A lot of people view the new year as an opportunity to leave the past behind and direct their attention toward the future. As we venture further into 2024, WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk is highlighting stories in our communities that focus on the idea of fresh starts. Chantel Jackson lives on the Lower East side of Manhattan and grew up in the South Bronx.
The transcript of Chantel Jackson's story has been lightly edited for clarity.
My name is Chantel Jackson. I live in the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York. I am from the South Bronx, and I'm 24 years old.
When I was 3 years old, my father was incarcerated, and when I was 14, my mother was also incarcerated. And now, I am being the person I needed when I was a child by working with teens affected by parental incarceration at the Osborne Association with See Us, Support Us. I work as a youth fellow.
As a child, my father and I didn't have a relationship because of familial boundaries. And as I got older, I wanna say around 18, I took more initiative to establish a better bond and relationship with him because as a child, I always felt closer to my dad, and now he's my best friend, and I don't know how I'd make it through life without him. As far as my mother, we always had a rocky relationship. But as an adult, I also took initiative to establish a better relationship with her, and now we do what we can to support each other, and I'm grateful for both of them.
I did a lot of different things as far as like turning like my pain into power. It really started with writing. It became my number one passion. It became a listening ear for me when I felt like I wasn't being heard throughout my hardships and experiences, and it helped mold me into who I am today -- a person that just wants to experience life in the most freeing way. I don't want someone to experience me and my energy and be like, "Oh, I know she's been through some things, some rough things."
I just wanna be creative, experience life, and be the best version of myself.