I have been getting my hair braided at Okapi braiding salon in East Liberty for seven years. Despite the salons success, it recently moved to its fourth location.From fifth grade to my senior year, I have watched Okapi, which was opened by a Congolese woman, grow. It is troubling to watch it shrink after all the effort thats been put into maintaining it.

Okapi isnt to blame for its constant movement. Many black women need their hair braided, and hair-braiding options are scarce in Pittsburgh. The problem has never been a shortage of clients or growing competition. The problem is gentrification.

Gentrification is a system in which a seemingly uninhabited or run-down neighborhood is renovated and developed by newer, wealthier, outside businesses, restaurants and residents. I have watched my neighborhood gentrify block by block.

While this may be seen as positive for some, I have firsthand knowledge that its not. The problem with this system is that when new people come in, the old people are forced out. Renovation comes at the cost of lower-income people. Gentrification is why Okapi, a thriving black-owned business, is in its fourth location on the outskirts of the neighborhood it was created in.

The same was true for the Shadow Lounge, a neighborhood venue for people of all ages that hosted open mic events and concerts for internationally recognized artists. The former community hub is now the Livermore, a hipster bar that Im not even old enough to enjoy. We lost Cut and Sew Studio, the place where I learned to sew. We lost Abay, the best Ethiopian cuisine in Pittsburgh, which had a full house every night. We lost Royal Caribbean and its sweet cocoa bread. Affordable, popular businesses were snuffed out and replaced with things that appeal to an entirely new demographic. We even lost our name. Now a sign reads East Side, because East Liberty sounds too old and too different and too black.

Gentrification is controversial because new people often see only its benefits. Growing up in a middle-class family, Ive experienced these benefits. Ive eaten at new restaurants, and Ive never worried about being forced out of my home.I could live a life of privilege in ignorant bliss, seeing only the positives of gentrification, but I wont. I still get my hair braided at Okapi salon, and its displacement still affects me. The small businesses that have existed in East Liberty since before it was gentrified should still be there.

Gentrification functions under the misconceived notion that an uninhabited neighborhood needs renovation when the reality is that these neighborhoods arent uninhabited. Historically, East Liberty was diverse and flourishing; it had a plethora of cultures, people and perspectives.

Living in East Liberty affects me deeply because of the culture and diversity that existed before gentrification, and because of the ways Ive witnessed that diversity be erased.

As long as those with power deem neighborhoods like East Liberty as uninhabited or run-down, our names will be lost, and the people who make Pittsburghs culture so vibrant will be forced further into the margins.

Ua Hayes is a high school student who lives in East Liberty.

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First Person: The East Liberty I know - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette