MEET THE AUTHORS

Secrets to Dance to Your Own Beat

Edited by Miriam Simon

 

Casa De Chingonas

Making Rainbows Instead of Waves

 

"I have learned that my voice is my most powerful tool."

Soy Lo Que Mis Ancestros Soñaron

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"La decisión de dejar de vivir definida por mis pérdidas y comenzar a construir desde mis posibilidades."

It’s All About Me

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"It took my body begging me for change for me to realize the most important relationship I forgot to nurture, with myself."

Beautiful Girl, You Can Do Hard Things

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"You need one hard thing, done scared, and then the willingness to do the next one."

Gorda

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"I had to wake up from this stupor and find the strength to make the right choices for myself."

Finding Yourself After Self-Deportation

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"There isn't one definition of success we all have to follow."

No Roadmap. Still, I Danced.

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"Sometimes people don’t lack ambition. They lack exposure."

Community Is a Verb: Finding Family, Belonging, and Purpose Beyond Blood

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"Discovering that sometimes the family who helps you become the person you're meant to be isn't the one you were born into, it's the one you build."

LGBTQue? 

Between Borders and Coming Out

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"The distance had given me something I had never truly experienced before: the freedom to discover who I was without constantly fearing someone else's judgment."

A Chocolate Covered Red Apple​

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"Chasing an opportunity isn't entitlement, especially when you’ve earned it with your sweat and tears, and at times, literally."

All the Feels: Accepting My Wounds to Uncover a Path Forward

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"The shift was that I no longer required a complete map before choosing myself."

Navigating the Crossroads: A Latina’s Journey by Owning Her Power

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"I realized that my early days in a low-income community were not a liability—they were the source of my empathy and the engine of my advocacy for those who cannot advocate for themselves, whether due to access or resources."

Remembering My Chingona

How I Stopped Shrinking and Started Belonging to Myself

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"To become not only resilient, but free."

To My Daughters: The Legacy I Hope to Leave Behind

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"No matter what life brings, tienen todo en ustedes mismas para empezar de nuevo."

Act 2

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"We are literally given the gift to create life but second guess ourselves for wanting to create a life that feels like ours.  you are granted permission."

The Bags by the Door

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"The wall I built wasn't keeping me safe anymore. It was just keeping me by myself."

More Than the Help

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"The little girl from the hood could never have imagined this life, but every season of her life had prepared her for it."

Crumpled Pieces of Paper

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"The voice didn’t roar but it didn’t go away. It kept telling me, you are allowed to want something different."

Estarías Bien Bonita Si Estuvieras Delgadita

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"When you begin to understand food as medicine you become intentional with yourself.  That's love."

The Version of Me I Was Hiding Was the Most Qualified One in the Room

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"Sacrificio, the immigrant calculus of staying in the stable thing long enough to build the standing that lets you leave on your own terms, not out of desperation.."

The Body Keeps Receipts

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"I had to move forward into a new reality I never would have picked, and I had to learn to live inside it."