A few weeks ago, I went to Vassar College for the East Coast Chicano Student Forum (ECCSF). The theme of this conference was "Mujeres Al Frente". As a Latina, it was very refreshing to interact with students of similar backgrounds and stories. One of the workshops I participated in was focused on strong Hispanic femmes in our lives. Our assignment was to write a poem about a strong Hispanic femme in our lives. To inspire us, we walked around the room and read quotes that were posted throughout the room by the workshop leaders. We were allowed to keep some of our favorites. I went around to collect as much as I could. The following were some of my favorites‒I hope they are as meaningful to readers as they are to me.
“Our backs tell stories no books have the spine to carry” ‒ Rupi Kaur
“Brown girl, you are a poem in a country made entirely of stories” ‒ pavana
“You are a woman. Skin and bones, veins and nerves, hair and sweat. You are not made of metaphors. Not apologies, not excuses” ‒ Sarah Kay
“be so full that even if / they take & take / & take & take / you can still be / overflowing” ‒ Alison Malee
“someday we will / look back and say, / look. there. that. / that was strength, / that was survival” ‒ Alison Malee
“Life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air” ‒ Sarah Kay
“I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living” ‒ Frida Kahlo
“1. You must let the pain visit. 2. You must allow it to teach you. 3. You must not allow it overstay” ‒ Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada
“stay strong through your pain / grow flowers from it / you have helped me / grow flowers out of mine so / bloom beautifully / dangerously / loudly / bloom softly / however you need / just bloom” ‒ Rupi Kaur, milk and honey
“So here you are / too foreign for home / too foreign for here. / Never enough for both”. ‒ Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada
“I look at you and see all the ways a soul can bruise, and I wish I could sink my hands into your flesh and light lanterns along your spine so you know there’s nothing but light when I see you” ‒ Shinji Moon
“I am not lucky, you know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a badass”. ‒ Shonda Rhimes
“give your daughters difficult names. give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. my name makes you want to tell me the truth. my name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.” ‒ Warsan Shire
