the thing. You create your own luck. Opportunity got to present itself. But success is when preparation meets opportunity. Never forgot that. My. My. My high school assistant principal, Mrs. Gatling, said that she kind of looked like the person that I’m about to talk about in the next story. She said, anton, listen to me. You create your own luck. And I remember, because I was getting in trouble, and I was in the office, and it was me and my homeboy shout out to my homeboy ma.

Ma wound up becoming a poet and a rapper or something like that. And she said, anton, listen to me. Because I. I had got in trouble. I had kicked over some desks because I was pissed off, and they banned me from being able to go to prom. And so I was like, well, I don’t care. I’m going to some other girls prom. So I went to two other proms with other girls. And she said, anton, I need you to hear me out. It was my senior year, and she sat me down. She said, listen, you are too smart and too bright.

You not like the rest of these kids in here. You not like the ones as we know. We know which ones is bright. And I’m. I’m a. Hopefully, I’m a save you from yourself. And I was sitting there with my arrogance and all of this stuff, and she said, anton, everybody gets lucky. Everybody gets an opportunity, and a lot of people don’t get a lot of them. But I need you to understand that success is when opportunity meets preparation. If you’re not ready, it’s gonna pass you by, and it’s gonna go to somebody else. And I didn’t want to hear it at the time, but it just kept sticking with me.

What are you. What is she talking about? Successful Opportunity. Preparation. Success is an opportunity to me. What is this? Okay, Preparation. That mean I’ve always got to be working. I always got to Be prepared. Prepared. And the opportunity is going to present itself. But I. But it ain’t nothing coming my way yet. Okay? Just stay ready so you ain’t got to get ready. As soon as it hit, I’m gone. I’m gone, I’m gone. Chris Cunningham says you got kicked out of prom. Well, it was my senior year and it was at the end of the year, and so I had already took my finals or whatever like that, and then somebody pissed me off.

And so I kicked over some chairs and I kicked over some desks, and I kind of spaz out in the classroom because I had anger issues as far as when people would get, you know, piss me off. And I felt like I wasn’t wrong. And so they couldn’t really punish me. You know, they couldn’t say, oh, you can’t graduate. They couldn’t give me no more detention because it was the end of the year. And so the only way that they felt like they could punish me was to take away my ability to be able to go to prom.

And so I didn’t go to my own prom. I went to two other girls proms. One of them went to a private school. So I went to her prom, she went to Mercy, and I went to this other girl’s prom also. But yeah, that was the only way that they felt like they could punish me because it was already the end of the year and I had already took my finals and I was already set to graduate, so it was nothing that they could do to me. And so she just wanted to have that conversation with me before I got let out for the summer.

And it stuck with me. It stuck with me. Definitely stuck with me.
[tr:tra].

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