Hi my name is Leo and I'll be interviewing Trinidad McGee. So Trinidad McGee, what was it like to move in the neighborhood?

I lived here for 16-17 years now and when I first moved here, it wasn't that good of a neighborhood, it was a lot of gang violence, a lot of drugs in the area, so it wasn't a very good place to move to, but this was somewhere I grew up, a place I love to be.

That's your impression?

My impressions of the neighborhood and the community was, well, it wasn't so good then, but as time progressed, it changed a lot, yeah, but basically my first impressions of the neighborhood weren't that great, again, there's a lot of shootings, a lot of drug dealings in the neighborhood, yeah.

What kind of vibe do you get off in the neighborhood?

The kind of vibe I get from the neighborhood then and now. Then it was somewhere you didn't really want to be walking out and about by yourself, you kind of wanted a buddy system back then. Again as I said, it wasn't a great neighborhood to be in, especially if you didn't know anybody or you weren't from the neighborhood or grew up in the neighborhood. It wasn't somewhere you want to be out and about by yourself. You're kind of always on your toes. 

Okay, how do you feel in the neighborhood? Do you feel safe or unsafe?

Well growing up in the neighborhood, I felt safe. It's my neighborhood. It goes back to the last question. The vibe. If you're not from the neighborhood, it's going to be uncomfortable, just to be out and about. I do feel safe. It's just a matter of perspective. Who you are, where you're from. If you're not from this neighborhood and you're from somewhere else, it's going to be totally different. You're going to see things that you're probably not accustomed to.

How do you stick to your cultural roots when you first move to a new place?

My cultural roots don't stem from the neighborhood here. But for the most part, the diversity of the community kind of helps. It's just not one ethnic group in the community, it's a cultural mix of ethnic backgrounds. Me, myself, I'm Hispanic. The community is basically made up of Somalians, Hispanics, Vietnamese, it's a big mix of cultures here in the neighborhood. As far as roots, sticking to them culturally, it's more….For me, again, it's not as much culturally rooted here in the neighborhood as much as others probably.

How do you experience your cultural identities in your neighborhood?

That would be just hanging around people with the same background, people that come from the same neighborhood that I come from, growing up with the same people, the same culture, we could be of different cultures but grow up the same. That's how I identify myself with others. You grow up together, you experience the same things. It kind of helps growing up in neighborhoods that you normally aren't accustomed to.

Do you think your family accepts different cultures?

Any area you move into there will be different cultures. My family does identify with other cultures. They can relate to other cultures. We're all different but the same, in a sense. Growing up, I grew around different… I grew up with different backgrounds, it wasn't just Hispanic backgrounds. I was raised around a lot of African Americans. Living out here in East San Diego, it's not a big thing. My family and I, we can identify.

So, What are your cultural identities in the neighborhood?

I experience, well, different identities in the neighborhood, mostly Somalians. Where I live it's mostly Somalians. I don't really hang around them too much. I can't really identify with the cultures. You know other then you see it, but you don't really talk to them. I can't really identify with a lot of cultures here. I interact with them, but not so much identify with them, with their heritage and what not.

Where do you hang out with your family and friends?

With family and friends, we don't necessarily hang out around the community. We do a lot of shopping and business within the community. But if there was more to do within the neighborhoods, I guess we would, but unfortunately, to me, there's not that much in the neighborhood to do here. We have Colina Park, Chollas Lake, that's a good place to spend time with my family, at the lake. But other than that, again there's not very much to do here with the family, so we spend a lot of time away from the neighborhood.

Okay, last question, how would you describe your neighborhood to someone else who has never been there?

How would I describe it? Well, I'd say it's diverse for one, that's for sure. There are good places here to visit. Good eateries. If you're looking for diversity, this is the place to be. The different eateries I love. Because there are different backgrounds, Somalians, African American, there's Thai food, there's many places to go for worldly cuisines. But in the past 20 years, it's grown. It's changed a lot, it's not as it was when I first moved here. They made a lot of changes in the community, structure-wise. Added a few educational things to the community since I've been here, that's greatly approved. And taking the kids from the streets and putting them somewhere to keep them active, which is a big plus in my book. 

Wow, that solved it, you answered all the questions, and really interesting! Thank you Trinidad McGee

You're welcome.