Regina Alston was born in Bronx, New York in the times before the crack era took the city by storm. She attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School on Daly Avenue in the Bronx. She migrated to Harlem at the age of twelve years old. Her home was located on 128thstreet between Lenox and Fifth avenues. It was there that this shy good girl learned the inner workings of the streets and how to survive in the life. “When I moved to Harlem it was a different world from the one that I was used to. I was no longer sheltered. My mother was a single parent and we didn’t have a whole lot!” By the age of fifteen years old Regina started slinging crack cocaine to support herself and mother. “My mother was really sick. She had fibroid tumors and would bleed for days at a time. She couldn’t work and public assistance was not giving us enough money to survive. I had to do something. I just couldn’t stay broke. My daughter was living with my grandmother and my son was with me. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place”. Regina was arrested in 1996 shortly after her seventeenth birthday. She was charged with assault in the first, second and third degree. “I wasn’t thinking at all. I just flipped out. That was the type of hood that I lived in. I couldn’t let anybody punk me. I guess the worst part about that whole situation was that my mother was charged as my codefendant and convicted for a crime that she didn’t commit.” As a result Regina was sentenced to five years on probation by the Manhattan Supreme Court. “The one thing about the system is that it’s a revolving door. It’s like once you get locked up you get locked up you keep getting locked up.” Regina went on to obtain her GED while attending classes at the YWCA in Harlem. “I had this really great teacher Ms. Giscombe. She actually cared about the students. She was the third teacher to tell me that I was great writer. I didn’t follow up. I had money to make. I took the GED to get my probation officer off of my back about the weed smoke. I never believed that I needed a diploma. Everyone that I knew was getting money on the stoop.” After countless arrests and a battle with drug addiction Regina decided that it was time for a change. “I just had my baby girl and I wanted to raise her by myself. I had to do something right.” Regina sought treatment for her addiction and returned to school. While Regina was attending classes at The College of New Rochelle she met her mentor Vera Edwards of Streetline. “I love Vee like a second mom. She guides me with her wisdom and keeps me encouraged. I know that I can call her about anything and I will always receive the best advice with no judgement”. With Vera’s help Regina was casted into Rodent the Urban Soap Opera and published her first articles on Streetline Video Online News Magazine. During her last two years of college Regina lost her mother to Cancer and her father to a severe heart attack and respiratory infection. “I suffered with depression after my mother died. Alcohol was my escape but I was not going to give up. I knew that my mother would have never wanted that. I had to keep going. I had to push pass the pain. Regina has now fulfilled her course requirements to obtain a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is currently employed in a substance abuse treatment program. Regina has obtained her CASAC-T certification and is giving back in the substance abuse treatment field. “I am focused on my career but writing and acting is my passion in life.” Regina is in the process of writing a book about her life. “ I just want others to know that despite whatever you have been through there is always a rainbow after the rain”.
Author/Actor Regina Alston
