Inner City Swimmer

When a 13 year old starts swimming on a team in a lane with 5 year olds,  it's more than evident to them that they are starting at the very bottom. There is no escaping it, you know you are slow. Everyone my age was swimming much faster, several lanes over. This was overwhelming to me at first, because when you haven't been a competitive swimmer, you immediately see how hard it is to swim fast. It takes a tremendous amount of work. You will find yourself pushing through a lot of sensations that are not always pleasant. For months I felt like I was drowning. I remember grumbling to my father that Silver Streaks practice was really tough and he said, "Yeah, that's what boot camp was like for me, You'll get though it.".  As we would swim certain freestyle sets, there was a whistle blown randomly at any point. Mr. Silverman would point at you and say, "You! What are you doing there? You should be up here! Swim faster". He was very animated ...

Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh NY The year was 1987 and desegregation had hit Yonkers public schools. Without desegregation, I  never would have known the racism that existed in Yonkers. In my own neighborhood I learned that a fence and land barrier was created to keep "black traffic" from Runyon Heights out of Homefield.  Through the years I attended grammar school 1979-1986 the racial mix that was the norm for a classroom in North Yonkers would be 1 black child, maybe 2 at most. In 1987 classes ceased to be all white. Because of desegregation I was bused to South Yonkers. I was in the "High and Wide" track that became known as Pearls. It was in an accelerated program for the "gifted".  My family thought it was wise to stay in this program because there were rumors that Emerson would become "rough". Because of this I went to Hawthorne for 8th grade and my Freshman year of High School. Nicole Ryan was one of the clas...