Shanita Horton lived in Glenville from the time she was in third grade until her 30s.
She remembers as part of a high school project, she interviewed her father who was eight years old at the time of the 1968 Glenville shootout.
鈥淗e remembers the military presence. I guess it was the National Guard in the neighborhood. He remembers the curfew and having to come in at a certain time,鈥� Horton said.
Horton is now a teacher at Glenville High School. Last school year, she was asked to lead students in a project working with a documentarian on the shootout and subsequent unrest.
鈥淚 chose the kids not necessarily the ones with the best grades, but I chose the bright ones, the ones who would ask the questions, the ones who would do the work, the ones who would get involved.鈥�
The students researched the trial of Fred Ahmed Evans who was convicted of murder for the deaths of three Cleveland police officers and a civilian during the shootout. They spoke with people who knew Evans and met Prof. Louis Masotti who published a report commissioned by the government on the causes and events of the Glenville shootout.
Horton says it made her students self-reflective.
鈥淎nd several of them are like, 鈥極h no, I鈥檓 going to college, yes, but I鈥檓 coming back to Glenville and we鈥檙e going to fix some things.鈥� And they鈥檙e really gung ho.鈥�
Horton says she no longer lives in Glenville but still sees the neighborhood as 鈥渉ome.鈥�
Her hope for the future of Glenville is growth, positive growth.
Produced by Hannah Edelman
