INTERVIEW BY ANIKA KALRA
Photographed by Zuleyma Peña.
ARI ESPINAL, NYS ASSEMBLYWOMAN, DISTRICT 39
“We always have to see what’s around a corner, not just what’s in front of us.”
First Political Act: I was about 13 years old and I don't think I was even able to run petitions or carry petitions … and it comes back to Franscisco [Moya]. He was running for office at that point and he was so passionate. He ran for office for the first time because of his values and what he cared about—Corona or Jackson Heights or Elmhurst— and because he loved his neighborhood. And he wanted to bring back resources… If you're from a community and you're from the neighborhood, you see it very differently. All those resources that you could bring back to the district [are] more personal at this point…. That was a defining moment for me, because I carried his positions and I saw how passionate he was about it. So, it made me want to be passionate about something too. It made me want to be in the train station and give out flyers… And then when I saw that a change can happen…and saw how in poor communities or in disenfranchised communities, what a difference of knocking on the door or just educating about the process can do in an electorate level— to me at 13, I was like, this is what I want to do.
Advice for Other Women: What I would say to other women of color and just women in general, right, because we have to start from there and then to top it off, if you’re a woman of color, then you even have more targets in your back… I would say just keep running, no matter where, no matter how many times you're going to trip and fall, nothing is impossible. You risk everything and lose nothing at all. You know, you could, and that's important because how would you know, if you haven't done it? Losing, winning, campaigning, knocking on doors, being fearful of it all. It's all up for grabs. So at this point, I say run, run, run as far as you can, because the worst thing that you could hear is a no. And that's not scary, right? It's scary because we never put ourselves in this position. And especially if you are a woman of color, it becomes a little bit more difficult, but that's when we all need to start sticking together and say we could do it.
“Being you is the biggest ally you have.”