A Brick Out Of Place: My Right Of Passage

I was born in South Bronx, New York April 25th, 1970 to Mrs. Clementine A. Johnson a born resident of Tallahassee, Florida and father Bennie Gardner; I have a brother Omar A. Johnson and two sisters Melinda Johnson-Knox and Selena Johnson. My family and I moved to New York in 1972 and we were raised in Bronx on 141st Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in building 592 on the 5th floor. My oldest sister Selena had stayed in Florida and refused to move to New York with my mother and my sister Melinda was born a few months before my mother died, so it was just my brother and I. As youngsters, my brother and I were considered as nerds and poor folk, my mother didn’t have a job or no real money when we first moved out here, so Medicaid and Welfare was our way of life for a while. My brother and I were nearsighted children an wore thick coke bottle glasses, my vision was and still is-1800 by-1950 and due to the fact we were poor my mother would get hand-me-down clothing from the nearby Churches, bell-bottom slacks, large butterfly collared shirts and pointy toe shoes, so you can imagine, I was looking like Roger Thomas from ＂What’s Happen’in＂, we were teased for a long time in our lives as little kids but we learned how to deal with that and move on with our lives, especially after my mother died and we were forced to live life on our own terms. As you read these experiences keep in mind all the detailed information I’ve just given you, and realize how I didn’t let anything even