What an amazing presentation at Haverford College. The conversation was HEATED... people had a tremendous amount to say... Professors went IN on me!!! I am incredibly proud of the students and professors who were present and engaged in the conversation. Once we can let go of the hang up with the title "Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story" the REAL WORK begins... what we will discover is that there IS in fact a story that has not been taught. There has been only one way we have heard the story told! In the same way that certain subjects are taught and learned for the first time on the college level... the idea and story behind who Afrolatinos are and the tremendous contributions that have arrived to our countries is a story that MUST be told! That is being told! And I am so proud of that!
Thank you Marla Dora Pita Gomez the A.L.A.S Alliance of Latin American Students, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship and the Hurford Center for Arts and Humanities. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO WERE PRESENT DURING LAST NIGHT'S DINNER!!! You guys CAN and WILL change the world! Please stay in touch with me... add me on facebook, follow me on twitter: @diosadominicana and @afrolatinostv or feel free to email me.
Let's get to work! BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT!
Sending you many blessings~
IN SOLIDARITY!
YOU have a responsibility to serve!
Peace, light and LOVE~ Alicia Anabel Santos, Renzo Devia, & the Afrolatinos Team~
This morning I am speaking at several classes (Contemporary History and Violence & Health Care) for Afrolatinos today... this afternoon sharing the trailer for Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story here at Haverford College, in PA.
It's NO LONGER acceptable to be complacent. No longer acceptable to sit back and not care what is happening around the world believing that it somehow doesn't affect us because its not happening HOME where we live. This is happening to OUR FAMILY... and what affects our family... directly affects US!
Next stop on the Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story tour is HAVERFORD COLLEGE!
I can not really put into words how amazing it feels to meet so many young adults... OUR FUTURE of brilliant minds. After the success of Bronx Community College and U Albany's FUERZA LATINA EVENT: NLCC The Dawn of a NEW ERA!!! EL PODER DE AHORRA!!!
I really left those events feeling incredibly POWERFUL and hopeful... scratch that... I completely BELIEVE in this group women and men who really DO care about things. Thank you BCC, Albany (and all the schools that represented)! I am so f'g proud!!!
I can't wait to get to Haverford!!! LET's DO THIS!!!! This is a movement!!!!
Event details
Haverford College
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Time: 4:30pm
370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041
This event is sponsored by the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship and the Hurford Center for Arts and Humanities. I am so excited to have been invited to share this incredibly important project.
National Latino Collegiate Conference begins TODAY!!
I am so honored to have been asked to speak at this very important event at UAlbany, State University of New York!!!
Friday night, March 23rd: Welcoming & performances by many including Felipe Luciano~ tonight I will be sharing some of my poetry.
Saturday Workshop, March 24th: Alicia Anabel Santos, Writer/Co-Producer for the documentary AfroLatinos: The Untaught Story (www.AfroLatinos.tv) There are an estimated 200 million Afro-descendants throughout Latin America; yet the majority, have no political or economic power. Afro-Latinos: The Untaught Story will take you on a journey to meet Afro- Latinos throughout Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations of Central and South America and the Caribbean. It is the story of a shared history not found in textbooks. This film gives a voice to communities who have been invisible until now.
Workshop Synopsis: We will discuss the term Afrolatinos in terms of identity exploring the questions: Who gets to identify with: Afrolatinos? Latinegro? Black Latina? The effects of the caste system on identity. Issues such as: marrying up to advance the races (avanzar la raza), pelo bueno/pelo malo. The Jezebel stereotype: The raping and using of black women solely for sexual purposes during slavery ultimately leading to the sexualization of black women in all forms of media.
Author of Finding Your Force A Journey to Love~ A memoir written in the form of a love letter to a daughter... filled with personal letters, poetry, affirmations and prayers. In this intimate conversation we journey into the darkest parts of Alicia's soul. We walk with her as she digs deep underneath the ruins where all her secrets are kept. Santos is being called on an excavation to stop running and face those moments that have transformed her from surviving rape, healing through loss and coming out as a lesbian. This is a journey about life, death and rebirth. Alicia tells her daughter a story that is raw and heart wrenching. It is not a love story but definitely a story of love.
Saturday evening: Banquet at Franklin Plaza Ballroom, Saturday night: NLCC after party, & Sunday: Leadership Summit. All empowering and fun filled events that you of course don't want to miss out!
