00:00 - Nachi (Host)

They're not publishing our stories because our stories don't sell well, when in reality it's a lot of y'all don't know how to market our books Because in your mailing list, your newsletters, for years you were targeting the same people, and so then it becomes our responsibility. So it's a whole thing, but it's important. A whole thing, but it's important. Despite all those challenges, it's important for us to keep pushing and share our stories for the culture, because we all deserve to feel seen and heard and represented.

00:50 - Nachi (Host)

Welcome to another episode of I'm Not Yellin' I'm Dominican podcast hosted by Nachi and Damaris. Hey, fam, it's your girl, Nachi, and I'm here with.

01:00

Damaris la morena fina, of course, De Maris, la morena fina, of course. And today we're diving into something that's deeply rooted in who we are, and that is storytelling. Not just the cute family cuentos at the kitchen table that we are used to hearing, but we're talking about storytelling that we can use as a way to preserve our culture, heal generational wounds and, just straight up, rebel against the narrative that we weren't written with in mind when they would write these type of stories. And so, to help us explore this topic, we are so hyped to welcome our guest, alyssa Reynoso-Morris. She is a mama, community organizer and an award-winning children's book author, and her work centers on Black, brown and Afro-Latinx joy, love and resistance through her storytelling. So we're so excited to have you here with us today.

01:58 - Nachi (Host)

Hold up wait thank you, alissa, for being here so excited to chat with you. Ladies, it's an honor. I like remember coming across your podcast the first time and I'm just like kiki, I'm like these two are hilarious, so we're going to have some fun.

02:25 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, we are. And just a side note, alyssa, it's funny, I think I shared this with you, but when my kids were younger I couldn't find any books that was relatable, right. It was just like really hard to find any Black or Brown books written by Black and Brown people. It was just rare. And so in the last few years I'm seeing more and more writers and I'm just so excited so I'm really intentional when I purchase these books for our little ones. That's coming into our family, you know, new life.

03:03

And last year I was so excited when the when Dominican writers had created a book they're curated a set of children's book and I bought a box because we had we had several new babies in our family so I was like, oh, let me get a box, you know, and I got one, and one of the books I was in there was yours from. And I got one and one of the books that was in there was yours from what's it called? The Bronx is my Home, and it was so cute and I gave it to my cousin who had a little she just had a little girl and when I gave it to her she said, oh my God, I got this book for Bryce, which is her older son. She got it when he was. I said oh, oh, my gosh. Well, you got two books, wow, yes, but it's.

03:57

It was so exciting to to know that she was able to find a book like that for her own children and for me to be able even to gift her that, because I know how hard that was when my kids were younger and just to give people some context, my kids are 16 and 14. So even then there were, you know there were little writers out there. So I just want to say thank you, I want to give you your flowers and say thank you for taking that leap of faith and writing for our children and sharing those stories, because it is needed, it is wanted and it is definitely desired. So thank you, and I encourage those out there who just have that passion for writing and are wondering should I do it? Yes, please do it.

04:37 - Nachi (Host)

We need to hear your voices, we need it Always yes, for sure, thank you, thank you for the flowers and shout out to dominican writers association yes, yes they oh my goodness, they support us so much.

04:51 - Alyssa (Guest)

I love angie, they I just and what she's doing for the culture, for the people, really getting the writers out there, especially because there's a lot of intimidation, imposter syndrome and the feeling of which I know you're going to speak about from your own experience about feeling comfortable, about sharing our stories. Do people want to hear it? Is there an audience? And the answer to all of that is yes, and part of like what we talked about. Oh, what are we going to discuss today and how are we going to discuss it? Yes, the umbrella is on storytelling, but really it's about what is storytelling doing for our culture? Why is it important, right to do it? And I have my thoughts, and I know you do too, alyssa. I'm like we're going to let you finally speak, but I feel like it's so important to understand why it is important for the culture and the idea of storytelling, because we live in a time right now where some of us fight to be at tables and in spaces that were never meant for us, because it's not our culture. And when I think about that, I think about Snow White as a perfect example. Snow White as a perfect example that's a recent movie that came out and they they casted a woman who is a half Colombian, half Polish, so it was like this really big thing, like oh my God, we got this Latina. We have representation. She's in this movie, snow White.

06:16

But I think what people need to understand, and how I view it, is that Snow White is a Brothers Grimm story and, for those that don't know, they were illustrators from, I think I want to say, the early 1900s, and they based it. They're German and so they based their stories and illustrations on German folklore. And so while there's one side that advocates for representation in mainstream I'm of the other camp advocates for representation in mainstream, I'm of the other camp. I'm of the camp that advocates for representation about with less. Actually, let me just rephrase it, I'm of the camp of let's just have our own table so that we're not fighting for scraps and for seats at a table that was never meant for us, and I say that respectfully.

07:01

Like I, I enjoyed the story of Snow White growing up, but I don't care and I don't feel seeing someone like me as Snow White, because that is a German folklore story. I am not German. I respect the German culture, but I am Dominican, I am a black Dominican, and so my story is very different. What I heard growing up is very different, and so to me it's important that those stories that we grew up with, or our experiences, be passed down, and the way, one way to do that is through storytelling, and there's so many mediums that storytelling is represented now. And yeah, I mean again, I don't care about fighting for scraps at a place, at a seat that was never meant for us.

07:47 - Nachi (Host)

Absolutely, and that's why I love the work that the Dominican Writers Association is doing. You know, angie has done a really good job at cultivating all of our stories. In traditional publishing only 1% of submitted manuscripts are actually published, publishing only 1% of submitted manuscripts are actually published 1%. And then of that 1%, only 6% of those stories are written by Latine, latinx, latina, latino storytellers about us, and that's like all Latinos, right, like not just Dominicans, right, that's, that's everyone who falls under that camp, and Latinidad, as we know, is very diverse and across multiple countries and dialects and cultures, and so, when you like, really look at it to be 6% of 1% is wild right, come on now right Wild, and what Angie is doing.

08:47

You know she does a really good job at making space for all of us Traditionally published, self-published, indie, published right, all of our stories, across genres too, like she helps picture book authors, middle grade authors, ya, adult because we all need that right the kids, the littles they need it, and the sooner they see themselves in these books the better. But for me, I didn't see myself in these books when I was a little girl. The first time I actually saw us represented and us I mean like Dominican culture was Julia Alvarez, and that was when I was a whole, whole adult. You know so what she's doing. It's so important because we don't know when that first experience happens for someone, whether they're like I hate to use this word, but like whether they're lucky and we're privileged enough to experience it, when they're like I hate to use this word, but like whether they're lucky and privileged enough to experience it when they're younger, or whether it happens for them as an adult. But that first moment when it happens, you don't forget it, I don't forget it, and so I appreciate that she's just like you're Dominican and you care about stories and you're an author or you're a reader or whatever she needs to hear it. She's like, like, we want to hear it. She's like we want to hear it. Yes, yes. So if you don't know, this is a huge plus, but you know, love what they're doing. They have an incredible database of of books and they also have the subscription box, which is what you were talking about.

10:20

Um, so our stories are out there, and even when they are actually published remember, that's 6% of 1% the problem is a lot of these publishers don't know how to market to our community. So there are a few of us out there doing our thing, our books and our stories, because traditional published authors are being marketed by traditional publishers and they don't have connections to our community, so there's a greater responsibility and onus that okay. Not only did we make it through all these barriers, all these gatekeepers, now we have to be our own publicists, we have to be our own marketers, right? To make sure that our books end up in the hands of the kids that need it. Because, one, they need it.

11:18

And then, two, because as soon as one of our books comes out, the publishers are like, oh well, the book didn't sell well enough and it's just like it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, right? They keep saying they're not publishing our stories because our stories don't sell well, when in reality is a lot of y'all don't know how to market our books. Because in your mailing list, your newsletters market our books, because in your mailing list, your newsletters, for years you were targeting the same people, and so then it becomes our responsibility. So it's a whole thing, but it's important. Despite all those challenges, it's important for us to keep pushing and share our stories for the culture, because we all deserve to feel seen and heard and represented.

12:11 - Alyssa (Guest)

Yeah, because it's again. I think it's important that we pass down our lineage's history to ensure that our roots and the work towards uplifting our lineage is happening right, and it's not just like, oh, we share the struggles, but we share the successes, and that's what Nachi and I are really about. Like, how do we continue to share the successes and help our community look into themselves and healing themselves to continue to prosper? Right, because, look, trauma is not going to, is not going to identify me. Like, I rebuke that. Like, trauma is not going to be my story, and so I'm here for my ancestors so that I can keep thriving and making them proud. You know what I mean. And so when we we we talked about storytelling and Nachi and I were working through the outline of what we wanted to discuss with you, the storytelling is so much bigger, especially within the history and ancient times of, like, the role it took within our communities and our culture and for multiple groups. Right, not just for Dominicans or Afro Caribbean people, but we, you know, storytellers held very significant roles in society, and that included being in a position of being a teacher, a healer. What else we talked about in spiritual guides? Right, and so for us.

13:44

I like to get into discussing, like how, those different types of storytellers, because I think more than ever is important to control our own narrative right, and I think especially with what you're seeing on in society and it's like, oh, we're going to take these books out. Oh, we're not going to teach about this anymore. Look, we have to take the onus away from all these entities that are outside of our communities to tell our story. No, we need to own our story and also be responsible in telling our story, because we cannot rely on any institution to do that for us. Number one not sure if you already know how I feel about the indoctrination of a lot of these government places, so we won't go there. But it's really taking ownership and it helps when there are books such as yours, alyssa, and books from other authors again, that represent that culture, that community, the real representation, not just having someone of a certain skin tone play, replace the role of a story that was never ours to begin with. Right, fight me, don't fight me.

14:52

I don't care, I don't really want to discuss it like I don't, like you're not gonna change my mind on it. Oh, we're discussing now, right, because I can. This is my show, but so I just I want to hear about, like, your thoughts on how is it that we can control our narrative, like you know, how do we do that and how do we continue to share our stories, and what was your experience like in doing that?

15:16 - Nachi (Host)

Absolutely. I can't answer this question without talking about my abuela, and my abuela was the storyteller of the family. She was the one that gathered and mobilized our community Whenever you were having a bad day or whatever. Everyone came to her right. And I find it interesting, thinking about it as an adult, because not only was she a storyteller but, like you mentioned, she was a healer too. Right. So when she was sharing these stories, she was sharing wisdom and giving practical advice in a way that people would actually listen, because she did it in just a funny, like authentic way. Right, she was able to meet people where they were at through storytelling.

16:13

It didn't sound like she was lecturing you. It didn't sound like she was trying to outsmart you or make you feel bad. Right. So, like, when she would share stories, she was passing on this wisdom and she was doing it in a way that was bringing our community together and healing our community. And then my great grandmother her mother was actually a midwife and my grandmother helped her as well.

16:43

So it's interesting, right, like all of these roles that the storytellers in our communities play. As a birth worker, right, like as a midwife, as a bringing new life into the world and then sustaining that life through storytelling, right, sustaining that feeling of empowerment and representation, and that they matter right After they're born into this world. So it's hard to think of to like isolate them and put them in boxes, because for her, yes, she was a storyteller, but she was so much more than that and I think that's what a lot of us are when I think of, like my fellow author, friends, we have so many hats that we wear. We're mothers, we're teachers, we're advocates. So, yes, we're storytelling, but we use storytelling as a vehicle to be good mothers, right, and to teach our kids. We do that as a vehicle to be teachers and to teach our students and to help them feel represented and empowered. Because, like, not for nothing, I love reading nonfiction books, but I know that's not everybody's jam and that's okay, Because historically and there have been multiple studies to corroborate this facts is not the way you change the minds and the hearts of people.

18:20

We need them. We need them. Facts are important, right them. Facts are important, right, but when you're trying to get to the heart of something and you want to inspire someone, you do it through storytelling, right. You can say you know those statistics that I rattled off earlier, right, like only 1% of submitted manuscripts are published, and of that 1%, 6% are written by our community. Right, and you're like, wow, that's bad, but what will really hit home is hearing from a kid the first time that they felt represented in a book, or hearing what the more common experience is, which is, yeah, I never saw any books about me and so I didn't think I could ever be an author.

19:11 - Nachi (Host)

I totally agree with fiction books also being a tool for teaching and learning lessons. I love fiction. I love nonfiction too, but I gravitate more to fiction because I like the story behind things right. But I also like the historical context that they include in these stories and you talked a little bit about, like your grandmother and your great grandmother, and it reminds me of my father. I would say he was the storyteller in our family.

