Lorraine Smaller: "It was about community, it was about love."

We interviewed Mrs. Smaller in her lovely home on Vincent Avenue North in Homewood. We enjoyed fresh oranges and talked about her experiences living in Homewood for 46 years. Mrs. Smaller, a retired educator, spoke of the neighbors who left because they didn't want to live next door to black folks, raising two sons in Homewood in its prime, the work required to keep the neighborhood safe when gangs moved into North Minneapolis, and her real fears about there not being any black people in Homewood in five years. When asked about the challenges of living in Homewood and why she continues to this day, she said, "Because I love my neighborhood. I wasn't gonna let nobody run me out."