Day 29 #DecolonizeDecember hosted by Alejandro @decolonizeliterature Today's Prompt: BIPOC book I wish I had growing up Feature: Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo "It's not any one thing that makes me wonder about the capital G.O.D. About a holy trinity that don't include the mother. It's all the things. Just seems as I got older I began to really see the way that church Treats a girl like me differently. Sometimes it feels all I'm worth is under my skirt And not between my ears." The first time I read this I cried. I held my breath because I couldn't believe that so many of my feelings were written on the pages. Growing up Latinx under the umbrella of machismo, misogyny and religious constraints creates so much anxiety. You grow up thinking you're the problem and your body is dangerous. There is so much shame and vigilance associated with the female body but no one points out the problems with society viewing men's toxic, predatory behaviors as the root of the issue. In some ways, men are viewed as victims with weak minds who fall prey to women's "devilish" ways as if the way we dress, look or speak can stop rape, violence and other atrocities perpetrated by men. It is easier to blame the victim than take down the patriarchal foundation that makes it dangerous for women to simply exist. This book showed me that women aren't the problem and that our feelings, our thoughts and our dreams are valid. Our bodies are not to be controlled and blamed but to be protected. These are the very bodies that have carried revolutions on their backs and have been the backbone of the very society that so easily invalidates their worth and literally kills them. These are the bodies that are silenced on a daily basis. What makes this book so powerful is that it reminds us that we are more than our circumstances, that we have power in our voices and that when we exercise all our gifts in the collective we are unstoppable. When you speak truth to power, there is not an entity on earth that can tell you who are and can place a value on your life. This is the book that I needed growing up to remind me of my potential and to dare me to dream bigger and never stop fighting. (at Bushwick) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZvZItgPKp/?igshid=o5k6hq9lkzsf