The Coldest Winter Ever

Winter opens the narrative with a description of how she views Sister Souljah and subsequently introduces how she views herself:

I never liked Sister Souljah, straight up. She the type of female I’d like to cut in the face with my razor. Before I get heated just talking about her, let me make it clear who I am and where I stand. Don’t go jumping to conclusions either. All of y’all are too quick to jump to her defense without knowing what somebody up close and personal thinks (1).

Winter says that she was born in Brooklyn, but she doesn’t have “no sob stories for you about rats and roaches and pissy-pew hallways” (1). Born on January 28, 1977, during one of New York’s worst snowstorms, her mom, who is only 14 years old, names her Winter. Winter’s father, Ricky Santiaga, picks her and her mom up from the hospital in a limo and gives Winter a diamond ring because he wanted her to know she “deserved the best, no slum jewelry, cheap shoes, or knock-off designer stuff, only the real thing” (2).

Winter and her family live in the projects, but their apartment is “dipped,” meaning it’s filled with every luxury that money can buy, such as “top-of-the-line furniture, a fully loaded entertainment center, equipment, and all that good stuff” (2).