(ES) Amaurys Grullón Bronx Native
Bronx Native was an effort started by you and your sister. Can you tell us about the backstory: what was its inception? How did the name come about?
Bronx Native started with me and my sister Roselyn Grullon. We both come from creative backgrounds: me as a designer / filmmaker and my sis as a fashion designer. Around 2014 / 2015 we started having conversations about Bronx based merch and our community. We wanted to rep our home the BX but we couldn’t find any clothing that truly represented The Bronx accordingly. Clothing that combined Bronx history, culture, community and merch that looked fire! We started asking people in our circles “Would you wear Bronx based merch?” Most peeps said of course! Some peeps said it was too niche. We saw all the BK merch, Harlem, NY but no Bronx merch. The Mecca of so many things and we didn’t have any representation in the streetwear realm. We started brainstorming, designing and creating this brand that would eventually become Bronx Native. When thinking of a name we wanted to come up with something that was versatile, a name that meant more than just a clothing brand. From the very beginning we knew this was going to be a community based brand with a social component. A multi layered / dimensional brand that did many things. We came up with “Bronx Native” . We though it was a cool name that represented us and can be more than just a brand, it could be a movement! We started using “Bronx Native” as captions on our posts when we went out to shoot The Bronx, we opened up our socials with Bronx Native, we started putting it on merch and established Bronx Native as our name.
Of Dominican background, can you speak a little about how your family ended up in the Bronx?
My mom and dad both are from Moca in the Northside of DR a place called El Sibao. They both came to NYC for a better life in the 1980s. They both met here at a small apartment that one of their friends was renting in Washington Heights. They were roommates and got together. My dad was a taxi driver and his number was 96 everyone used to call him Nueve Sei. My mom was a hard working christian woman both working towards the American dream and providing the best life possible for me and my sis. We had family in The Bronx so my mom came to live here while my dad stood in The Heights. Me and my sister were born in the early 90’s. Thank you to our mom and dad for doing what they could to allow us to live our dream and even though we lived in section 8 apt. and didn’t have much they gave us the best life we could ever ask for. Love my Dominican background and growing up in The Boogie Down Bronx.
Growing up a Bronxite, when and why did you realize the importance of participating economically in your beloved borough?
Since a very early age I knew I wanted to be both a creative and an entrepreneur. I wanted to do what I love but didn’t believe in the stigma of being a “starving artist” . I knew I needed to combine what I love with my entrepreneurial mindset and make it happen. My dad was also an entrepreneur. He had a couple businesses and hustles in the heights. I grew up going to his business peeps playing pool / cards / dominos / etc. I loved the fact that my dad was a self made man and that stuck with me. When I was 19 years old I started my entrepreneurial journey learning everything I could / connecting with mentors and emerging myself in this realm. Growing up in a Pentecostal church with my mom gave me my community values and through time to give back and the importance of your people. My first business was GET Studios which I started in 2014 right when I graduated Bronx Community College. I decided to dive into my dreams. 1 open my business 2 go to the school of my dream The School of Visual Arts top art school in The city. The mission of my first business was to provide multimedia services for small businesses in my community to help them succeed and get into the digital age. I was successful in doing so but I knew I had to do something that I can call my own, a business that combined my creative expression, my entrepreneurial spirit and my sense of community. I was able to do that with Bronx Native, a business that creates social change and also is sustainable. I love being able to contribute economically to my borough. We buy our merch here / print our merch here / sell our merch here / pay rent here / support locally everyday and more. It’s a beautiful thing.
A multi-hyphenate creative, why do you choose to continue basing your work in the borough?
I think the most amazing thing in the world is finding something you love doing, you're good at, you get paid for, and that the world needs. I’ve truly found this with Bronx Native. As a creative I’m able to express myself through many different mediums (fashion / marketing / video / photography / design / etc.) I'm good at it and love it! With our work we are creating social change, we are empowering, inspiring and beyond which is incredible. Lastly, my passion is sustainable. We are selling merchandise, working on partnerships, collaborating, hosting events and much more. It’s a win-win for all fields, and it’s not easy to find that. I’m blessed to create, do what I love, get paid for what I love and make my home The Bronx a better place!
You recently created GET Studios, and have other creative pursuits outside of, but related to, Bronx Native. Can you speak to how those came about?
As a serial entrepreneur I’m always thinking of new ventures to create and add to our creative ecosystem. I started with GET Studios, a creative agency providing multimedia services, then opened Bronx Native as a BX community based brand. After that we have opened our recording studio called Tag Up Music, our local print shop called BX print and our soon to be official non profit Change The Narrative. All working together in our creative ecosystem to make it happen!