Cuando nadie me ve when no one can see me when no one is watching when I am alone when I sit in the darkness allowing all the sadness cuando nadie me ve I can be or not be I can give or not give I don't have to do a thing I don't have to say a word Cuando nadie me ve I don’t have to be solid I don’t have to be strength I don’t have to heal it I don’t have to fix it Cuando nadie me ve I can just BE I can be still and know I can give it ALL TO ME thank you for holding me Cuando nadie me ve… Cuando nadie me ve... puedo ser o no ser...
no quiero que nadie me veya!
Thank you Nina Pastori... por tu voz... por estar conmigo hoy.
Help me to be OPEN to all the success that is coming to me and help me to be HAPPY for the success of others.
Creator, PROVIDE me with opportunities to be surrounded by LOVE and help me to ATTRACT gentle people and gentle experiences that are for my HIGHEST good.
As I stand in my TRUTH I will ARRIVE to COMPLETION with each project.
March 3rd ~ Saturday @ 6:30pm Syracuse University~ Keynote Address Women's History Month Event Syracuse, NY
March 10th ~ Saturday DOTR~ Private Event Harlem, NY
March 15th ~ Thursday @ 12:00pm - 2pm Bronx Community College ~ Memoir Workshop Bronx, NY
March 15th - 19th~ Ft. Lauderdale, FL
March 20th ~ Tuesday @ 6:00pm Sankofa Sisterhood Hue-Man Bookstore Women's History Month Event New York, NY
March 22nd ~ Thursday @ 3pm - 6pm Bronx Community College ~ Night of the Arts: Expressions Evening of live music, art, spoken word, film and inspiration!!! Bronx, NY
March 23rd ~ 25th University at Albany NLCC Women's History Month Event Albany, NY
March 26th ~ 28th Haverford College~ Afrolatinos Workshops Visiting two classes: Modern Latin America Course and Violence and Healthcare Afrolatinos screening and discussion 4:30pm - 6:00pm 370 Hannum Drive Ardmore, PA
March 31st ~ Saturday SUNY New Paltz ~ Latin American Student Union Banquet 1 Hawk Drive New Paltz, NY 12561
Hue-Man Bookstore and the (NYCLWG) New York City Latina Writer's Group present a special event celebrating the:
SANKOFA SISTERHOOD ~
“SANKOFA means going back for something you forgot in order to build for the future.”
Hosted by Maria Rodriguez, Facilitator (NYCLWG), Poet & Writer
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, March 20th Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm Reception to follow
Cost: FREE
VENUE:
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe. 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd. (Between 124th and 125th Streets). New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-665-7400
We are paying tribute to women of color who are doing inspirational work in the community.
There will be a panel discussion moderated by Alicia Anabel Santos, Founder of the NYC Latina Writers Group & Author of Finding Your Force A Journey to Love~
Also, there will be featured poets performing pieces that touch on issues that currently face women, stereotypes of women in the media today, effects of abuse, ideas of sisterhood, struggle, shared history and responsibility, and what the future holds for us.
What will our legacy be?
How will this generation of women be remembered?
Featured Poets:
Rich Villar, Poet, Writer, & Executive Director of Acentos J.F. Seary, Poet, Actor, Educator Christopher Chilo Cajigas from El Grito de Poetas, Poet, Musician, Educator Nancy Arroyo Ruffin, Facilitator (NYCLWG), Author of Welcome to Heartbreak
Special Performance: A-Lyric
PANELISTS:
Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Author of Conversations With My Skin Latanya DeVaughn, Educator & Community Activist Gloria Rodriquez, Author of You Are More than Good Enough Aisha Sidibe, Poetry Editor of the Thesis. Literary Magazine
We look forward to an amazing evening and powerful conversation!!!
As grateful as I am for having received the blessing and honor of speaking at Syracuse University last night. I am even more grateful for the young women and men who I got to speak with, the many that approached me, locking eyes with so many powerful people. The NEXT GENERATION! I am so very proud of them... it wasn't just Syracuse students who attended.. so many schools came out to support, students who have graduated, faculty and staff... THANK YOU SYRACUSE...AND THANK YOU STEPHANIE...
