Audio File
Transcript
My name is Michelle Winbush. I was born May 18, 1965, and my relationship to the Hill District… I moved there when I was eight years old. I grew up in Elmore Square in the Hill district. We had a place called Addison Hall up there, so that was one of my big role model places to go to because it was a lot to do at the time. We had recreational centers, so Addison Hall was where you learned how to play Ping Pong, basketball… I was a majorette. We did parades. There was a lot involved that was up there at Elmore Square. My childhood up there, we did a lot of “release the den” and that’s when you had to tag a person and then you sat on a bench that was located in your court and they called it a den. I was one of the ones that had to be in the house when the street lights came on. So when all my friends were still outside playing, I had to be in the house, so I used to hang out the window and listen to my friend say “early bird,” get the teasing and that. But you know, I was one of the ones that listen to Mommy. Herron hill, H-E-R-R-O-N-H-I-L-L, Herron Hill, well, that was my school. I played basketball there. I was on the drill team there. You know, it was right there on the Hill. You know, back then, we walked to school, and if we did catch the bus, it was a nickel. So we saved that nickel for the store and took the walk. There was a place that I worked at. I got my first job, which was at the country store which is located on Centre Ave. It’s a store that sold 100 different flavors of ice cream. I went in there one day during our waiting on the buses, you know, you have to be like so many kids in the store. And now I used to stop in there all the time to get candy before we got on the bus. One day I asked the man, the owner, if I can work there. He said yes. I had my first job making $5.00 an hour, only work 4 hours, and when I got out of school, then, you know, I had to go there and work and come home. So it was like my first experience on how to count money and give change cause when I first started and I had to give you change, I was on my fingers and my toes trying to change pennies and dimes because you don’t think about it till you actually do it. So it was a good learning thing for me because I was young and I was only like 14 then so… My mother was a big role model. She was one known type of woman that she spoke real soft. To me, it was agitating because she didn’t yell, so you’d be like- you had to sit there and listen. And to me, you know, I was one of the obedient ones. So she’d be like, “No, Chelly, you can’t do this. And young ladies can’t do that.” So I do that technique on my kids and they be like “No, Mama!” They get agitated, but it works. So that was a role model to me because, you know, I was able to mimic some of the things you used to say. You’re going to be there one day, and that day, I’m here. A strong woman is a person who I would say not allow negative energy draw you. A lot of women can want to follow others in the wrong direction, and I say with a strong woman, you have your own mind of directions or how you want to see life and go, and you put a big effort towards going with your own dreams instead of someone else’s, and you can see a lot of success in that.