I Come From...

I wrote a poem a long time ago. I took pictures from old photo albums, recorded videos (of videos) as we replayed them from an old VCR and I created something that really defines me, as a woman, as a mother, as someone in this country just trying to become SOMETHING... or more importantly: SOMEONE!

They say “Home is where the heart is” and I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve traveled across oceans, lived in many different cities, states and countries... only to find myself settling down, none other than where I grew up. Home is indeed where the heart is.

This challenge has definitely brought up emotions in me I had long forgotten. It’s funny how all it takes is a compilation of photographs to take you back in time and to make you truly appreciate what matters. It’s the memories more than the actual hometown that shapes who you turn into... the person you actually become. It was never truly about the “location” but moreso about who SHARES that location with you, who shares that journey by your side and who was and is there to help you grow, learn and transform.

I recently moved back home to be closer to family as I raise my young son. I packed up my belongings 8 months pregnant while my son’s father was at work to get away from a situation that could have killed us both. I drove 14 hours back home and it was the best decision I ever made. A year and a half later, as my family helps me raise my young king, the epiphany that family has always been my "home" continues to reign true.

Near or far, I took Washington Heights with me, and whenever I would speak to my mother or my siblings, it has always felt like I never left. And now after 15-20 years of being away to pursue my education/professional endeavors, I’ve returned to build a life here, for me and my son... or rather to rebuild. So this challenge has somewhat of a kismet feeling to it. My life has officially come full circle, back to where it all started...

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So this poem you are about to experience means more than just the words written on this page or said aloud in this video. It signifies a lifetime of someone who left home in search of something more... only to realize that that something more was waiting for me this WHOLE TIME in the exact place I left behind....

My journey, my son’s journey, it’s all intertwined in my hometown. And my hometown is more than just a place on the map, it’s the country my mother left behind, it’s the many places I have called home throughout the years, it’s the memories built throughout my childhood and the decisions I make in the present moment, all wrapped into one.

THIS. IS. WHERE. I. COME. FROM.

I Come From...

Humble Beginnings.

Beginning el Los Campos of La Republica Dominicana (The small villages of Dominican Republic)..

La Isla Quisqueyana (Quisqueyana island)

Where I...

Learned to ride horses and burros(donkeys), climb trees and pick mandarines, eat fresh mangos and chop sugar cane...

And carry buckets outside

To catch the water from the God-Given rain...

Those were the days.

I Come From... Washington Heights

Where I chilled on my fire escape hearing “Capicúa!”

From one of the old men playing dominoes in front of the corner bodega (store)

As Merengue blazes in the background

A lady rolls by with her laundry cart and rollers in her hair

And the smell of Platano Maduros (Sweet Plantains)

Fills the atmosphere with an aroma that

Instantly

Takes me back

To my parents land.

I Come From...

Inner City Public Schools

Where few kids are deemed exception to the rules

Over-crowded classrooms made learning a challenge,

Especially since English wasn’t my first language,

But still I managed...

To reach high and grab hold of a full scholarship

And a ticket out.

I traveled,

I read,

and when I let my steps be led...

I played basketball on foreign land.

Sung songs with people whom I didn’t understand...

Nor who understood me...

And yet our bond was undeniable.

I saw more than a First Generation Dominican girl from The Heights.

But nonetheless I saw.

Nonetheless I grew.

I grow strong.

From the ghetto,

Into and through OPPORTUNITIES Meadows,

Changing that I can’t I’ve been told ALL of my life,

Not only into the I CAN...

But STRAIGHT into the..

I

JUST

DID.

Because I’m a Rose that Rose from the concrete jungle.

And if I can MAKE IT...

SO CAN YOU.

Morenita (brown skin girl)

Trigenita (caramel complexion)

Dominicana/ Americana (Dominican American)

This is “Who I Be”

A perfect reflection of The American Dream, A true Reality, of Diversity.

Y si no me cree (And if you don’t believe me)

Mira camina por los barrios de Nueva York (just walk and look thru all the Inner cities of New York)

Los barrios de New Jersey (Inner cities of New Jersey)

Los barrios de Miami. (Inner cities of Miami)

Los Barrios de Los Angeles. (Inner cities of Los Angeles)

Get it? Los ÁNGELES? (The Angels)

De padres que Imigraron (from parents who Immigrated)

Y padres que lucharon (and parents that struggled/fought)

En busca de un nueve sueño (in search of a new dream)

We’re the season,

Generación primera (First Generation) in the States

It’s OUR SEASON

To spread our wings

And do BIG THINGS

SO SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND DO BIG THINGS,

And fly

And fly

And fly

So high

So high

So high

So high that you can touch the sky

Touch the sky!!!