Working the knots has taught me something: to wait is not to waste time; to wait is to take time to see, to listen, to unfold and untangle what has c… - Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

We need to keep telling this story, and many others, because they explain who and how and why we are here today. The problematic part of these stories is not that we have had centuries of suffering and trauma. The problem is that the storytellers, usually not us, have told only half of the tale. Yes, we have been enslaved, abused, and violated. But, more importantly, we have, not just survived, not just endured, but thrived. We found a way where there was no way.

She moved by rote, dragging her grief into the fields with her. (chapter 12 p149)

Being a daughter of very strong Afro-Puerto Rican rural women, I could never understand the stereotype of the submissive, defeated woman who had no options and no power. I was surrounded by monumentally powerful and talented women who never got a chance to showcase their potential outside their homes and their communities. I got a good taste of it as a child in my South Bronx community. When I was sent to Puerto Rico during my formative years, ties to the past were solidified and I had a better understanding of where I came from and what gifts had been bequeathed to me. Those women who came before me didn't have the option of sharing their stories in public, but thanks to their sacrifices, I could, and I do share the stories with a much broader audience. Writing gave me a vehicle for bringing readers into the world I grew up in.