When I first went away to college, and even early in my professional career, a lot of people would say, “you sound like you are from the South.”

Well, I am not from the South. I am originally from the Midwest, growing up in the suburb of Maywood, Illinois, a 10- to 15-minute drive from downtown Chicago.

Maywood is currently a low to middle income village that is mostly known for producing several professional athletes. These athletes include: Current LA Clippers Coach and retired NBA player Doc Rivers, retired NBA player Michael Finley, current NBA player Shannon Brown, former NBA player Stephen Hunter, Olympic hurdler medalist Greg Foster, Olympic swimming medalist Jackie LaVine, and current NFL player Sergio Brown, to name a few.

Other famous or notable people that were either born or spent time in Maywood include: BET co-founder Sheila Johnson, Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton, NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan, actor Dennis Franz, and folk singer and songwriter John Prine, to name a few.

One of the most interesting facts about Maywood is that the Underground Railroad went right through the village. A house that once stood at the southeast corner of 1st Avenue and Lake Street served as a place where runaway slaves could find refuge as they made their way north along the Des Plains River. On this site now stands a McDonalds restaurant, but inside the restaurant, you will find pictures and information that document the history of this site. You will also find an outdoor commemoration of the site.

And my “southern sound,” for me at least, was due to growing up with my family and others with southern roots. Many of my childhood friends had relatives and family members in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Even my great grandmother used to pick cotton in the south before moving north. This fact is represented in the population history of Chicago and its suburbs, with a lot of African-Americans migrating from the South to the urban areas of the Midwest, as well as to urban areas of the West and Northeast, roughly from 1910 to 1970. This migration was known as the Great Migration.

You will find a lot of this information online about Maywood, its history, its pros, its cons, but for me, Maywood is more than just facts and statistics. Its a place I will always call home, a place where I have good memories and bad ones, and its a place that helped shape and mold me into the person I am today.