19:43 - Alyssa (Guest)

Yes, because he used to embellish and lie.

19:46 - Nachi (Host)

But we call it story it I thought it was true at that moment. It wasn't until I became an adult that I was. I questioned some of the things that he said I mean, the embellishment was real.

19:59 - Alyssa (Guest)

That's a nice way of saying lying, but no, but he was a storyteller. The nice way now she's like poppy was a storyteller. The nice way now she's like Poppy was a storyteller. Stars in her eyes. No, I love my father. Rest in power.

20:13 - Nachi (Host)

Amen. But what I wanted to get to was I feel like it also connects us to ancestors that we never got to meet. On both sides we didn't. We never knew our paternal grandfathers and through his stories and stories that my mother has shared with us, I already envision and feel like I know them. I know my grandfather on my father's side. He was a photographer and when I think of him I'm like, oh my gosh, this is where I get the artistic piece you know side of me right, yeah, and then yes, you, you.

20:55

you become more excited about knowing where you came from. Who came before you and like, on my mother's side he was an, he had several cars and he was you know, he was. Come on now. I was like, okay, we got entrepreneurs in our family.

21:16 - Alyssa (Guest)

I'm like that's where I get my entrepreneurial spirit. Since I was like the age of five, I never wanted to work for someone else.

21:23 - Nachi (Host)

Damaris is always selling bookmarks.

21:29 - Alyssa (Guest)

Always trying to sell something. I would make my own bookmark seller for like 10 cents, but I wasn't doing the math. I wasn't mathing, but I was seven, that comes later.

21:37 - Nachi (Host)

The spirit was there, yes, thank you, alyssa, but it just, you know, storytelling is about that connection with your ancestors and even if you didn't get to meet them, you can get to know them through these stories, whether they're embellished or not, you know, I'm saying like whether they create more stuff behind it. It's all good because you get to know who your people were. Right, so I, yeah, I love that. I love that, yeah, and it's all good because you get to know who your people were right.

22:08 - Alyssa (Guest)

So I, yeah, I love that. I love that. Yeah, and it's like for me, people like most of my books are fiction are, yeah, my first four books are fiction. But people are always like they're fiction because they like on that, like border right so my first book, platanos are love, is a fiction story.

22:29

At the heart of it, the inspiration was my relationship with my abuela and cooking with her right, and there are elements of the narrative that are true. And it was interesting when, like when I do school visits and I explain like the inspiration behind the story and the kids are able to like kind of piece it together, they're like wait, wait, wait, like. And so they ask good questions. They're like so was this since? Are you Esme? So Esme's like the main character, she's the one that like cooks with her abuela and I'm like what do you think? And they're like, I think she is like and I'm like why? Why do you think? And they're like. I think she is like and I'm like why why do you think that?

23:07

And you know they're like well, cause you keep saying that you used to spend so much time with your grandmother and you know one of the ways that your grandmother would show you that she loves you is by cooking for you, and you kind of look like her too. So, like they're putting all the pieces together, you can see like they're real turning and it's just like adorable and I'm like yeah, you're right, you're right, I love it. And then they ask like okay, well, if you're Esme, why didn't you name Esme Alyssa? Right? And I love when they ask me that question Cause. Then I tell them Esme means love and while it is a book about plata and about family, it's ultimately, at its core, a book about love. And they're like right.

23:54

So they're like mind blown, mind blown literally, and then I also share.

24:01 - Nachi (Host)

Like esme was the nick, was the is a nickname for Esmeralda, which is the name of one of my abuelas, and they're just like that's so cool, you can do that, right. And I'm like, yeah, I feel like when I write fiction I'm a little detective, planting these little clues in the narrative that are rooted and pulled from my own experience own experience but made new so that other little kids can find these clues and see themselves in the text. Because when I do like school visits, I can't tell you how excited they are that they're like, yeah, I eat platanos and they love to be like when kids that have had it. You know, they're just like platanos are not the same as bananas, Right, yeah, Like they love schooling their peers and like being like it's not, it's not the same.

24:55 - Alyssa (Guest)

Right, because, but it's something to be proud of, cause they're like, this is part of like how I grew up. This is, this is a normal thing that we eat. And yeah, let me, let me educate you on on that, on that part of my life, that we don't get to eat this in school for school lunches or breakfasts, but yet at my abuela's house, we have it three times a day.