WITHOUT LIMITS: A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT! by Alicia Anabel Santos Saturday, March 3, 2012 @ 8:30PM Syracuse University
WITHOUT LIMITS: A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT!
Women’s History Month Banquet
Syracuse University ~ Saturday, March 3, 2012
Prayer… I offer this speech to every woman I have ever met… in love and solidarity…
OPENING REMARKS
Good evening Syracuse University! I am so exited to be here! I am humbled, honored and so very grateful to have been chosen to deliver the keynote address at the First Annual Women’s History Month Banquet!
I am excited and proud to be standing in this room with women of all colors and with the men who support us. I am thrilled because I know that in this moment I am doing exactly what I was born to do… and that is share MY story with you…
I would like to thank the following: Stephanie Marie Puente for being my point of contact for this beautiful event… big UPS! To… MU Sigma Upsilon Sorority, DELTA Sigma Theta Sorority, Chi Upsilon Sigma Sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority. Thank you ALL for hosting and attending such an amazing event, in which we are celebrating and honoring notable women.
Because I KNOW she didn’t think that I would begin this speech without recognizing her… I would like to send a special shout out to my beautiful daughter Courtniana, who is in her second year here at Syracuse… Stand up girl!!! So tonight is incredibly special to me!
In meditation I asked my creator to use me~ to help me find the right words to share with you today. I asked for clear messages for the women (and men) I would be standing before. I asked: what would you have me speak?
And the voice of my creator ---- sounded a lot like Snookie… from Jersey Shore… And then messages came to me from the entire cast of Basketball Wives with a side of Sixteen and Pregnant…
All jokes aside… lets talk about WOMEN and how we see ourselves.
I started thinking about these reality shows… and the women they claim to represent… the stereotypes these womyn are living up to… I am not going to lie – I love me some BigAng from Mob Wives… yet these negative portrayals of women on reality TV and in videos are doing nothing for advancing women or gaining the respect of society.
“A woman reading Playboy… feels a little like… a Jew reading a Nazi manual.” ~Gloria Steinem
Why are we celebrating in the dysfunction and breakdown of the female relationship?
These shows that focus mostly on - - how women need men, how they are nothing without men, the latest fashion and glorifying the use of drugs, sex and alcohol. Why are we enjoying seeing women hitting each other, pitted against one another and speaking poorly about women behind closed doors? Perpetuating these stereotypes of… the loud, unstable, dramatic woman… that are extremely negative and damaging to our self-image.
How do we SEE ourselves? What would your sisters say about you? How do you show up in the world? Do you lift each other or beat each other down? How do you want to be remembered? Are you supportive or are you selfish?
Women’s History Month is a month to celebrate all of the womyn who have done incredible things and who are making things happen. It is a month to celebrate the women who have done something right!
But there is still so much that is incredibly wrong.
Women are fighting for scraps… fighting for leftover crumbs at the kitchen table… we as women are consumed with a fear that if we share with our sisters our resources or our ideas… that she might get there first… that she might get there before us… that she will steal it from us… that if she has it… then we will never get it… because there isn’t enough for all of us?
This is us -- Not really -- being happy for the success of our sisters… this is us not celebrating in each others achievements… quietly wishing that she’d just trip and fall already… competing for scraps. And this thinking is destroying the Sisterhood…
This is what I like to call LIMITATION --- at its finest!
What would it look like to be UNLIMITED? What if … we really believed that we could have what we want? Women without limits! Releasing the limits that we allow society to place on us, releasing the limits that family places on us, releasing the limits that teachers, authority figures, and the media places on us –and the most deadly of all -- releasing the limitations that we as women place on our selves… and each other.
I know this subject well because I too am guilty of having held onto limited thinking… there was a moment in my life where I didn’t believe in myself and in my abilities. I constantly found myself comparing myself to different women… celebrities, famous writers … convincing myself that I would never be as good as any of them and so why bother trying? I would constantly find ways to criticize them and speak badly about myself.
This poverty thinking was preventing me from having the very thing that I wanted… SUCCESS… SISTERHOOD.. COMMUNITY… I had allowed all the doubt and all the fear from my childhood… to paralyze me… yet after I discovered my life purpose… I founded the NYC Latina Writer’s group, I began to publish articles, I became a filmmaker writing for a documentary, I wrote and directed my first play and most recently I published my first book … a memoir~
We don’t have to fear another woman’s power… we don’t have to fear -- OUR OWN ---- POWER!
