Editing Missy Elliott (section)

== Early life ==
Melissa Arnette Elliott<ref name= sunshine>{{cite news |title= Letting the Sunshine In: At Her Mellowest, Rapper Missy Elliott is Still a Ball of Fire |newspaper= New York Daily News |page= 2 |date= May 13, 2001 |first= Lola |last= Ogunnaike |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=1142BAFD4C313358&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=9 }}</ref> was born on July 1, 1971,<ref name= birthdate>{{cite news |title= Today in History |publisher= Associated Press |date= July 1, 2011 |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=138863DE84827EC8&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=2 }}</ref> at [[Naval Medical Center Portsmouth]] in [[Portsmouth, Virginia]],<ref name=":1"/><ref name= ambitions>Cutchins, Rebecca Myers (February 25, 1998). "Missy's Mom Pat Elliott of Portsmouth Talks About the Lifelong Ambitions of her Daughter, Grammy-nominated Rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott". ''The Virginian-Pilot'' (Norfolk, Virginia). p. E1.</ref> the only child of power company dispatcher Patricia and former [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] Ronnie Elliott.<ref name= sunshine/><ref name= action>{{cite news|last=Kessler|first=Ted|date=August 5, 2001|title=Missy in action|newspaper=[[The Observer]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/aug/05/life1.lifemagazine7|access-date=October 28, 2008|archive-date=December 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220042711/http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/aug/05/life1.lifemagazine7|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name= universe>{{cite magazine|last=Lynch|first=Jason|date=January 20, 2003|title=Missy Universe|magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139061,00.html|access-date=November 27, 2008|archive-date=February 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204004613/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139061,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She grew up in an active church choir family, where singing was a normal part of her youth. At the age of four, she wanted to be a performer, with biographer Veronica A. Davis later writing that she "would sing and perform for her family". In later years, she feared no one would take her seriously because she was always the [[wikt:class clown|class clown]].<ref name= scary>{{cite news |last = Baker |first = Lindsay |date = November 1, 2003 |title = Scary? Me? |work = [[The Guardian]] |url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/01/popandrock.missyelliott |access-date = October 28, 2008 |location = London |archive-date = November 10, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131110173157/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/01/popandrock.missyelliott |url-status = live }}</ref> While her father was an active Marine, the family lived in a manufactured home community in [[Jacksonville, North Carolina]].<ref name= scary /><ref name= ambitions/> She blossomed during this part of her life, enjoying school for the friendships that she formed even though she had little interest in schoolwork. When her father returned from the Marines, the family moved back to Virginia, where they lived in extreme poverty.<ref name= action />

Life in Virginia saw many hardships, and Elliott has talked about seeing her mother suffer [[domestic abuse]] at the hands of her father; she refused to attend sleepovers at her friends' homes out of fear that she would find her mother dead upon returning home.<ref name= herald>{{cite news |title= What Would Her Mother Say? |work= The Sunday Herald |location= Glasgow, Scotland |date= October 31, 2002 |url= http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0F71A860C060311B&p_docnum=5&p_queryname=12 }}</ref> When she was eight, she was [[child sexual abuse|sexually abused]] by a cousin. In one violent incident, her father dislocated her mother's shoulders; during another, Elliott herself was threatened by her father with a gun.<ref name= herald/> When Elliott was 14, her mother decided to end the situation and fled with Elliott on the pretext of taking a joyride on a local bus. In reality, the pair had found refuge at a family member's home, where their possessions were stored in a loaded [[U-Haul]] truck.<ref name= action /> Elliott told her mother that she feared her father would kill them both for leaving.<ref name="scary"/> She later stated, "When we left, my mother realized how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong. It took her leaving her home to be able to realize that."<ref name= action /><ref name= scary /> She and her mother lived in the Hodges Ferry neighborhood of Portsmouth,<ref name= ambitions/> where Elliott graduated from [[Manor High School (Portsmouth, Virginia)|Manor High School]] in 1990.<ref name= sunshine/> She later said that she occasionally speaks to her father, but has not forgiven him for abusing her mother.<ref name= action /><ref name= scary />