25:14 - Nachi (Host)

You know, like real talk in different ways, like oh, but they look like bananas. Why aren't they bananas? Like when they see the pictures and it empowers them to be like well, actually they're not. They're not.

25:34 - Alyssa (Guest)

It's so cute. I love it, but I also love how you also ask them questions too, and it really leads into critical thinking, something again that I feel that we as a community don't demand more of from the institutions that we rely on educating our kids, and so this is why I say we need to stop relying on them to do these types of things, because schools are never going to do that. Any other government entity won't do that. There's no incentive to do that. You know why? Because you become a problem when you think critically, and so this is why, at home, you need to ask those questions, challenge, challenge your kids, make them think. Don't give them the answers, and I love that you did that. Right, it would have been easy to say, yes, it is me, based on me, loosely because of blah, blah, blah, but you ask them what do you think? And they're like well, and they connected those dots.

26:22

It's so, and again, part of the idea of when we talk about storytellers, the roles that we talked about, that they held in ancient times as spiritual healers and teachers and whatnot that still remains today. Storytellers are still teachers, they're still healers, they're still spiritual guiders, and so I like for this, for Nachi and I in this podcast. This is our way of storytelling, right? Because I'm not as gifted right as yourself, alyssa, although sometimes I get inspired with a quote and I'll put it out on IG. I'm like my life is divine when I'm spiritually aligned and I'm like, oh, shit, let me put that out there.

27:07

No, and I tell them those are bars, yes, I tell them, I'm like, ooh, that was good All right straight bars out here, and so I for us this podcast, and just the whole reason of why we started it was because it was just like I was inspired. You know, two people said, wow, maybe you should have a podcast. I'm like, oh my God, you're so right. I think you're right. So I asked Nachi, because she's the only person that I knew that I could actually host a podcast with. And she's like, yeah, bet, let's do it, cause she coasts on all of my shit, all of my tomfoolery. She's like, yeah, let's do it, let's ride out.

27:45

So thank God she did, but honestly, it was because of the things that she and I talked about on the phone. We would spend an hour just talking about this topic. So it's like, well, why not record ourselves and share those conversations, because I know other people are having the same conversations and we all have different perspectives on it too, and so I think that's the beauty of it. Right, it doesn't have to be an echo chamber. I don't expect everyone to agree with what I say, but I just hope like, oh, maybe I said something that you know. Drop something in your head like, oh, let me think about that. I didn't really. I never saw it from that perspective and maybe, if I like your feedback, I'll accept it. But you know, that's the whole point, and for us, I like the idea that this lives in perpetuity and that my niece and nephew can go back to this and we're no longer in this earthly realm. Oh, titi, oh mommy, you know that's right. She said this.

28:44 - Nachi (Host)

They were right about stuff, you know.

28:46 - Alyssa (Guest)

They were right about stuff you know to write all along, and so I want to hear more about, like kind of what drives you to share your story, because I mentioned this before, um, before we were meeting up and we were doing working on the outline. But I truly do see storytelling as it can be a direct or a subtle form of rebellion, and we always need a good dose of rebellion in this life and so I think it's very easy when we can control our narrative, share our stories with others the way we need to, whether it's via social media, a book, video, whatever. There's so many mediums right now. We're so lucky we're in the age of information, where there's so many ways where we can communicate with each other and create these platforms and these communities. And so, again, I know a lot of people are feeling discouraged or just like apathetic to with what's going on in the world.

29:48

But you don't have to. You could live in joy, because living in joy is a motherfucking rebellion. Right, choosing to do that, choosing to be happy, choosing to not let this stuff stop you. Like us having this conversation, I'm like write your stories, guys. Let them know that that's not going to stop you from from learning what you're supposed to learn, sharing what you know, passing it down, making sure your children know who they are, where they came from, who their peoples were, why, why we're still on this earth and rock out, and so, like I can't, let some administration hold me down, like that's not never not going to happen. So, alyssa, before I you know, so I can get off my soapbox, can you share what kind of like, what drives you to share your stories?

