Status Updates From For Brown Girls with Sharp ...

“some days you will forget that your papi is hardworking and strong, because everyone says if you work hard enough you will make it, and he works hard everyday and has not made it and might never make it.”

if i hear “mi mami tells me to get out of the sun, mi mami tells me to put on sunblock, mi mami tells me to not go to the beach so much” i’m gonna tweak

White women’s tears stop conversations on race, class, and gender in their tracks because white women’s feelings are considered sacred. White women become untouchable in a white supremacist society. They can be racist on camera and then deny their participation in their racist actions, and people will believe it.

I realize now that white fragility means that it is not just that white people’s feelings must constantly be considered (when our feelings never are). In order to avoid a white person’s meltdown and cries of victimization, the only solution is to accommodate their entitlement to always be centered.

We are socialized to seek admiration and approval to a fault. When does the social performance end? How many of us will follow the prescribed roles—marriage, motherhood—just to be respected, heard, or legible as adults?

We call mujeres locas, lloronas, putas, and a slew of other terms that are specifically meant to shame women for not following the rules and for speaking up for themselves.