In exactly one week, family and fans of the late rapper Young Dolph will observe the one-year anniversary of his death.
Dolph was gunned down last year in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, on Nov. 17. He was outside of a Black-owned business he supported, Makeda’s Butter Cookies, when shots rang out from a vehicle driving by. Two men, Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith, were later indicted in connection with the murder.
The “Hall of Fame” artist is survived by his longtime girlfriend, Mia Jaye, and their two children, son Tre Tre and daughter Aria Ella. In a new video, Mia opened up about the emotional turmoil she and her two kids have endured.
In the two-minute recording posted on Thursday (Nov. 10), she said the past 12 months have been the most challenging of her life. She noted that she is struggling to remain positive as she reaches an emotional breaking point while navigating behavioral challenges in their two children.
“They’re going through hurt and they feeling like something, and it’s just like, I know what they’re going through emotionally. It’s unfair. They don’t deserve it, we don’t deserve it, it’s like it’s getting thicker and heavier the closer we get,” she said.
In the emotional clip, she continued, “Why is this something that my family has to endure? Why is it something that my kids have to endure? Because somebody felt that it’ll be better to just take somebody’s life…That s**t is not fair.”
Last November, Mia launched the Black Men Deserve to Grow Old clothing company, advocating for the senseless killing of Black men to stop. But, as she grapples with grieving the loss of Dolph, she said advocacy has become difficult.
“Me advocating for Black Men Deserve to Grow Old…it’s like the more I say it, I be asking myself like is this s**t gone ever change? Like is this just the way of the world? I be feeling like so f**ked up dog. I feel so messed up,” she revealed.
In the post’s caption, she concluded, “This journey is not for the faint at heart… or for whatever type of heart I have…death is such a cruel part of life…I ask that you continue to keep us in prayer.”
View Mia Jaye’s post below.