30:36 - Nachi (Host)

Absolutely. I love this question because I actually studied political science. So when I tell people that, they think, like you know, I'm an author. So I went to school for, like, creative writing or something and I took a lot of writing classes because I enjoy it and because when I wrote, it helped me express myself, it helped me process my emotions, it helped me, like, resist my emotions, it helped me resist, but I've always written with that in the back of my mind. My abuela used to tell me stories about Trujillo and what he did to our country and what he did to you know how just brutal.

31:29 - Alyssa (Guest)

Also to the mental, to the psyche of a whole generation, multiple generations, and I think people don't understand, Like I know, a lot of people get caught up with Dominicans and like, oh you know, you guys are colorist, as of other societies are not colorist, but anyway, but there there is a history to that. That isn't just something that was like, oh, I choose to want to look down at people this way. No, it was ingrained in a way that was crazy, by this dictator, um right, and even before him, because it leads up into, you know, colonization and all that and all that, all that. But he was 10 toes down and then some, yes, so I just wanted to add that to that right, because he's a dictator that was in in place during our parents generation.

32:19 - Nachi (Host)

So just to kind of give people 31 years, y'all 31 years.

32:26 - Nachi (Host)

That's some maybe of the listeners entire lifetime, almost for the majority of their lifetime. So think about growing up your entire life under a dictator who controlled the media. Control what you could learn and couldn't learn in school. Control what you're allowed to say and not allowed to say. Had spies out there this is why I'm breaking it down has spies out there listening to everything. Right, what we're seeing now, where to enter the country, you have to share your social media and if you are not a citizen, they can they turn back around and if you are a citizen, they might not be able to deny entry, but they might label you a terrorist if you say something that they don't want to see. Right, all of this silencing that we're seeing. That's subtle. Right, it got louder and louder and louder and then it becomes harder to resist and fight back.

33:31

Because he controlled the military, he controlled schools, he controlled everything. Every aspect of society was controlled, right, and if you disagreed with anything that he said, you were faced with violence. Right, like you were Death most of the time. Right, disappeared. Yes, they would kidnap you. Let's call it what it violence. Right, like you were Death most of the time. Right, disappeared. Yes, they would kidnap you. Let's call it what it was, right, you were kidnapped and abducted. You were tortured in a prison until you died, which is what we're seeing. They're just disappearing people, right? Like you see these ICE agents coming up to people in plain clothing with masks on, just taking people, and they want to see how complacent we can be. Right, can we distance ourselves from them enough that we're okay with it until they come after us? Right? Oh well, they're illegal. There's a power in the language and the words that we speak. They're using words like illegal alien to dehumanize them. Right, so that we're okay with them treating them differently until one day they come after you, right? This?

34:49 - Alyssa (Guest)

is what I say all the time. Right, it's easy to call a group of people animals and now let's carpet bomb them, because now you just think they're animals and you just regard the fact that they are mothers, children and fathers. Yes, oh, they're animals. Okay.

35:07 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, and that's why in all of my books it's subtle, because they are picture books. My target demographic is that four to eight year old, right, but there's things that I say in my books and they're very intentional. So, in the Bronx is my Home. I talk about how heroes are born and raised in the Bronx. Why? Because the narrative was always that the Bronx is dangerous. Only criminals live in the Bronx. The Bronx is not safe and it's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not true. That's not true. Right In Platanos, our Love, I talk about how our ancestors weren't allowed to read or write or draw. Why?

35:55 - Alyssa (Guest)

Because we can't communicate because they don't want you communicating through storytelling. That's why we would have stories and music and the lyrics to our songs. Oh yeah, that's code. You know what?

36:05 - Nachi (Host)

you need to do now. Meet you at the corner.

36:09 - Nachi (Host)

The way we braided our hair right told the story story, and there were maps, sometimes, to freedom, right. So, like it's subtle, they're picture books for kids. But you know, I'm talking about our history, because these patterns, unless we learn from our history, we're're going to keep perpetuating them. We're just going to keep doing it. It's why they want to defund education, right. We're seeing attacks on thousands of students getting their student visas revoked, right. We're seeing that they want to defund the Department of Ed, right. All of this is strategic, because if you don't know your history, you can be easily manipulated. That's why they're banning books, right.

36:57 - Alyssa (Guest)

And this is even like from already from the last eight years and beyond that they've been like oh, just stripping out, taking, books out, take. And I'm like guys, did you not read 1984?

