Here's to You, Harlem

Today I was finally reunited with my favorite city thanks to a class I am taking this semester called Women, Leadership, and Community Organizing. My professor has done a lot of work in the Harlem Children's Zone, so we took a day trip down to see the site and hear from the women who lead the community projects. And yes, you read that correctly. This was a day trip. Four hours there and just over five hours back, nine fabulous young women and a professor journeyed from Massachusetts to NYC for this adventure. Though we didn't get to spend as much time in the city as I would have liked, any trip to New York makes me happy, and this one was especially inspiring. 

I'll be honest with you. I was really nervous to visit Harlem. That fear was mostly instilled in me due to my mother's worrying (it's just because she loves me), but that stereotypical idea of Harlem definitely existed in my brain, too. Even for a girl that called the Bronx home for four months, this was uncharted territory. The only time I had ever stepped foot on 125th Street before was to take the bus to LaGuardia Airport. I have to say, thanks to the work of the women we met today, Harlem is becoming a neighborhood that many people are proud to call home. 

So while my day wasn't filled with broadway shows, celebrity sightings, or even a shopping excursion, it was still an NYC experience that I will never forget. The women from Community Pride, an organization that helps Harlem residents rebuild their communities, were so kind and enlightening. Not only were they willing to share with us their personal stories of how they came to be home owners, but they fed us an amazing meal and even invited us to return any time. We even received some awesome coffee mugs & pins when we visited the Community Pride office later in the day. 

Though the adventure was a short one, it was definitely worth the sleep deprivation and hours of driving through Connecticut. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with the girls on the trip. We shared many laughs and conversations during the ride. We've even decided that I'm a reincarnate of a Titanic passenger... and a drag queen. We'll see what this news brings for me. But in all seriousness, thank you to everyone that was involved in such a fantastic day! Special shout outs to Lacie, our calm, cool, and collected van driver, and our professor Lee for organizing the trip.