*Fun fact: when Christopher Columbus “discovered” Long Island, he called it Fernandina.

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Beyoncé’s cover of Dolly’s Jolene is my new favorite song.

When she sings, “I’m still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisiane”, it makes my little heart pitter-patter all over the place because I. Get. It.

I moved to North Carolina almost 18 years ago. When I started my job here, a friend once said she couldn’t believe I was from New York because I’m nice.

Yes, it’s true New Yorkers have a bit of a reputation for being mean here in NC.

But I’m not from New York proper. I’m a Long Island girl through and through. Which, I feel, gives me a little more diversity of personality.

I wasn’t raised in the city streets, so there was no need to be tough all the time. Growing up where I did, we had a nice little bubble around us.

My friends, like me, cared about boys, and our outfits, and our hair, but I guess a little bit of flavor seeped in from the 5 Burroughs because even though our top priorities were mostly aesthetic, if you came for one of us, the frivolous girl went away for a sec and the ratchet bitch came out.

I got my butt kicked a few times, but you may be shocked to know that at 5-foot-nothing, I could bring a girl to the ground by her hair with one hand. (True story, and not gonna lie, I’m proud of this. Call me Uncle Rico, I don’t care 🏈⛰️👵🏻)

Maybe it’s because my Momma is from Brooklyn and my Daddy is from Queens and I got a whole bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins and friends who liked to get in a whole lot of trouble 😈

But as an adult, it’s important to have an appearance of maturity, and I do (I think? 🤔)

Which means I’m diplomatic and polite, hence the, “I can’t believe you’re from NY because you’re nice.”

However… just like Jolene should never forget that Beyoncé is still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisiane, I’ll always be a banjee bitch from Fernandina.