How long have you lived in New York?
Since 2006—and in the same Bed-Stuy apartment, too.
That’s commitment.
Yeah, I’ve had like ten different roommates.
Has the neighborhood changed a lot?
When I first moved in, I would get crazy catcalls or people yelling obscene stuff at me. One time, I yelled something back and next thing I know, this kid runs up behind me and hits me in the face.
That’s awful.
After that, I enrolled in what I thought was a self-defense class for women, but it ended up being mixed martial arts. We did knife-fighting and gun disarmament, so I’m pretty equipped.
Do you feel safer today?
I do. And now I know most of the old guys who hang out on my block. They protect me.
Interview by Tory Hoen.