Dr. Jacqueline Lawrence,
Windsor, CA.
As a young child, my first memories of blacks in San Francisco were scary, and they weren’t from television. I remember smelling the strong scent of urine in the elevators, hearing moms tell their children to “Get cho ass out of my face” and “Go sit cho ass down” and men degrading women, and seeing broken alcohol bottles on the streets, graffiti on the buildings, drunken bums, prostitutes, and nappy-headed children playing outside, unsupervised. I was so happy when my parents moved us out of there. I grew up thinking that all black men were thieves and swindlers, and black women were whores, and decided that something was wrong with me for feeling this way, and decided to attend a predominately black college so I could get to know my people for who they are. I learned that there are culturally similarities in all people, but by and large, people are people. So blessed for both life-changing experiences (My early years in San Francisco and attending a predominately black college).