BE LIMITLESS! BE FEARLESS! BE FIERCE!
LIVE WITHOUT LIMITS and at the same time… do not limit others… believe in infinite possibilities…
We must stop comparing ourselves to others… there is no one competing for the greatness that is YOU!
As long as we are jealous of other women… we will never have what is meant for us. Jealousy is really fear… we are afraid of how great we really are. Stop being afraid! FEAR… how do we handle fear…? The minister at my church, Rodney McKenzie says, that FEAR is just a question… you are being asked… what do you believe to be the TRUTH about YOU? Fear is a challenge that asks us… What do I believe to be the truth about myself in this moment?
DO YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT? And he says, that the only answer acceptable to FEAR is YES! And I would add a hell yes… I CAN DO IT!
Fear appears to show you that you are on the right track… fearing our capacity… fearing our BIGNESS… fearing our greatness… we can choose to BREATHE… and move forward anyway.
I was having tea with a dear friend, also a writer and brilliant poet, Peggy Robles Alvarado… Author of Conversations With My Skin … I was telling her about certain friendships with women that have ended surrounding this idea of LIMITING THOUGHTS, me feeling like they were somehow keeping me from something that was meant for me … women in my life who are holding onto scraps… that if they shared with me they would be left on empty… she calls this a DEFECIT Mentality~
Women who will get to the top by any means necessary – even if that means disloyalty, betrayal and deceit… topped with –– competiveness, cattiness, jealousy and envy… Peggy reminded me that we are conditioned at birth to be competitive with one another… learning from our mothers… cuidado con ella…
Cuidao con esa / watch out for her Cuidado con lo que tu le dice a esa / be careful what you say to her Esa te envidia / she envies you Esa te sela / she’s just jealous of you Esa no es tu amiga / she’s not your friend…
We were groomed at early ages that we shouldn’t trust women because they are likely to betray us… and that women are the enemy they are our COMPETITION… what if competition is only our heads? And LIMITATION --- is precisely that… LIMITING what is in our heads…
WHY…. would we keep to ourselves --- that which could benefit others?
We must trust and know…. That …
THERE IS NO COMPETITION FOR WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THERE IS NO COMPETITION FOR WHAT YOU ARE DESTINED TO BE! THERE IS NO COMPETITION FOR WHAT IS MEANT TO BE YOURS.
What destroys solidarity? Fear destroys solidarity
We must be happy for each others successes… we must encourage each others arrival… we must be supportive of each other and want the very best for one another – that’s how we will achieve our own greatness… that’s how we’ll arrive at our fullest most greatest potential.
This is how we arrive at completion… realizing our personal visions -- living our life purpose -- reaching our personal legends. A CONSTANT KNOWING - - THAT IT IS OURS!
There was a woman in my life that was a force… together it felt like we could take over the world ~ we were creative partners… however, things started changing and shifting… the work we were doing as a group seemed to be manifesting into this… “It’s all about me attitude! This…. I’ma do me… Mentality,” and so, I released her…
We parted ways… and months later we ran into each other… she wanted to know – What was up with me? Why was it so easy for me to walk away from our partnership… why was I choosing the work I was doing for the group over our friendship… and then she said something that has always stayed with me...
“I feel like you’re always trying to one up me! Like it’s a competition!”
Internally, I laughed… I wanted to say to her, “you ain’t… my competition!”
But I understood - - that she might not take it the way I had intended.
What I was feeling - - and what I know to be true …. is that I HAVE NO COMPETITION! I just don’t!
I don’t have to worry about someone else publishing a memoir before me… I am not concerned about someone else’s play getting to Broadway before mine --- or that another movie will receive an Oscar before me…
When the women in my circle… the NYCLWG… my sisters … and women in society on whole… reach any level of success - I can be crazy happy for them. I am happy for people I don’t even know. I live by the universal truth as taught to me by my mother, “lo que es para ti, nadie te lo quita!” that what is meant for you no one can take from you.
So I’m not concerned… because I KNOW that I have no competition for what I was born to do. My gifts are mine…my gifts are to be shared… my gifts are for my daughter and now my gifts are for the world. So we can let go of that POVERTY MENTALITY and get to the business of truly SUPPORTING one another and serving others.
