Diamond

Collage art by me✨

My name is Diamond Westly (a.k.a didi or money makin didi) and here is my story

I was born in 1994 in the east side of chicago the trenches, I was born a permie baby because my mother was a fien, I have two younger twin sisters kayla & kenndi we are two years apart we have the same parents but our daddy got locked up for manslaughter so that left me being the "Parent of the house" Ma lived on the streets but daddy made sure we had a roof over our heads even from prison.

I couldn't let my sisters down like our parents did so I got my ass up everyday at 5 and cooked us breakfast and made sure the twins were ready for school. I always played "Keep your head up by tupac because that song kept me afloat, it was one of those songs that my feelings ineffable There would be days we would come home and ma would randomly be slumped out on the couch from the drugs. I was getting older and so were the twins and daddy didn't have anymore money to send to us so that left with the choice of being in the dirty grimy streets at 16, I was a plug for the lower east side banking atleast 6k a month.

Yeah I had that good shit. .

The twins called me "money makin didi" because they respected and appreciated the hustle, I always made sure the twins were straight. The flyest twins in their school. The flyest twin in the hood. The flyest twins in Chicago. Money was good, life was good until one of my closest friends ratted me out and got me caught up with 12 and ever since then my life completely changed. The twins and I went into foster care, within 3 months in foster care Kayla and kennedi were adopted by their principal. They always shared a special bond. She didn't adopt me Because I was turning 18 in 4 months so I would technically be a legal adult. I was mentally losing my mind in foster care.. it felt like I was in jail but then I realized this is what is feels like to be a actual kid and not have to stress about 'what am I eating tonight' or having big responsibilities. I felt free for once it was a scary but such a warm feeling. When I turned 18 I decided to go to "Jackson state university". I did all four years & graduated with my degree in social work. 3 years after graduating I won a $1.8 million scholarship from the " I have a dream foundation" I had everybody and they grandmas in their sniffing but on some real shit I didn't know how me telling my story moved others because ever since then I started to get requests to be a speaker and a mentor.... But that all leads for me to say I am now 29. I am the founder of "Chicago kids deserve to be kids foundation" I created a safe environment for local Chicago kids to get the help they need and have a enjoyable childhood. I have over 5,000 kids in my program.