Latina comedian Aida Rodriguez tackles the shame of 'illegitimacy' in a new memoir
Aida Rodriguez was raised by women who could take down the devil.
Her abuelita carried a .38 Special pistol. Her mother beat up her daughter's bullies with chanclas (a.k.a., the always-effective flip-flop) and threatened them with other makeshift weapons. It's no surprise that the L.A.-based American comedian made a career of going for the oppressor's jugular — in her case, with words.
Her stand-up mocks the myths of white supremacy and other human hierarchies. "If we don't get our s— together, when the aliens come, they're gonna f— all of us up," she warns in her HBO special "Fighting Words." On doomsday, white racists will be desperate for Black and Latino friends, she predicts, "'cause they can't fight like us."
Rodriguez, of and descent, brings heart and humor to universal issues such as race, motherhood and survival, often through the lens of Latinx experiences. "We come from Supreme Court justices and crack dealers and everything in between," she said in a recent phone interview. "And every single person is a human being on that spectrum, and they are all worthy of their story."