When I was invited to speak today… I wasn’t sure what I was going to talk about… and then I received an email from Stephanie that the organizations wanted me to speak to Sisterhood and Solidarity… a subject I know all to well… in fact I have a chapter in my memoir, FINDING YOUR FORCE A JOURNEY TO LOVE, titled: Solidarity and this Idea of Sisterhood… here’s an excerpt…
I was thinking about the people in my life who are the closest to me. Who are the people in my inner circle? Who are my confidantes? Who are the people I can count on when I am in a jam? Who picks me up when I am down? Who do I trust with my life story? Who do I trust with my life? Who do I trust with you? I was at a friend’s house—a woman who is definitely in my front row. I was resting on her bed and something made me get up to read affirmations on her board… I came across this beautiful quote:
“Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to: Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill? When you leave certain people, do you feel better or do you feel worse?” by MELANIE Kissel
How do you decide who sits in your inner circle? Who do you hold in your SISTERHOOD?
The people in my TRUE circle want nothing from me but what I am willing to share. They take me as I am. How do we pick who’s allowed in our inner circle? Who do we allow in OUR sisterhood?
I think for me there is one constant. The deciding factor is… do you come in LOVE? I am less concerned with having an EXCLUSIVE inner circle with only the SELECT few who make the cut automatically, solely because we share a bloodline. I have met people recently that I love deeply.
While I do have a small circle of people I go to FIRST. I am more inclined these days to have a circle of LOVE.
In NYC, I was searching for sisterhood and solidarity.
SOLIDARITY is a union or fellowship built from common responsibilities and shared interests between groups of people.
SISTERHOOD is an association of women for a common cause.
A COMMON CAUSE… I was looking for unity within my community of women. I wanted a sense of oneness in my connections.
Can we be in a sisterhood --- strive for solidarity and still be respected for our differences…? OR… will we be forced to be clones of one another?
In a Sisterhood, individuality should be celebrated, while maintaining this COMMON CAUSE… You certainly should be who you were meant to be… without limitations… In a keynote, delivered by Gloria Steinem, in 2009, titled, Connecting Across the Generations, she says:
“… to learn from difference, and at the same time, in perfect balance with difference, understand that we are all human in a universal sense. We live in a world of either/or. So it is about shared humanity in perfect balance with difference.”
Shared humanity in perfect balance with difference…
When we think of our family members… are we exactly like each other…? When we consider what SOLIDARITY and SISTERHOOD looks like and feel like for us… we must acknowledge that there are in fact differences. WE ARE DIFFERENT…! Yet from our differences we have an opportunity to learn.
Creating safe places for the Sisterhood is about Expanding and Learning from one another… We spend so much time focusing and debating about how things shouldn’t be different… that we should all be the same… putting us all in these boxes: black, white, Latina, lesbian, hetero, middle-class, lower-class, male and female… we are being challenged to learn from our differences. To expand our beliefs… And be the change that we want.
WE ARE DIFFERENT!!! We come from different backgrounds, races, religions, politics, traditions and cultures… but what we do have in common is our FEMININE ESSENCE… the essence of who we are… the power of being a woman! THIS… this power that I am talking about - - is universal… we ALL have it!
Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg says, “Woman are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world, (190) heads of state NINE are women. Of all the people in parliament in the world, (13%) are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top -- C level jobs, in board seats -- tops off at 16% and the numbers haven’t moved since 2002.”
How will we change these numbers? What will we leave behind? How will the women of this generation be remembered? What do we want the world to know about who WOMEN really are? What do we care about?
I don’t know about you… but I want the world to know how strong WE are, how we don’t have to choose between career and personal life – we can have BOTH… How we survive! Living in a culture and society that still pays women less than men… where there aren’t enough women in leadership roles… Living in a culture and society that hasn’t always embraced us unless we are star baseball players from la Republica Dominicana or a Puerto Rican actress from the Bronx, unless we are celebrities in rehab, ex wives of athletes – unless we are entertaining you while humiliating and degrading ourselves!!!
While I am proud of the success of all women and all immigrants who have come to this country… I am more proud of our mothers! For it is through their eyes… their stories of survival and struggle arriving to a country that did not welcome them I have learned how to be strong and stand up for what I believe in - - to stand up for the invisible… to stand up for the silent.
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?
