Thankful for Positive Feminist Role Models by Juliana Aragón Fatula
Thankful
for Positive Feminist Role Models.
My s-hero, Gloria Anzaldúa, one of the great icons of Latina Feminist Queer Theory Literature said, “A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.” My tía Emma Aragón Medina was my feminist role model and I know she would be proud of the educator I’ve become. I wrote this poem to thank her.
There are two roads going nowhere, going somewhere
Some of us get lost in the dark with no guide
Some of us follow the way of the ones before us
who travelled the path and found the way
My tía goes to the University every day to become a teacher
I watch her grab her books, purse, head out the door, to catch her ride to Pueblo.
I love writing. It is my sweet
medicine. Whenever life gets too heavy, or to light. When I feel like I’m going
to stop breathing if I don’t sit down and write. When I can’t sleep at night
because I must write. That’s when I’m happiest.
I love to read, and
if you want to become a great writer, you must first be a book lover. I found
my unique voice from studying great writers I admire: Sandra Cisneros, Lorna
Dee Cervantes, Sherman Alexie, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Shakespeare. But the
feminist role models in my life molded me into the strong woman I am today.
if you want to become a great writer, you must first be a book lover. I found
my unique voice from studying great writers I admire: Sandra Cisneros, Lorna
Dee Cervantes, Sherman Alexie, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Shakespeare. But the
feminist role models in my life molded me into the strong woman I am today.
I’m a performance
artist, a teacher, a writer, and a poet. I’ve published two poetry books and a
chap book. I’ve performed in schools,
nursing homes, coffee shops, book stores, libraries, the Colorado Governor’s Mansion, Universities, in Colorado
and Utah; also for Hispanic Awareness Month for the Department of Defense I
told my stories in Sicily, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, los Azores, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Camp Doho, Dubai, Abu Dhabi; and I’ve
written a couple of children’s plays that were produced at local schools. I edited an anthology for the Pueblo School of Arts and Sciences, I
co-directed the Denver Indian Thespians; and I spent a decade with Su Teatro in
Denver learning about my history, culture, language and people.
artist, a teacher, a writer, and a poet. I’ve published two poetry books and a
chap book. I’ve performed in schools,
nursing homes, coffee shops, book stores, libraries, the Colorado Governor’s Mansion, Universities, in Colorado
and Utah; also for Hispanic Awareness Month for the Department of Defense I
told my stories in Sicily, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, los Azores, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Camp Doho, Dubai, Abu Dhabi; and I’ve
written a couple of children’s plays that were produced at local schools. I edited an anthology for the Pueblo School of Arts and Sciences, I
co-directed the Denver Indian Thespians; and I spent a decade with Su Teatro in
Denver learning about my history, culture, language and people.
I’m an artist.
I need music, drums, dancing, shouting. I treat writing like a sport. When I
teach writing workshops, we chant and cheer. We get in a huddle and put our
hands in the center and yell, “Uno, dos, tres! Write! Write! Write! We sing Bob
Marley’s Three Little Birds, everything gonna be alright and stomp
and clap to I’m a poet and I know it and
I’m gonna’ do the write thang!”
I need music, drums, dancing, shouting. I treat writing like a sport. When I
teach writing workshops, we chant and cheer. We get in a huddle and put our
hands in the center and yell, “Uno, dos, tres! Write! Write! Write! We sing Bob
Marley’s Three Little Birds, everything gonna be alright and stomp
and clap to I’m a poet and I know it and
I’m gonna’ do the write thang!”
My
students ask for advice, or send me poems they wrote. Now they are seniors in high school and freshmen
in college and remember the Chicano History and feminist literature that I
shared with them. I teach my students to think about social
justice, global culture and language, When I was a child, there was no celebration of Chicano
History, Black History, no writers of color in the books I read.
students ask for advice, or send me poems they wrote. Now they are seniors in high school and freshmen
in college and remember the Chicano History and feminist literature that I
shared with them. I teach my students to think about social
justice, global culture and language, When I was a child, there was no celebration of Chicano
History, Black History, no writers of color in the books I read.
The first time I
walked into the public library and saw the rows and rows of books, I felt perplexed.
Who wrote all these books? I was determined to write a book and my name would sit on
those shelves in this library along with Shakespeare, Whitman, Plath, Woolf.
walked into the public library and saw the rows and rows of books, I felt perplexed.
Who wrote all these books? I was determined to write a book and my name would sit on
those shelves in this library along with Shakespeare, Whitman, Plath, Woolf.
I’m a
writer; I’m going to write until someone tells me to shut the pharmacy and back
door. I want you to laugh and cry when you read my words. I want to zap your
brains with sweet memories and love.
writer; I’m going to write until someone tells me to shut the pharmacy and back
door. I want you to laugh and cry when you read my words. I want to zap your
brains with sweet memories and love.
