Self-segregation

Living in St. Louis is really great, I really enjoy it. Especially after visiting other cities, it makes me appreciate St. Louis more.

We have a very diverse group of people in St. Louis. You can go anywhere and see all kinds of people.

Even though we are a very diverse city, there is a lot of division within us. Even though there’s no more legal segregation we personally segregate ourselves. I can go anywhere and I can say okay, this is the black community or this is white community or this is the Jewish community. 

So I know that I can at times exclude myself from maybe my white counterparts at school.

I will sit in cafeteria with students that look like me that talk like me, that have the same struggles as I do. So its just a comfort level.

But there’s more than just black people, more than just white people. We can all learn from each other.

Housing troubles in St. Louis

What I do see as a problem is the housing crisis. My mom works for Better Family Life [St. Louis-based non-profit organization] and they work with down payment assistance and foreclosure prevention.

Over the summer they had a 24-hour drive where they were trying to help people who were losing their homes – give them some assistance so that they can afford to keep their homes. It was just amazing to see the numbers of how many people came out and how many people were actually facing this housing crisis.

It’s really sad because everyone deserves shelter. Everyone needs a place that they can call their home.

On the election of President Obama

When Barack Obama was announced president, all I can remember was me sitting at home crying because it impacted me that much.

As an African American woman, it meant so much because for the first time it was real. Our parents tell us we can be president but do we really believe it? Not always. That just made it real for me and for a lot of my peers.