My Neighborhood

What comes to mind when I say I am from East Oakland, Ca? People may say it’s too dangerous, some may say they don’t care, or some may say it is certain parts you should avoid. All is true but I have a different outlook on my neighborhood. I grew up on the 79^th and Ritchie, but like most parents, my mom was so strict she wouldn’t let me walk to the store. In high school, I saw why my mom didn’t let me go outside by myself. My generation then was robbing others, being victims and suspects of rape, and shooting others for unnecessary reasons. My neighborhood today has gotten worst but there have been more shootings than anything. Castlemont High School (aka herpe high) was the worst school you can go to, I heard. The students was always fighting, bringing weapons to school, and even having sex on campus.

When I was able to experience “the hood” for myself, I didn’t care about nothing, I wasn’t scared of nobody, and I always was fighting. I guess I was thinking I was tough and nobody couldn’t step up to me. My second year in high school, I had my first child, but being a teenager and a new mother didn’t affect my ability being in the streets. A year and a half later, I was an innocent bystander in a shooting. I couldn’t believe that I got shot, someone who is a mother and a 4.0 student. I tried everything in my power to get away from this area because it seems like trouble would always follow me or I was being the follower. My neighborhood has made me the person I am today because if my mom let me do what I wanted to do, I would be dead, in jail, or prostituting. I sometimes feel ashamed of being from East Oakland because of what the country has to say. “Oakland is a mini- Afghanistan”, “Oakland is too ghetto”, says TV shows and maybe people around the world.