Aisha Rodriguez - Runnin' the Streets

 

At 12 years old, being a girl meant being one of the boys. It meant hitting the courts and hitting the books. You could never catch me slacking. And part of this meant having this big group of guy friends to protect me, even though I was a good foot taller than most of them, a better ballplayer than half of them. But really, we stayed together, and they had my back. And part of this was we thought we ran the streets, but we ran student council, [audience laughter] and we didn't really know nothing more than the school and the schoolyard. 

 

But one day, things changed, and we wanted to expand the horizons, go to another ballpark. Part of this was going out later and farther. And being the girl of my family was difficult in this sense, because I was always home, getting my work together, “Keep it together, because you're the youngest girl.” I told my mom like, “Oh, mommy, mommy, can I please go with Marisol and Lisa, Jessica?” Really, I was with Justin, Kevin, Jeremy, [audience laughter] But somehow, I got out, and I was so happy. 

 

We're at this new park, a couple blocks further than the last one, and we're thinking like, “Yo, we run these streets, man.” But it's starting to get later and later, and I'm realizing, like, “Oh, man, I lied. I'm going to get in trouble. My mom doesn't know where I'm at, who I'm with.” There was nothing worse than getting in trouble. So, I tell my friends, “Let's start heading home. It's late. It's 09:00 PM, middle of the night.” [audience laughter] Because they're 12 too, they're like, “Yeah, Aisha, let's go.” 

 

So, we're walking home. The way it works is that I live the farthest from the park, and each avenue a different friend lives. So, we're dropping off one by one, and it ends up me, Justin and Kevin. I'm starting really to panic. Like, I'm lying, I'm late, I'm supposed to be home already, I'm going to get in trouble, I'm going to die. Like, it's it. 

 

As I'm starting to have this panic attack, my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. I take it out and it says, “Mom,” who I should mention is my grandma and I call her mom. And I pick up ready, like, “Oh, mommy, mommy. I'm on my way home.” And she stops me. And she goes, “Aisha, don't come home” and the call drops. I'm really starting to think, man, the world is over as I know it. And little did I know I was right. So, I take the phone back out, and I dial my house and I'm ready with the same spiel and I tell her like, “Mommy, mommy, I'm on my way home.” She stops me again and goes, “Aisha, don't come home. Someone got raped in the elevator.” And the call drops yet again. 

 

And here, I'm starting to get real scared and I'm thinking, man, that could have been me. If I was home on time, doing the right thing, if I was there, that could have been me. And my two friends look at me worried and ask me what happened. When I tell them, they look at me like, “That's what you're scared of?” This was when I realized I'm the girl of the group. Like, they can only protect me so much. But they walk me home and my grandma comes down to take over this protective role. She's ready. She got her Bata chancleta zico [audience laughter] 

 

[cheers and applause] 

 

She's also there like, she's just ready and she holds something out and it's a metal turkey baster and she goes, “Aisha, protect yourself.” So, I take it, not really sure what I'm supposed to do with that. We go to the deli, the sus illegal one that's always doing something wrong, but it's your fam, so it's okay. When we tell him what happens, he also looks at me like, man, that could have been you. He reaches down, takes something out, and he holds it out, and it's a switchblade and he tells me, “Protect yourself.” 

 

So, now I got a switchblade in one hand, tucker baster in the other. I just shove both of them in my pockets like, “Yo, what's more sus than this?” [audience laughter] I'm still really panicking like, man, I'm going to get in trouble. There're cops everywhere, and I didn't want to run the streets like this. But I go home and I'm still thinking like, this could have been me. And I'm starting to realize there's a world bigger than just getting in trouble. 

 

And fast forward, I'm in school and I'm thinking I'm bad. I'm telling my friends like, “Yo, I got the switchblade, like I'm boss.” My teacher starts to overhear and she goes, “Aisha, what was that?” And I tell her, like, “Oh, I have a switchblade.” She gives me the same look, like something's about to happen. I'm scared I'm going to get in trouble. I always do the right thing, but I get in trouble. She stops me and she goes, “Aisha, if you ever have to go for the eyes or the jugular.” I'm thinking, damn, I can’t get my straw of my Capri-Sun, like, how am I supposed to defend myself? [audience laughter] 

 

But after this moment, I started to realize being a girl meant taking that turkey baster, taking that switchblade, taking literally anything in front of you to protect yourself, because the world won't do it for you. Thank you.