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Day 30: A Letter to My Escritoras, Hermanitas

This letter is inspired by, "Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women Writers," composed by Gloria Anzaldúa


October 15, 2024


Queridas Escritoras, hermanitas, my inspiration, 


I sit here at the coffee shop, decorated for spooky season, enjoying an iced coffee, with extra ice, and caramel. Music plays, providing a calming feeling, as people come in and out for coffee and snacks, and others lounge and work. 


This is the first time in a long while that I have had time to sit, and write. Every day, every week, I try to make a schedule for my daily writing, and life is always happening. My responsibilities as a mother, daughter, wife, teacher, professor…all the responsibilities and deadlines. 


Finally, sitting down to write, I find myself thinking about la madrina, Gloria Anzaldúa, and that letter she penned to us, “Speaking in Tongues: A letter to third world women writers,” all those years ago.


In her letter, she wrote to us about the importance of writing for our experiences, the necessity of making time and space for our writing, and the power of a woman who writes stating, “A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.” She urged us to embrace our voices, experience, and identities - for that is our strength. 


In the spirit of Gloria Anzaldúa, I write this letter to you, escritoras, hermanitas, a love letter, to remind you of your power as writers, storytellers, creators, and truth tellers. 


No one can compose your story the way that you can, do not be afraid to write your lives from your heart. You are uniquely situated to tell your story - your truth - and your story and words can and will change the world. 


Your voice is powerful and important. Do not let folks silence you or dim your light. Your voice will resonate with your sisters, with fellow escritoras, as we compose and create together to challenge society’s stereotypes, and dismantle harmful structures, to create something new, and beautiful. 


Like, la madrina, la Gloria, I encourage you to share your ideas and unique perspectives with the world. Do not doubt yourself, do not question yourself - every word, poem, narrative - is a work of art that will add to the story and definitions we are creating of ourselves, our families, and our communities. 


As Latina girls and women, we are the fastest growing population - and we must advocate for a world where we can thrive, learn our histories, sustain our languages, control our bodies and destinies, and where we are all free.


Over the past nine years, and most recently the last 30 days, I have been inspired by your writing and art, the gifts from your pens that you have put into the world. In reading your writing for our inaugural Latina Luminaries blog series, I am inspired and restored by your words, ideas, and perspectives. 


In la lucha, and in our writing, we are not alone, we have a community of writers, who have paved the way for us, and you are carrying the torch, for the present, and for future generations of escritoras, hermanas. Together, we write in the legacy of our ancestors, and our words are creating a world, where one day the voices of all mujeres will be heard and valued. 


Write your truth. Seek justice. Make time and space to write. Don’t let others silence you. Be proud of your identities. Support other escritoras, hermanas. Create, create, and then create some more. And, know you are not alone - you come from strength, resilience, courage, joy, and love.


Love to you escritoras, hermanas,


Dra. Flores


About the Author

Dr. Tracey Flores,  Associate professor of Language and Literacy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin

 Dr. Flores is a former English Language Development (ELD) and English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, working for eight years alongside culturally and linguistically diverse students, families, and communities in K-8 schools throughout Glendale and Phoenix, Arizona. Her research focuses on Latina mothers and daughters' language and literacy practices, teaching young writers in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, and family and community literacies.


Dr. Flores is the founder of Somos Escritoras/We Are Writers, a creative space for Latina girls (grades 6-12) that invites them to share and perform stories from their lived experiences using art, theater, and writing as a tool for reflection, examination, and critique of their worlds. She believes in the transformative power of reading and writing to change lives, help us understand our experiences, imagine our futures, build community, and heal.


 

About the Blog Series

The #LatinaLuminaries Blog Series by Somos Escritoras. The series was created to illuminate the wisdom, experiences, voices, and truths of Latina women and girls and the broader Latinx community. The blog series features writing from escritoras (participants) and writing mentors from Somos Escritoras Latinx Writing Workshop. Published Latina authors, writers, poets, and illustrators who presented at our workshop also contributed to the blog series.



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Thank you for reading.

This blog post features writing from our founder, our escritoras (participants/ alumni), writing mentors and more.

Click below to learn more about Somos Escritoras.

Somos Escritoras Writing Workshop for Girls
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