Love Letter to New York

                                                       Love Letter to New York

I was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the Unites States when I was 7 years old.  In particular I moved to the Bronx, New York. At that time all of the United States was just New York to us or as we call it Nueba Yol.

As a child I imagined New York to be full of huge green spaces perfectly manicured,  clean streets in perfect condition and buildings of red colors in neat rows. This is not New York. Moving to New York was a huge cultural shock.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic every one in our neighborhood new each other. I would spend the mornings in school and the afternoons taking siestas while watching McGyver then playing outside with the friends. Evenings would bring their own adventures after dinner we would play games outside if we had electricity and if we didn't we'd stay home and tell stories by candlelights. During the rain we would put on our bathing suits and run around the neighborhood dancing in the rain and jumping on puddles. I was poor but I had everything I need and I was happy.

In New York we couldn't trust our neighbors. We couldn't leave the house unsupervised and our parents were always working. We were stuck in small apartments behind window guards watching the streets.  we had to step softly and talk low as not to be heard through through the paper thin walls and floors. School was all day and the afternoons were devoted to chores, homework and watching tv. New York was work, work, work for the kids and the adults. I have never been a morning person but would wake up at 6:00am to get ready and take the bus to school. That little girl with a red turtleneck waiting by the bus alone and tired- that was me. New York is a place that to live you have to hustle every day, there's no other way.

At this moment you might be thinking "how is this a love letter?- The picture looks pretty bleak."

See in the midst of all this I was surrounded by Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and black people. We weren't the same but our struggles were. I could speak Spanish, my music was everywhere. I had access to every Dominican food I could ever want. We had Dominican stores, bodegas, churches and restaurants.  We celebrated Dominican independence day and had our parades and community events. On weekends I'd go to Washington Heights and walk around the neighborhood and hang out. I gave up many things but I didn't have to give up my culture.


I didn't realize how valuable, how important that was till these last couple of years. First I now live in Indianapolis and I have access to cooking pretty much any Dominican dish I want but there's not that many Dominicans and they're very scattered. I am not as connected to my culture as I was and I feel isolated and like I don't belong at times for this reason. We have one Dominican restaurant! One! Every time I meet people I have to explain to them where the Dominican Republic is.

I remember going to a conference and when we congregated as latinos I was the only afro Latina there. Something that came up was how a lot of the rest felt the need to fit in and dress, act white to make it. I struggled to understand why they would want to fit in, why they would betray their culture. I was harsh in my judgement then because I can understand now that you need to do what you can to make it and sometimes that's what it takes.

When I visited Spain I stayed with family. They were born in the Dominican republic but had been living in Madrid for over a decade. The speak like the Spanish with the Z, they cook Spanish food and don't celebrate or follow Dominican holidays or traditions. I questioned them about this and they said their lack of access to the culture changed the, they had to assimilate to survive and they did.

These experiences made me realize that I was privileged by having the opportunity of growing up in New York because  I wasn't forced to assimilate I was able to continue having access and reveling in my culture. For that I am grateful to New York because I know there's no other place in this country where I would've been able to grow up so connected to my culture as I did. I ended up in the one place that kept me close to my island. For that New York will forever be home and I will forever love this city that gave me so much of who I am today.