Why are you here? What are you here to do?
I think in answering these questions it will move you to having a CLEAR VISION… and finally discovering what our true purpose is.. How do we do this… how do we know what that is?
I have an EXERCISE (on piece of paper) answer these questions… (1.) If I could do anything / be anything – no limits… money was not an issue… I would be? Turn paper over (2.) What would I need to do/be to get there? (this is for you… now you have a vision you can begin taking steps towards!!!)
I started thinking about what kind of woman I wanted to be and what legacy I would leave behind for women, only after 2001, on September 11th to be exact. I realized that at any moment my life could be over. And at the same time it frightened me. Not just the thought that my life could be over – the idea that my daughter Courtney, would never know me. I was frightened that she would not know the truth about me – afraid that she wouldn’t know where I've been and all I have been through. I was afraid that she wouldn't know that I am a survivor – that I am a warrior – that I come from a line of warrior women… generations of strong Latinas – women who are mixed with African, Indigenous and Spanish blood. I finally understood what my life purpose was. What I was born to be!!! I was 30 years old and knew that MY LEGACY was to document my life story for my daughter through a memoir – but that wasn’t just it.
I was being called to not just write MY story but to write OUR stories. To tell the stories of survival and tremendous contributions of our women. The likes of Haitian/Dominican activist Sonia Pierre, Mexican Activist, Dolores Huerta, and Colombian Revolutionary, La Pola… Chilean Writer, Isabel Allende, Activist and legend, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, Sonia Sotomayor, and Eva Peron… discovering my purpose has taken me all over Latin America, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Haiti, Republica Dominicana, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Honduras and Guatemala just to name a few… during my travels, I have learned that our women are screaming to be heard, women want to have a voice – and we are living in a society where we have been blessed with so many movements…. YET!!! - ---- We aren’t moving…
One of the most important lessons I can leave with you today is this… This is an opportunity for you to grow into who you were born to BE… and IT IS scary—fear is a very real emotion.. but when we can learn to let go of the old story we tell ourselves… those self-sabotaging thoughts telling us we can’t do it… or that we’re not good enough, pretty enough, white enough, strong enough, manly enough or smart enough.
When we let go of competing with each other… staying trapped in a mental deficit of limitation… when we can let go of all of this… there is an opportunity for us to make another choice… WE CAN CHOOSE to move forward anyway! In spite of fear… We must know what is at the core of us… we must believe in the truth of who we are… that we are ENTITLED to the life that we want… this is where true power lies… I AM ENTITLED TO IT!!! Repeat after me!!!! I AM ENTITLED TO IT!!! I am entitled to everything that I want… I am entitled to all that is coming for me… (ain’t no stopping us now…. we’re on the move…)
We are at the end of a cycle... We must stop playing small to make others feel comfortable. We must release limiting thoughts of what we are capable of! It’s old and its tired… It’s TIME! Call forth what you want for your life! Call forth who you really are! Call forth a Sisterhood that honors and supports you in achieving all you are meant to be! As you grow into the fullness of who you were destined to become… encourage others to grow with you… take your sisters by the hand and move forward… KEEP MOVING!
I keep wondering… Where are the movements? How do movements even happen? There was a time when women were not allowed to speak… we were not allowed to have an opinion… we did not have access to education…
THEN…. women gathered, worked together and unified for one goal.. THE ORIGINAL SISTERHOOD!!!! They gathered for the benefit of the ENTIRE group… ONE COMMON CAUSE!!! All-personal agendas aside… this is what a Sisterhood is…this is what Solidarity looks like.
IT CAN NEVER BE ABOUT YOURSELF… IT HAS TO BE ABOUT OTHERS… you have a responsibility to serve…
I attended an author reading and this was one of my favorite quotes… "The voices we need are so utterly absent, totally and completely missing… anybody who writes anything is writing a F…….’g revolution." ~ Junot Diaz
Start a F…..’g revolution! Those words have always stayed with me. The Pulitzer Prize winning writer spent two hours talking about the stories that haven’t been written and that are so very necessary. It made me look at what this silence means to me and how it has shown up in my life. Junot really inspired me to change how I see myself as a writer. I began taking self-inventory and created new ways of seeing myself as a woman and the words I put onto the page.
