Regardless of where you go in life, where you came from will always be the make-up for who you are. So despite being a nine-time Grammy winner and iconic R&B singer, Mary J. Blige is a music superstar and a survivor.

After overcoming a childhood of abuse and addiction, Mary channeled her pain as inspiration to create the most soul-stirring albums in the music industry. Still, Mary has never forgotten nor abandoned the projects in Yonkers, New York as the driving force behind her success.

“I could have been dead because of this environment,” she says. “But because of this environment, I’m alive too.”

Recounting her earlier days on a recent episode of Oprah’s Where Are They Now? series, Mary returns to her old neighborhood after nearly 25 years to take a trip down memory lane. Explaining the crime, battered emotions, and even running into an old neighbor, she said, “It was being programmed into our psyches that this is the way we’re supposed to live as women. It was relentless.”

Finding the silver lining and way out, Mary continues to give back to her community with the numerous charities Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now, as well as opening the doors to the Mary J. Blige Center for Women.

“My thing is if you save women, you save the world.”

Watch the clip below, and the full episode here.