When Nasir Livingston was about 10 years old, his world fell apart when his mother died.
“It crushed him,” said Tyrique Glasgow, who lived near Nasir in Grays Ferry. “That’s where all his guidance was, and it was taken.”
Nasir had some run-ins with the law and anger management issues, but he was a good kid, Glasgow said.
A few years ago, Nasir turned to Glasgow when he and his friends weren’t allowed to play football unsupervised at the Vare Recreation Center at 26th and Morris.
Glasgow spoke to the director, who told him that if he coaches the kids and takes responsibility for them, they could play. It seemed like a lot of work, more than Glasgow was willing to commit to. He said no at first, then a light bulb went on.
He was at a crossroads himself. As a young adult, Glasgow had been shot 11 times and served five years in prison, and was in the process of trying to figure out what to do with his life.
“I really didn’t have any drive, no degree, no tools to get a paying job,” he said.
And because of Nasir, he found his path.
The Young Chances Foundation, which Glasgow founded in 2011, offers South Philadelphia kids sports programs, after-school support, a summer camp, mentoring and other activities designed to be a positive force in the lives of children.
So when Nasir — who had been the catalyst for helping Glasgow find his life’s work — died on Dec. 22, 2017 after being shot a few days earlier at the age of 17, it devastated him. Nasir had been chased into a Chinese takeout at 27th and Dickinson, a block away from his home, by two masked gunmen.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through,” he said.
A Philadelphia Inquirer article from 2015 quotes 15-year-old Nasir in an article about Young Chances.
The teen talked of shootings and funerals and of his older brother in jail. He said Glasgow was like an older brother to him now. A role model. That the football games gave him something to do – somewhere to be.
“Most of the kids in this neighborhood don’t have no one to look out for them,” he said.
He tries to pass the lessons Glasgow teaches him to the younger kids.
“I would never help out the younger kids if I didn’t have someone like Tyrique trying to help me out,” he said. They walked on so Tyrique could buy Nasir some dinner at the Chinese spot. The one on Glasgow’s old corner.
Nasir, who was a junior at South Philadelphia High School, loved riding bikes. And even though he liked playing sports, too, he wasn’t the best player on the team. Rather, Glasgow described him as a “hidden leader” who would’ve been a good coach or community relations director.
“He was just like every other unanswered question,” Glasgow said. “What if? Why not?”
Nasir’s funeral service was Dec. 30, 2017 at Ebenezer Temple Pentecostal Church at 56th and Christian. He was interred at Fernwood Cemetery in Lansdowne.
Nasir’s family and friends had a celebration in his memory on Feb. 9, which would have been his 18th birthday.
Date: 2017-12-26
Location: 2700 Dickinson St, Philadelphia, PA
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