A Product of my Environment

I was born and partly raised in Oakland, California and I can honestly say I love my city. Over the years, Oakland inherited a horrible reputation, but when I was younger, it had more life. Growing up of course Oakland had its good and bad. North Oakland, where I'm from, was the nicer side of the city. East Oakland was the liveliest and let's just say don't go to West Oakland if you're not from there. When I was younger I guess I seen the innocence in Oakland. I used to dance and cheer lead for Mosswood Park so I attended all the basketball games and performed at all the community events. I loved the fact that my city was so diverse. Everything wasn't all glitter and gold though, I've witnessed things a little girl should never have to. I've seen racist crimes, robberies, I held my first gun, I even seen my first body in Oakland. Being raised in my city, gunshots aren't new to me anymore. I have bittersweet memories about Oakland but it has lead me to be the woman I am today. I'm street smart. I know the ins and outs, and the dos and don't 's of the game. Oakland has helped form me a thick skin and taught me trust can’t be bought or developed overnight. My city made me tough and I appreciate that because I feel nothing can break me. For my high school years, I lived in Antioch. At first when I moved out there, I hated it, because there was nothing I was used to. There were no black people, there were fat houses everywhere, and I felt like the minority. Nevertheless, over the years I've grown to appreciate living in Antioch. Living out there taught me to be independent and showed me being solo is a good thing. I can honestly say I am a product of my environment. I took the good with the bad and learned from it. I gathered up all of the things I went through and used it as a platform to rise above it all. Guess what, I'm still standing.