The Original Ghetto Hippies
When I was coming up with a name for my wellness and lifestyle brand, I almost called it Ghetto Hippie. It made sense because that is exactly what my parents were and how I grew up.
My parents were nineteen and twenty when they had me, still kids. My dad was from Brooklyn, New York, with roots in St. Thomas and Dominica. My mom was from the Northsideee *sexy red voice* of Richmond, Virginia. They loved hip-hop, and I was named after the 90’s singer Mýa. They added the A and moved the apostrophe to make it original (A’mya), or at least that is what my dad said. Funny enough, my mom loved the song Ghetto Supastar by Mýa.
My uncles and I in St.Thomas, 2007
2008
Mi madre, 1998I love the juxtaposition of ghetto hippie. When I think of ghetto, I think of unapologetic style, creativity, and a culture that sets trends the world always follows. The oversized hoops, gold grillz, the boldness of Black 90s fashion and music that shaped the culture. I think of B.A.P.S. with Halle Berry, the attitude, the flyness. Ghetto is raw creativity; it is self-expression rooted in real community, in making something out of whatever cards society dealt. When I think of hippie, I think of the 70s, of peace signs, “Make love, Not war”, and “Smoke ganja, Not guns”. A movement born out of rebellion, pushing for change in a world heavy with oppression. Just like 90s hip hop, the 70s counterculture was bigger than the music; it was about freedom, resistance, and people coming together in a time of division.
I was created out of love, and my parents' love for me gave me the ability to be my most creative self. My mom was part of a girl rap group and used to perform outside the Richmond Coliseum, inspired by MCs like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Da Brat. She always had a deep connection to nature, and every few weeks, she’d take my sister and me on hiking trips, setting up canvases so we could paint together outdoors. I grew up watching her embrace the world with intuition, creativity, and a clairvoyant spirit. My dad was in street culture, but they were both hippies in the sense that they lived off the land in their own way. He made herbal tea from scratch, using what his dad taught him from the roots of Dominica. Whenever I was sick, my parents did not turn to conventional medicine. Bush tea was the cure for everything—fever grass for colds, cerasee to cleanse the blood, ginger and turmeric for stomach aches. We did not rely on store-bought anything. My dad cooked everything from scratch, from what family in St.Thomas and Dominica did for centuries. Saltfish and ackee for dinner, fried plantain on the side, sancocho bubbling on the stove, and peppermint tea in the mornings.
