Bronx Princess

I am pretty excited, I have just come across this gem of a film called Bronx Princess. It is about the life of Rocky Otoo, a feisty17 year old from the Bronx, New York who has her heart set on going to college and become an adult. Rocky’s parents are from Ghana and her father is now living back home where he is the chief of the town. This leaves Rocky in the Bronx with her mum and younger siblings; but life is far from idyllic in fact it is sometimes downright hard. Instead of spending her free time shopping with her mates or hanging out at the beach, Rocky has to work in her Mum’s hair and cosmetic shop and look after her younger brother. Plus her Mum is always telling her that she is becoming too westernised – but hey what else does she expect her to be? She was born here. Her life truly sucks and things have seriously got to get better than this. Then Rocky goes to visit her dad in Ghana where she does some rebonding with him and discovers how the other half live in Ghana. Rocky's father instils a sense of Ghanaian pride into her as well as the importance of her culture. When she returns to the USA she enrols at Dickinson college a much happier and fulfilled person who has a true sense of herself.

I really love the trailer for the film and I totally saw myself as Rocky. A young spirited lady who has her own ideas of how her life should be but having to deal with the African values that your parents place on her. Oh and having to deal with the disapproving looks from that mother of yours as well as the tuts and shakes of the head. Rocky's life was more or less my life. Bronx Princess is directed and produced by Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed. The documentary is part of an outreach campaign to improve access to educational resources for young people and bridge the educational divide in immigrant families. You can buy the film from here.

Join the Bronx Princess Facebook fan page here.