The Rich

          The question, "where are you from?" has always been awkward for me to answer. Well, I was born in North Oakland, Ca in a house that my father bought several years after moving from Jamaica and to this day my father still lives on the same block. When I was 2 years old my parents split up; and though both of my parents played a big part in raising me, I have always lived with my mother. Life was a struggle, my mother and I moved often, every year a different address - sometimes two moves per year. I've lived in different cities all over Northern California, such as, Hercules, El Cerrito, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun, Berkeley but, the city that I have lived in most by far is Richmond.

          Richmond, also loving called 'The Rich' or 'The Riches' is a very tight knit community, the city of 'pride' and 'purpose'. Many families have lived in Richmond for generations, so it is not uncommon to know everybody in town. With beaches, piers and scenic views, Richmond sounds more like 7^th Heaven than Boyz In The Hood, yet rising crime rates have ranked Richmond as one of the nation's most dangerous cities on numerous occasions. Now, Richmond has a reputation of being a dirty, crime infested, scary city. Many young ladies are becoming teen mothers and young men are in and out of jail and falling victim to street crime that now plagues Richmond.

          In my neighborhood of South Richmond I would fall asleep to the sound of passing cars, sirens blurring, drunk passers-by and I was comfortable. My community was diverse, a mix of older folks who owned their houses and younger families who occupied the many small apartment buildings in the area. I had a lot of neighbors with kids around my age and we would play double dutch together on the sidewalk, go listen to music at each others houses or walk to Nichol Park and meet boys. By middle school, most of the people I knew had tried drugs, drank alcohol and much worse. I have lost many family and personal friends to senseless violence in Richmond and wish it would stop.

           As a young woman growing up in Richmond I knew that people would associate me with the Richmond stereotype but I vowed to never be apart of those statistics. I am who I am today, despite of the fact that I grew up in Richmond. I will always be proud to be from Richmond because I truly believe and respect the motto: “city of pride and purpose.” I am determined to better myself and strive to be an example of hard work paying off. Because of my experiences I am who I am today, so I thank Richmond for teaching me invaluable life lessons and preparing me for the real world.