In a time where many businesses operate online, you're still committed not only to having a brick and mortar business, but using it as a hub for community. Why is having a physical location important to you
When I was in the beginning of opening up our brick and mortar shop everyone was advising us not to because everything was going online. We had a clear vision for the shop. It wasn’t going to just be a retail shop, that was too boring. We knew we needed to make the physical shop into an interactive experience. The shop was the best thing that happened to us. We got inspired by an old school shop called Fashion Moda it use to be a cool spot for Graff writers / creatives to hang and chill. We saw pictures of it where the Graff artist tagged up the whole shop, we said that’s what we are going to. Make the shop an authentic immersive Bronx interactive experience. Yes you can buy a shirt that represents your home but it was gonna be more than that. A cultural hub, an inclusive platform for creatives / entrepreneurs and community to break bread, connect, learn, express, elevate and much more! The shop started as a pop up shop for 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks were the most action packed weeks of our life. We did the most, events everyday, collabs, releases, workshops, open mics and beyond. We quickly realized that this was needed in The Bronx. We sold out all our mech in 1 week and got all the press and engagement from our community. After the 2 weeks were done our landlord offered us a lease and we took it. The shop for me is a masterpiece. When I think of the shop I think of a heart pumping blood to our borough. We’ve had so many incredible experiences / stories / moments in the shop that I will take with me my whole life. It’s been an incredible 8 years having this shop and it’s only the beginning!
Mott Haven has become a poster child for gentrification in the Bronx. With highrises erected along the East River, many are weary about what this means for the future of the Bronx. How do you navigate this?
We were born and raised in Longwood The South Bronx and started coming to Mott Haven around 2015 because of a couple of events and restaurants in the neighborhood. That was the first time we were first exposed to what was starting to happen in Mott Haven. The developers wanted to rebrand Mott Haven into “The Piano District” around the same time we were starting our brand Bronx Native. Putting together our mission, visual language and what we were going to stand for. That played a part in our branding and we decided we wanted to create a brand that preserved our culture, a brand that highlighted local voices, one that championed the community that poured their blood sweats and tears into The Bronx. Bronx Native is us putting up our flag and saying this is still The South Bronx and we will continue to turn up and embrace our people. As a whole The Bronx was able to stop developers from trying to rebrand The South Bronx to “The Piano District” but the journey still continues. We aren’t against change, our community deserves beautiful things and economic development, we are against displacement and not having the natives have a seat at the table. Through our brand we keep this neighborhood authentic and elevate our local creatives / entrepreneurs/ communities voices. Most of the businesses in Mott Haven are owned by Black and Brown peeps, Bronx Natives, our people. We work together, collaborate and make sure that anyone that comes here checks in before just coming in here and doing things. We need to continue to have conversations, create solutions and make sure that our people are being heard. The needs of the locals need to be acknowledged and acted on. There have been a lot of new buildings and apartments that have come up in the past years but a lot of them are still empty because the rent is too high, definitely something that needs to be adjusted. A lot of businesses have come and go. It’s crazy to know that The Bronx Native Shop is currently one of the longest standing businesses in The neighborhood. We have seen many changes and eras in the neighborhood (pre pandemic / pandemic / post pandemic) and now I feel we are approaching a new era. Hope we can continue to make it happen in this neighborhood. Mott Haven has shown us a lot of love and we are happy to be part of the fabric and history of this neighborhood. We will continue to fight, highlight our Bronx and make sure we have a seat at the table to be heard, seen and part of everything that’s coming.
New York City: the birthplace of Hip-Hop, the birthplace of salsa. The Bronx, an incubator for both of those artforms. What is it about the Bronx that makes it such a fertile ground for cultural creation?
These 2 amazing music genres came from The Bronx. Both conceived around the same decades. I believe they came to be because of all the diversity The Bronx has. African Americans and Puerto Rican people coming together struggle to remix everything. We wanted to be heard, seen, acknowledged and we started expressing yourself through these mediums. Our people have always been the flyest, the most creative and ambitious. The environment and current state of The Bronx at the time was a factor in the creation of these art forms. A lot of great art and movements come from great suffering and intense situations. Seeing The Bronx burn, the crime, being disenfranchised, neglected and not given resources or help made us come together in community and unity to create our own reality. Hip Hop and Salsa saved us from everything that was happening and at the same time we created a movement that went all over the word and continues to create impact in a massive way.
Despite being such an important place for the city, and the world, the Bronx still gets relegated to stereotypes. What do you think people still get wrong about the Bronx? For you, what does being from the Bronx mean?
Yes, historically and systematically The Bronx has always been the last place for a lot of things. The negative stigma of The Bronx has carried it to modern times. Harmful stereotypes and narratives are still active and present because of previous perceptions, Media, and platforms. The truth is that The Bronx has changed a lot from the previous decades and we show that through our brand. We try to change the narrative and combat these harmful narratives through our content, events, shops and more. We still have a lot of issues that need to be talked about and fixed. We need leaders that lead by example, we need problem solvers with innovative ideas that target issues from the root. Truth is things take time and we are still working day and night to continue to change that narrative and make The Bronx a better place. For me being from The Bronx means being a fighter, being real, being real! Back in the days there was a phrase that said “Only The Strong survive” Being from The BX means a problem solver, someone that makes it happen with what they have. I'm so proud being from The Bronx and being able to represent all of our beautiful people through our movement!