Yesterday I was introduced to something that was extremely inspiring, very positive and very uplifting as well. Reminds me of the “Stop the Violence” march that I participated in last month only this time, it was only a few of us and these were the same people I met at the march through a mutual friend. I was introduced to the People Power Movement. The People Power Movement is a movement that’s all for the African American and Hispanic/Latin communities. It’s an organization that’s all about anti-racism, anti-sexist, and pro-poor. They are a working class political organization who educate and are for more positive things and changes. Yesterday, I was uptown on the 4 train line on Kingsbridge with my new friend Damian, whose part of the People Power Movement, and a couple of others as well where we were walking up and down the neighborhood basically asking people who are from that area questions about their experiences living in the neighborhood and what they do and don’t like about the neighborhood and what they think should be changed and/or needs to be different. The stories that I’ve heard yesterday almost made me tuck in my gold rope chain because of the horror that people faced in their lives and how they ended up living in The Bronx on Kingsbridge and what it was like living there. One guy who only lived in Kingsbridge for 6 months got car jacked, ONLY 6 months. I was shocked about that mostly because I’ve lived in The Bronx my entire life and have never experienced nothing like that but of course I definitely know that it’s nothing new. Another guy from Ghana who owns an African mart business was telling us about his country and what life was like living in The Bronx but I don’t remember all of the details as I was drifting in and out of the discussion in disbelief. After that, me, Damian and the others basically spent the rest of the day just chillin’ in St. James Park talking about their next moves, new goals, accomplishments and planning on future meetings and events and stuff. I was told that I will be involved more because I made it clear that I was definitely down to join and to be a part of the movement. We all grabbed a bite to eat and then took the 4 back home. There’s just something about movements like these that make me feel so powerful and enlightened. To know that I can be a part of something that can help towards making positive changes in our communities. Definitely can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.
written by Jay-Doggz