Belinda was born in 1954 in Selma, Alabama. She moved North with her grandmother when she was 9 years old to be with her grandfather who was working in Cleveland.

“We used to go back to Alabama every Christmas. One time we stopped for gas. I was in the back, and they threw rocks at our car. When we got here, we used to say it was more subtle, not so blatant, but you would know. If you would go into a store, the employees or owner might think you can’t afford to shop at this store. You feel that when you walk in. You notice that they don’t ask, ‘Can I help you?’ They will ask everybody else around you. That happens today, but not as much because we tend to be a little more vocal about it.”