“After my son’s death, it took a toll on me. She launched an organization, Voices by Choices. In the two years since Samir’s death, Tahira, who works as a certified nursing assistant, has channeled her grief into gun violence prevention activism. Samir was a fan of fast food - a burger and fries from McDonald’s, Buffalo wings, pizza and his favorite, Chick-fil-A, always with a Sprite. Samir especially enjoyed spending time with his grandmother, Tahira’s mother. He loved to help people, he loved to help his friends and hang around his family.” Saddi was sweet, he was smart, he was charming, he was lovable. She continued: “Saddi had so much energy. He’d make sure that we ate, he’d make sure we’re happy.” “He always made sure I was all right and protected me and my daughter. “Saddi was my protector, Saddi was my guardian angel. Tahira describes her son as her best friend. Instead, Tahira accepted her son’s diploma for him at the graduation ceremony. Samir was educated in the Philadelphia public school system and was set to graduate from the Philadelphia Learning Academy in June 2017. He played for the North Philly Hurricanes as well as the Aztecs, and he even attended DeSean Jackson’s youth football camp when he was younger.ĭeSean Jackson of the Eagles and Saddi at football camp In addition to music, Samir also loved football. He had an older sister, Ameera, who is now 22. 6, 1998 to Tahira and Shannon McClendon and raised at 18th and Cumberland in North Philly. “He was eighteen years old and had so much life ahead of him,” Tahira said. 10, 2017.Ī few days after his murder, Samir’s idol Meek Mill - who is from Berks Street in North Philly - gave him a shout out during a concert, which is something Samir would have loved. 9, 2017, he was home alone and sitting on the couch in his family’s West Oak Lane house when bullets tore through the front window. His goal was to be a famous rapper by the time he was 21.īut within a few months of releasing his mixtape, Samir’s life was cut short. Hip hop fans across Philly and beyond took notice, and he developed a deep underground following. Under the stage name Trap Street Saddi, Samir began releasing music that went viral in the mixtape circuit, including one called Maji World Pt. “Whatever I could do to keep my son on the right track, I was going to do it.” He knew I always wanted the best for him,” Tahira said. “I felt as though I needed to get him studio time to keep him occupied, to keep him from getting in trouble. Samir asked for Tahira to buy him some studio time so he could record his music, and she agreed. He was telling what’s on his mind, and he wouldn’t sugar coat anything.” “When I actually listened to it, I thought, ‘He’s got a nice voice on him,’ and when you listen to the words, he was telling the truth. “He’d be like, ‘Mom listen to this song,’ and I’d be like, ‘Okay, Saddi, I’ll listen to it,’” she said. “I didn’t believe in him at first,” Tahira Fortune said as she sat at her dining room table in her house in North Philadelphia.
When Samir first started out, his mother was skeptical. The high school senior loved listening to Meek Mill, and that led to him to try writing hip-hop music himself. Samir Fortune, who was called Saddi, always wore earbuds or headphones around his neck.
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