It took a rock to the leg to wake me up



I was walking from the train to my neighbor's house. She had been watching my children who were ages 1 and 3 at the time. I was walking quickly because I had left work late and I was anxious to see my kids. I didn't really notice the group of 10-ish boys walking toward me until I felt the rock hit my leg. I turned my head and another rock swished past my body and hit the stone wall hard, thudding on the sidewalk. I started to run.



A woman who had been sitting on her porch across the street stood up and started yelling at the boys. The boys ran off and I safely made it to my neighbor's house.



After taking some deep breaths and hugging my baby tight, I knew I needed to walk back to thank the woman who had stood up (literally) for me. Clutching my 3-year-old's hand and still breathing deeply into my baby, I walked the block back to her home. She was now standing on the sidewalk, talking to some police officers. After she was done, I told her how grateful I was that she had been there and had scared off the boys. We hugged and I introduced my children to her. She shared that she is in charge of a halfway home for women - a place where women who are struggling with drug addictions can stay before they are ready to be on their own again. She said that she sees it as one of her duties to always be watching the street to make sure her girls are safe out there. I thanked her again for being my angel that day and we hugged goodbye.



As we walked home, we passed by another neighbor who was sitting on her porch. We said hello and I walked up the steps to let her know what had just happened. My neighbor gave me a hug and asked if I was ok. Then she told me how she had scared off a similar group of boys a few days before who had punched a man in the face while he was walking home from work. She shared that she knew some of the kids and had called a friend of hers who was one of their grandparents.



I moved into this neighborhood about five years ago. It's a neighborhood with beautiful rowhouses built in the early 1900s like the one in the picture with big front porches. For the last 50+ years, most people in this neighborhood have been African American and it's been a very affordable neighborhood. But in the last 10+ years, the value of homes has been increasing and more people are moving in who have higher salaries and come from privileged backgrounds. Many of those people - like me - grew up in neighborhoods with people of European decent. And as our neighborhood has changed, people like me have come into the neighborhood without really understanding who our neighbors are, or how they operate.



It wasn't until this experience that I had really SEEN the grandmothers sitting on their porches in my neighborhood as the leaders in my community that they truly are. I had been walking by them on my way to places, saying hello, exchanging pleasantries. But on that day, as I hugged my baby in my arms and gave gratitude for my safety, I saw those grandmothers as the leaders I depended on to walk safely home, and give my children the peace and freedom to play in our front yard without a care in the world.



I have never seen a grandmother on a front porch in the same way. I respect them deeply for their leadership. And I mourn their loss as my neighborhood continues to transform with an influx of more clueless people like myself who just carelessly walk down the streets without truly taking in the beauty around us.

Future of Security Is Women
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