“She [my mother] wasn’t like a traditional activist, but I remember her – I’m the youngest of three girls – telling us we were her macha Chicana women. Basically – you can stand up for yourselves; you can do whatever you want. Now that I reflect back and think about it – you know, I’ve had the opportunity to take part in all of these mind-body technologies, thinking more about generative work, somatic work. I think then she was teaching us – which is really important – a way of creating dignity outside of whiteness. So our dignity was related to our place, our identity, ourselves. But it didn’t require imposing that on other people. So it wasn’t like – take up space because your voice is more important than others. It was like – make sure people know your values.”
