Iam from the Boogie down where the yellow tape is seen more than red robes and red carpets… Rather than pick up a gun I grabbed a degree and at least two of them ran back with them like a touchdown… we are forgotten ones; I am my bodega where 50 cent sodas and 50 cent bags of chips made us feel like millionaires. I am the Bronx when I am welcomed back into her arms on the GWB from the slow life Down South. I am the Bronx when we have fights but can bounce back, I am the Bronx when my MetroCard can take me on adventures not like The Warriors trying to rumble their way back to Coney, but a trip without luggage and a soundtrack. I am the Bronx where Hip Hop came out of the womb and became a ghetto superstar; I am the Bronx when you count the stops on the downtown D train all the way to Coney.

I am the Bronx where the Bronx Zoo was my playground and my father held me up so high the clouds tickled my nose;

I am the Bronx when I am bumper to bumper on the Bronx Cross Expressway and the best feeling in the world is when I read the Castle Hill exit sign. I am the Bronx when my mother looked into my deep brown eyes and gave me her namesake; I am the Bronx where the Hill is the first chapter of my love story because my endless love is here, and we are from two diverse cultures that have mixed in different ingredients that have risen and are tasteful. In the Bronx we do not care what color love is supposed to be, I am the Bronx When you walk into Yankee Stadium your breath is taken away, and at that moment you are taken through time with all the greats even if it is the nosebleed seats.

I am the Bronx where burnt-out buildings were a work schedule with no time off;

I am the Bronx where gangs of the 70s like the Ghetto Brothers were our friendly neighborhood Spider-Men. If they ever want me to testify against The Bronx I would always decline because I took a blood oath to her to be loyal to the end but also, I am her and she is me.