LETTER: Despite fatal Fall River shooting, tree reminds family of what Corky Row was and can be again

This is the house directly across from the shooting on Fifth Street.

My family has owned these two homes for 40 years. We are a proud, mostly Black and Portuguese, family that still have aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren that live in these homes. A place generations of my family call home.

This tree blooms once a year in the middle of what sadly has become a scary place, but it’s beauty reminds me of how it once was and gives me hope of how it could be.

It reminds me of the countless hard working success stories of good people that I call friends and family that have originated from this neighborhood.

I hope it can be known for the tough, but good neighborhood it once was.

I know the recent tragedy has saddened all of my former and current Corky Row family and I hope for better days for all of the kids and families that reside there now.

Marcel Riley