Last year I blogged about a little restaurant in the neighborhood that I grew up in and got more hate mail than any other blog before, or after. All of it was from people from the neighborhood.

I made reference to it being like a ghetto and gave the dictionary meaning that I was referring to.

It read something like, "When businesses comes in and take financial advantage of a condensed area."

Evidently ghetto is an emotional word and it triggered lots of anger in lots of people.

People who told me to Fuck off and never come to my neighborhood again and that my mother must be ashamed of me.

Well it turns out that said restaurant was taken over by the bank — shut down, gone, buh-bye.

My first thought was I was right. My second thought was, Why were they so hateful?

Maybe they could scare me to shut me up because they don't want to see the truth, because then they might have to see something in themselves.

So let me get this straight: the message is, don't express yourself unless it goes along with what we believe or you’re not welcome here anymore..

Sounds like a gang mentality to me.

Of course people can disagree with me, but the level of hatred was crazy. And they didn't even defend their case — they just tried to shame and threaten me.

When I was little, my mum took me to the dentist and when I got home I told my Dad that I thought the dentist was taking my mother’s money.

He told me to never to say that again and sent me to my room.

When I was a teenager, that guy got busted for some form of fraud.

Well when I was little I shut my mouth because I needed a place to live.

Now I’m a big girl.

I'm from Boston, MA 02125.

I see truth and feel when things are not on the up and up. Why? Because I am honest.

People have been trying to beat it out of me forever.

I will not be silenced and I definitely will not shrink to make others feel comfortable.

So I guess the question is: What does it mean that I grew up in a place that tried to beat the truth out of me and didn't win?

I understand that sometimes you have to say things over and over in the same voice for people to get it because emotions get in the way, especially when it's something that goes against everything that they believe. I respect that people see things differently because of their own experiences. I am also open to hearing other perspectives. But as far as being afraid of bullies, it's not going to happen.

I don't need everyone to see it, I don't need everyone to like me, but they do have to respect me, especially when I'm right.