My community has a negative reputation and a stigma against it, yet it is a microcosm of America. And yet, people that look like me, stories are untold, yet, our history goes back to like the 1800s in my community. And from it, we have this, this cloth of people from all around the world, and sometimes the community's ostracize, and outcasts. So I relate a lot to it, like, you know, on a personal level, because I used to feel like that growing up, like, you know, I felt like the underdog. I've conquered homelessness.
I love me. I love me and and I think that's really some of the most important is self love not to be conceit. But to truly love oneself. I feel that my friends love me. My community, shows me a lot of love, you know. I've made lifelong friendships and family members, from my community, that has held me down when I really needed it. More than I would expect, more than people I share blood with. Some of the people that I've met, like, you know, from the scene, provide a space that I always needed, and wanted, but also felt seen. Through the scene, I felt seen, and that's where I felt a lot of love, and feel a lot of love. Sometimes there's other things there. But for the people that I've met there, that's been there through thick and thin, I feel like I know, I know that there's love there.
We have city we have about like, 60, city council members in New York City, Staten Island only has three for a whole city. And there's a tale of two for two different cities within our city. There's a stigma that New York City has, when it comes down to us. And that stigma affects our funding, what projects happen here; the stigma is destructive. I would love to set down roots here, but, with how things are currently in the city.
It's really hard to make a living, not just but in like, you know, New York. Yes, sure. But New York City has a lot of different industries, on Staten Island for the cost of living, and the jobs that are available, it's really hard. Part of the conversation is shifting the conversation; you don't always see people like me reflected. Staten Island has had some of the biggest impact and influence coming out of this place.
We live here, there's only like a few different archetypes where people think of when they think of Staten Island, and we barely fit into it. You know, it's like Trump, Wu Tang, the ferry, and probably the Italian community, and there's nothing taken away from the Italian American community. Not at all.
When it comes down to our narrative of being part of Staten Island, they don't talk about how they don't even fully appreciate the Wu Tang thing. Meanwhile, that's like the hip hop's equivalent to the Beatles. They don't know that there's like one of the first all black cemeteries on Staten Island, with the Frederick Douglass Memorial Cemetery. They don't know about Sandy Ground...something that was very important to New York City, and to America.
And one of the things that gets me so upset, and it goes in with it, and I think it's appropriate because it's seven years since he was murdered. Everybody shouted Eric Gardner's and put it on a sign outside of Staten Island, but they don't even come here. They don't even look at what's happening within our community when something like that happened in 1994 in Park Hill.
That's why I get so passionate because, it's a paradox being a proud Staten Islander, but it's even more of a paradox being a proud black Staten Islander.
I love me. I love me and and I think that's really some of the most important is self love not to be conceit. But to truly love oneself. I feel that my friends love me. My community, shows me a lot of love, you know. I've made lifelong friendships and family members, from my community, that has held me down when I really needed it. More than I would expect, more than people I share blood with. Some of the people that I've met, like, you know, from the scene, provide a space that I always needed, and wanted, but also felt seen. Through the scene, I felt seen, and that's where I felt a lot of love, and feel a lot of love. Sometimes there's other things there. But for the people that I've met there, that's been there through thick and thin, I feel like I know, I know that there's love there.
The ways that I care for myself is going to therapy, taking care of my mental health is very important. That's one of the biggest ways that I care for myself is giving myself that space to handle emotions. I'm a very sensitive person, I'm an emotional being, and I know it.
Taking care of myself looks like lighting sage, clearing the energy, writing, writing poetry, and really expressing myself is taking the most care of myself. I feel like that involves, listening to my body, listening to my heart, and seeking guidance from trusted sources. And really being in spaces where I feel safe.
