Anonymous

Jul. 25th, 2018

San Diego – or Sun Diego….many images come to mind when someone mentions the city: the palm trees, the beach, the sea breeze. Maybe it’s not the beachtown vibe you get when you hear about SD. Maybe you think of all the old retirees? Or maybe the Navy bases. At the end of the day, you have mental images of the La Jolla beaches, the great sunny weather, and the SDSU women – all things that point towards carefree lives. But we wanted to bring attention to a different side of the city. This side is probably one you’ve never heard of. This place has less palm trees and more police cars, kinda far from all the beaches and SeaWorld. This is Southeast Daygo, the home of all your low income, minority families currently on the brink of re-gentrification.

Our Founder/CEO, Emmanuel Iheke, was born and raised in Southeast Daygo. He went to Abraham Lincoln High School, or “Lincoln”, a school that embodies the rich history and culture of the entire community. It rests on the intersection of Imperial Ave and Willie James Jones St. – named after one of the school’s past valedictorians who was shot and killed the day after graduation. He had a scholarship to go to Cornell University. As the day came for our Founder to take the stage at his high school graduation, he knew he would not be attending any graduation parties after it was all said and done. He didn’t want to have a street named after himself, at least not like that. Southeast Daygo has swallowed the lives of too many young Black men and women. It was the summer before our Founder’s freshman year in college when he received a phone call from his best friend telling him one of their childhood homies was shot and killed right off the street from the one they grew up on.  

Our Founder spent that summer having to explain to everyone he met where he was from – Southeast Daygo – and how he wasn’t rich and the son of retirees. Everytime he tried to explain others would smack their teeth and talk about how he knew nothing about “this” or nothing about “that”. Out of frustration our Founder would just stop the conversation before he got mad. Nothing is worse than when someone discredits what you’ve been through. Southeast Daygo is a place he loves and a place where he wants to change. It is a place filled with so much talent and culture, but no guidance and little to no unity.

We write about this town not to lament about how terrible things are. We write about this place to prophesy to everyone who reads this article. With all of the athletic, musical, artistic and intellectual talent and gifts Southeast has to offer, Southeast Daygo will rise as bigtime influencers in pop culture very soon. Fashion, music, business ventures…Southeast Daygo, the urban heart of the city of San Diego is the next city up. You have had LA/Compton, you’ve had New York, you’ve had the Bay Area, next up is San Diego. You heard it here first folks. You’re welcome.

R.I.P. Greg