Amen Brown in West Philly: ‘This community is in my blood’

Amen Brown lights up when he talks about West Philly. The PA State Representative was born and raised here, and currently lives in a house just a few blocks over from the one he grew up in at 56th and Market Streets.

“People who live here in this community, we take it very seriously. We always find a reason to come back,” he told The Inquirer . “This community is in my blood.”

Brown has fond memories of the neighborhood, Shepard Recreation Center, and the many people still here who know him.

But near the same intersection at 56th and Market where he spent his formative years, Brown experienced two of the most dangerous, frightening events of his life. When he was 12, he and a friend were both shot while walking down the street. And when he was in high school, he was arrested in front of a corner store on drug dealing charges.

“I took some serious hits,” he said, reflecting on those incidents and what it was like growing up in a poor, single parent household. “It’s my job to make sure [people] don’t go through what I went through. I’ve been through it for you.”

Even though he’s the youngest candidate still in the race, Brown believes that his experiences make him uniquely equipped to lead a city where stopping gun violence and other crimes is many people’s top priority.

“Being a survivor myself, I deserve a seat at the table,” he said.

“I understand it, I live it. Someone didn’t tell me how bad it is out there.”

» READ MORE: Watch all candidate videos from the series here.