Junot talked about the many reasons people are silenced and about the NEED to have our stories told. He stressed that the only people who can tell our stories are YOU and I! This generation is filled with a bunch of cowards and I’m being nice here with my language—the word I’m thinking about starts with the letter “P”. No one stands up for anything. Most people are hiding behind laptops and social networking sites. Where are the demonstrations? Where are the great speakers and leaders? Where is the Sisterhood?
Where are the groups of people coming together working towards having their voices heard? Where is our generation of Freedom Riders, Mirabal Sisters, Suffragist Movements, LGBT Movements, Black Panthers, Martin Luther Kings, Harriet Tubman’s, more Oprah’s, Malcolm X’s, Young Lords, Dahli Lama’s and Mandela’s? Where are the Feminist Movements, Civil Rights Movements, Chicano Movements and Afrolatino movements of OUR time?
“The voices we need are so utterly absent and completely missing…”
At all the schools I visit I end with a talk on the “Responsibility to Serve.” I like to remind college students that YOU owe our countries, our people, society, and the world something for the education YOU receive. I must remind you of the sacrifices that our families made to get here. As you begin YOUR journey know that you have a responsibility to serve.
I have spent the majority of my life thinking about the ways my voice has been silenced? All the ways I have kept myself quiet. The many ways I have limited myself. I think you have a great opportunity over the next few years at Syracuse to FIND YOUR FORCE… to FIND YOUR VOICE… to become WOMEN WITHOUT LIMITS! You are ENTITLED TO IT! So let’s find it together! In Sisterhood & Solidarity! THANK YOU!
Women's History Month is my favorite month of the year! Of course I love being a woman everyday of every year... but this is one month when we get to acknowledge all the tremendous work that has been done and that is being done by the women of past generations and present.
I am incredibly honored to be delivering the Keynote Address at Syracuse University during Women's History Month.
Keynote title: WITHOUT LIMITS: A WOMEN'S MOVEMENT!
Themes I will be speaking on the limitations we as women place on ourselves, stereotypes, sisterhood and solidarity... and what it all means.
Join us on Saturday, March 3, 2012, Time: 6:30PM, at the Schine Underground for the 1st Women’s History Month Banquet presented by the women of:
Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Chi Upsilon Sigma Sorority, Inc. Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority, Inc.
The Women’s History Month Kick-off Banquet is a 1st time collaboration between 4 sororities from each Greek council.
My Sister’s Keeper—Celebrating and Appreciating the Experiences of Being a Woman Banquet will be a night where we shed light on the fact that through diversity there is strength and through unity there is power.
Join us in celebrating the history of women, their struggles, triumphs and how their actions have given us the luxury of living a life with rights and furthermore blessed by their achievements.
The night will include delicious catering, student performances, and a keynote speaker, Alicia Anabel Santos. Also we will have fun and engaging activities for the attendants of the night.
This is a formal event.
DOORS OPEN: 6:30pm EVENT STARTS: 7:00pm
SU students: $ 8.00 Non-SU/Faculty & Staff: $10.00
Por demasiado tiempo los medios de comunicación han encontrado formas de explotar a las personas. Para promover un cierto ángulo por obtener sus beneficios personales y agendas. Este ha sido algunos de los desafíos que nosotros (el equipo documental de Afrolatinos) ha tenido que enfrentar durante la filmación de la historia de Afrolatinos.
Nosotros públicamente rechazamos el uso irresponsable del término Afro-Latinos, por conocidos establecimientos respetado de los medios de comunicación como la revista LATINA.
Ejemplo uno: Nicole Richie fue adoptada por Lionel Richie, eso solo no la convierte en ser una Afrolatina.
Por qué ... Si sucede a ser de los padres que (uno de los padres) es afroamericano y el (y el otro), es peruano ... esto solo no significa que automáticamente sea Afrolatino. El pariente peruano tendría que ser descendiente de africanos, es decir. Afro-Peruana. Si usted es Afro Americano y Latino no eres Afrolatino.
Si sus padres biológicos (uno de ellos) son descendientes de los esclavos africanos, ahorra si es una Afrolatina.
Ejemplo dos: Gloria es mitad mexicana y mitad afroamericana - a menos que su pariente sea una Afro-mexicana, ella es mitad Afroamericana y la otra mitad Latina.
