Make Visible and Audible Your Stories and Perspectives

“I am an artist. And as an artist, I believe that my greatest creative project is to imagine something, something better, where our dreams matter, where as a people we are free.”  from Your Healing is Killing Me written by Virginia Grise  

At Somos Escritoras, we believe in the power of our voices and stories to raise consciousness and change the world.  We believe it is our duty to imagine and (re)imagine the future, to work in the legacy of our ancestors, and the Women and Men of Color who came before us, whose writing and art has laid the foundation for our own voices – for today, tomorrow, and the future. 

On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling which protects a women’s right to privacy including the right to choose a safe and legal abortion – the right to bodily autonomy -  the right to choose what to do with her body, to make choices about her health. Roe v Wade expanded the possibilities for women to decide their future as women and as mothers if they choose.  

Within hours of the decision, healthcare providers, clinics, and other family planning organizations ceased services to fully understand the ramifications of the rulings. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade - is another effort to further control, silence, and subordinate girls and women with far-reaching implications for our communities, Women of Color, Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Transgender, and other vulnerable individuals – our liberties and autonomy to live freely in our bodies and the world.   

Escritoras, as you watch the news, take to social media, walk into the streets in protest, you may be feeling many emotions – sadness, rage, anger, hopelessness. These are our bodies responding to the unknown, to the questions we are carrying with us, and the new realities that we are facing. Know that you are not alone, we are not alone. Feel these emotions, sit with these emotions – and move them forward to action-oriented solutions.  

To be an escritora means to be an observer of your life and the world around you, and to document what you witness and experience. It means to speak your truth, and bravely stand alongside others advocating for a more just world. It means to make visible and audible our stories and perspectives in order to dismantle false narratives by composing without apology to construct new narratives, new worlds, and endless possibilities.