The message that really pisses me off is like, "Well, women in the Middle East are getting their genitalia cut, so you should just shut up." That is … - MILCK

[It is] so important for women of color to have a voice, because we have been living in a paradigm where women of color, and men of color, and all genders in-between color — our voices have not been as quote-unquote "valuable." That is a problem because that creates a sense of not belonging, and invisibility. I felt so voiceless, and like I didn't matter. Like I was an inconvenience of space because I didn't look like the woman in the magazine or I didn't have the same upbringing as the people I was watching on television. But now that women of color are rising...a lot of women of color are bearing a lot of responsibility of healing their cultures, and there's a way that women are able to empathize deeply, and they are able to express things that can maybe help the mainstream culture understand. Because I think the more we tell different types of stories, the more tolerance there will be.

The rhetoric [during the 2016 presidential election] that was used to describe women really enraged me, and just kind of brought me back to those feelings of when I was younger. I was told I needed to "sit properly," and I need to "speak less" and "smile more" and "lose weight" and just be this perfect little girl.

I was put on a diet when I was 10. My mother said that women with smaller mouths are attractive, so keep my mouth small, don't talk or laugh so loud. I was taught to observe and listen. I burnt time burning calories when I could have been thinking about other things.