I have always hated you. I have desperately wanted to leave you. Tonight is so different though. I have never been proud to call you my hometown and I have never felt the need to stay. But, tonight is different. Tonight I ache. I yearn for a new city for my children to be proud of, to feel safe in. I yearn for change and for a love to sweep across our city like never before. A love so strong we cry out demanding this change to happen. That our tears may soak the streets and pave the way for something new.
We have a chance to be a voice to our city. A beacon of change. I pray that we can all come together as Hamptonians to bring about this change together. Embrace your neighbor. Hold your babies tight and never give up hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Taralyn Rowe 
Amen! I love my hometown, but we need a wave of prayer and love to infect all of its citizens!
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I so agree. We need to ban together with love and prayer to take our community back.
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Hampton is my hometown but it is always the city that allows haters to set you up and lienon you for you to go to jail. They allow people to do illegal activities and turn a blind eye tonit based on color and if they are helping the police… They don’t care about the good people in Hampton that are vicitimus by the bad one of Hampton and they don’t protect and serve… A change for the better needs to come but it will only happen if we better educated people and children. Deture them from going to drugs but locking up the deals instead of ignoring it when a citizen of Hampton tells you and shows your eveidence that drugs are being sold on a elementary school playground and to middle and high school children… We can’t expect better if we don’t teach them better… The things in music and movies it all just shows them the bad things of life.
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Thank you for your response. There is a lot of change that needs to happen. And you are right about the addiction situation. Our view of addiction needs to change, resources need to be available, and overall there needs to be a new system in place. We can’t treat the future if we throw away the present issues. We have babies losing their parents to addiction just to grow up into the same generational pain they saw growing up. I agree, Its time to look past color, income, and anything else that is hindering us from standing in solidarity as a community. Once again, Thank you for speaking from your heart and reaching out.
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I grew up in buckrow. I graduated from phoebus and after that I left. I since then have been back 2 times 03 and 09. Each time I made the trip back I couldn’t believe how the city has gone to crap. I live in Arizona now and I could never see myself moving back to Hampton Roads area. The only time I even hear about VA anymore is because of people getting shot and killed. Why would anyone want to live like that.
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Thanks for reaching out. I have felt the same way about Hampton that you do for most of my life. I think my eyes have shifted from the growing negativity instead to where these issues are stemming from and how we (meaning myself and other Hampton natives) could have a possible influence to better the community around us.
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