Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: W ho am I? My reflex is to start by explaining an aspect that I pride myself: being born and raised in the South Bronx.I have fond memories of summers outside with friends, going to the corner store for a bacon egg and cheese, and looking out my window at night to see the Empire State Building shining beautifully.As I have matured, however, I often ask myself "Wow!How did you make it?"The South Bronx made me who I am today.Yet, it requires adding a subconscious hard shell to your exterior to survive the intentionally designed systemic challenges against people living there.People usually assume that growing up in the Bronx was glamorous like Times Square.They usually say, "Oh! You're from New York?! I bet that was fun!" I reply by elaborating about my upbringing, "Yeah. . .I actually lived in the projects."That is when things start shifting.The "projects"also known as Public Housing Authorityare large, government-run buildings that were initially designed to provide affordable housing options for those on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.The idea started with good intentions.As someone who lived there, however, I can attest to flaws within those well-intended designs that produce excess crime, poor healthcare, inadequate financial resources, and more.The buildings were plagued by maintenance and quality issues like roaches, rats, broken elevators, and lack of hot water or heat in winter.I am not painting a picture that my life was terrible, but I am highlighting these barriers as the reason why I am passionate about health and resource injustice.Public housing is designed to be extremely resistant to individuals achieving better living arrangements.It seems like people become "stuck" in a hamster wheel for several reasons: oversaturation of the city, extremely high rent in neighborhoods designed to be safer, restricted access to education leading to unstable jobs.Moreover, current systems almost discourage people from working harder by removing supports before people have time to gain stability.For instance, my mother had a decent paying job.On the surface, you might assume that she could save her money to move elsewhere since the projects are "so cheap."Unfortunately, public
Author: Kiyana Harris
Institution: Morehouse School of Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,700
OpenAlex ID: W4405363765