Simplemente usando el termino Afrolatino en un entorno irresponsable disminuye el trabajo que se está haciendo. Esto desacredita el trabajo de aquellos que han estado defendiendo esta causa desde hace muchos años ... luchando por la representación ... personas que han dedicado sus vidas enteras al estudio y la garantía de que las historias de Afrolatinos sea contada.
AfroLatinos no es algo que se debiera usar como si fuera de “moda”. No se trata simplemente de ricos y famosos de Hollywood.
Afrolatinos: 101 (lo que es y lo que no lo es)
¿Lo qué es ...
Por definición ... Afrolatinos son los descendientes de los esclavos africanos que llegaron a América Latina. Estos son descendientes AFROLATINOS.
TERMINOS (por efectos de mi carta ... no estamos discutiendo los constructos sociales o problemas raciales ... esto no se trata de color ... esto se trata de educación)
Latinos / Hispanos: Hispanos o Latinos son los estadounidenses con origen en países de habla hispana.
*Nota al margen ... en América Latina no usamos el término latino ... los colombianos son Colombiano, los dominicanos son Dominicano, y los puertorriqueños son Puerto Riqueno ... y así sucesivamente ... se identifican por el país de donde son. El termino latino ni siquiera se aplica aquí. Y la mayoría de la gente ... pregunta que si somos latinos "habla latin!"
Afroamericano: es un americano (de los Estados Unidos), que es de descendencia africana ... va de la mano con lo que significa ser considerado *Negro en esta nación.
* Nota: Negro en este caso no significa un color ... aquí estamos hablando de una comunidad de personas, en los Estados Unidos que son de ascendencia africana que se identifican como Negro.
Diáspora Africana: este termino viene del movimiento de esclavos con la trata Trans-Atlántica de esclavos africanos que fueron llevados y se dispersaron por todo el mundo.
Aquí … lo que estamos hablando es que debieramos estar incluidos en la mesa - todos los continentes son parte de la diáspora africana! Dondequiera que los esclavos fueron llevados, sigue habiendo descendientes de los africanos! Y son afrodescendientes!
En una conferencia sobre la raza en Durban, Sudáfrica ... se decidió que el término políticamente correcto debe ser afrodescendientes (que no debiera existir terminos como.. Afroamericano o como Afrolatino) simplemente afrodescendientes.
Creo que podemos llegar hasta allí. Pero no podemos ignorar que hay grupos y que son diferentes. No podemos ignorar que la segregación sigue existiendo ... y no es tan simple como agrupar a todos juntos ... nos estamos moviendo a este lugar.
Así que por ahora ... para el propósito de este proyecto muy importante y el movimiento de los AFROLATINOS, nuestro objetivo es poner en primer plano las historias que no fueron contados.
Creemos que mucho mas trabajo tiene que suceder AHORA y vamos a seguir informando y educando. Sabemos que será un instrumento muy util unir a los afro-americanos y africanos para llevar este tema a la mesa e iniciar el cambio.
¿Por qué es importante esto?
Ya no podemos aceptar ser excluidos. Ya no podemos quedarnos quietos y permitir a nuestra gente permanecer invisibles. Estamos hablando de mas de 150 millones / 150.000.000 MILLONES de afrodescendientes que actualmente existen en América Latina, y no vamos a permitir que esta comunidad siguen siendo representado incorrectamente y utilizado como una especie de símbolo.
Afrolatinos existen .. siempre han existido. No son sólo los 50 personas bella de la revista LATINA.
Ellos son los primeros 150 millones que hoy en dia son las personas en América Latina que han sido marginados, más discriminados ... ellos son los descendientes de africanos esclavizados en América Latina ... son el legado de un pueblo que fueron traídos a nuestros países y que han contribuido con una tremenda cantidad a lo que somos como latinos hoy en día.
El movimiento Afrolatino es algo más que una moda!
Este es un llamado a la ACCION!
Esta es una exigencia de que la historia de los Afrolatinos se cuenten!
LATINA Magazine, es nuestra esperanza de que ustedes comienzan a servir a la comunidad que tienen por objeto alcanzar y, al hacerlo, usar términos y contar historias que son la verdad de quien somos como comunidad y como pueblo.
En solidaridad ~
Alicia Anabel Santos, Escritora / Co-Productora, Renzo Devia, Director / Productor Ejecutivo y el Equipo Afrolatinos
