I was born and spent most of my childhood in the Bronx, NY. My parents moved into an apartment in the Edenwald Public Housing Projects when I was less than 6 months old. We lived there until I was 11 or 12. Then we moved to Queens Village, NY. That was home until I was two months shy of my 18th birthday. Next, Los Angeles became my home. I've lived here in Los Angeles for my entire adult life but I've travelled all over the United States and abroad for business and pleasure in the years since leaving the Bronx.
Today, I'm married to Dick Price -- together, we publish Dick & Sharon's LA Progressive, an online social justice magazine.
In June 2012 we went to Netroots Nation in Providence, R.I. It was our first time. After the four fantastic days were over, we took the car we rented and drove down to New York. I took Dick to the projects where I spent my formative years. It had been at least 20 years since my last visit to the projects. To Dick's surprise, there were families still living there that had lived there when I was a child.
We visited with one such family. They have lived in the same apartment in those projects since 1956.
In some ways, as I talked to my childhood friend (who, by the way, is now a grandmother) it was apparent that our life experiences -- particularly those gleaned from years of travel -- have created a gulf between us. We updated each other on what was happening in our lives and in the lives of our families then there wasn't much left to say.
As I drove off, I thought about the ways in which my life has been shaped by the places and people I've come into contact with over the years and felt gratitude. But I also thought about the impact of the internet. It can help to bridge gulfs that have been created by time and distance. Many of those gulfs are perpetuated in the virtual world and continue to exist in cyberspace. But I was happy to find significant diversity in the coverage of topics at NN12.
I was surprised -- in a good way -- to see that Netroots Nation put effort into making its NN12 convention a place where people of all kinds would find their issues addressed. Thank you Netroots Nation for putting on a great convention that had something for everyone. I'll see you again in San Jose in 2013 and maybe, just maybe, I can convince by friend from the Bronx to be my guest.