37:07 - Nachi (Host)

like what, what, oh why are we not saying that the right little by little just? And that's why because they can't attack you, you know, you know, like oil and full. No, it has to be done in incremental ways to ingrain that type of thinking.

37:25 - Alyssa (Guest)

But it's also then, as you're doing it, you're also distracting the public. And so this is why, when I think about, especially like the big events, like Super Bowl, I'm like and I say to Nachi and to my cousins they'd be sick of me I'm like, oh, bread and circus, here we go. They're like, oh, let's get the entire country focused on this one game. And then meanwhile, bombs, bombs, bombs, killings, killings, killings, stripping this, getting rid of this slaughter, all on the same day, literally. And I'm like, I'm like, ok, but here's what I'm doing, guys. I'm packing more stuff into my bug out bag because I'm ready. You can't fuck with me, but I'm just saying like the no, it's, this is where we're at Right, and it's very easy, like you said, alyssa, to ignore the little things that we just, you know, think it's. Oh, that's an other, that's not my problem. No, actually it is, because I say this in other episodes when you see, especially our government being a proxy co-signing, things happening outside of our borders and especially inside of our borders, but outside, what makes you think that's just not their beta plan for what they're going to do to citizens here. They've done that before. They've.

38:46

There's history CIA declassified programs that have talked about experimenting on US citizens, not resident aliens or residents, legal residents or green card holders. No, we're talking about citizens, and also Canadian citizens, and also military personnel. This personnel, like this government, is no joke and there's there's. No one is sacred here, so forget that. Focus. This is why everything you do can be an act of rebellion if you are doing this to better yourself and your people and continue telling your story.

39:27

And that's why, to me, it's so important that we do not just sound the alarm, because I you know not she and I we do share a lot of stuff for awareness, but we're not trying to be alarmist because I just also said like look, we got to live in joy, because the other thing is they feed off your energy and your fear.

39:45

And if you go out every day and every morning waking up feeling like, oh my God, this world's going to hell in a handbasket, look, then that's what's going to happen in your world. I'm like that's not going to happen in my sphere of influence, not if I can help it, but what I can do as an individual in this world is give back, and giving back in the way I know I can, and that's by sharing my story sharing not just sharing her story and our perspective and bringing awareness to things that I know a lot of people may not be aware of at this moment. Cause I get it, there's a lot of stuff going on in life. There's a lot of things you have to do, especially if you're a mother, a wife, a husband, a son, a daughter, like. There's so many things we have to do in this world, and especially taking care of our loved ones, but we also have to take care of ourselves first.

40:34 - Nachi (Host)

Absolutely. And I think the key here is empathy, right? If we have empathy, we are able to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and in doing that we can celebrate the joy right. We can be happy for others and then, when others are being oppressed, we can also call it out right. Like that's that balance? Like I remember um reading that at the peak of the AIDS, the HIV AIDS epidemic, our community was out there in the day they went to someone's funeral and they mourned and they were in community and they supported each other. Then, after that, they were out there protesting and rallying, and then at night they partied and they danced and they celebrated.

41:27

And I think that's what I try to do, also through my storytelling, right, like I am educating the next generation. I'm reminding them of their history, I'm reminding them of the resilience of our ancestors, and I do it in a way that incorporates joy, right, because food is joy, going out and exploring your neighborhood is joy. And so in the Bronx is my home, santiago is like, he loves the Bronx, he is repping the Bronx. He was like did you know? Pelham Bay Park is the biggest park in all of New York City? It's three times the size of Central Park, right. So he's like dropping these little facts in there, talking about how awesome the Bronx is, and he's like they go to the Bronx Zoo and they're like did you know? The Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the country and it's very realistic because kids will school you on everything dinosaur related, everything dinosaur related. When they care about something, they know the most obscure facts of this thing, right, so it's told from that place of like, pride and knowledge and curiosity and seeking adventure, right, and so that's his joy. He's like I love my hood, I love the Bronx, and we're going to go here and we're going to go there and we're going to go here, but at the same time, with the message of like, you can be whoever you want to be. Heroes are born and raised in the Bronx, right, so we need that balance, right, we have to. Everything is all about teaching the next generation. This is where you come from. This is the resilience of our ancestors, and the reason why they were so resilient is because there was joy and they loved each other and they supported each other, right, and so having that empathy which is, I think, what books and storytelling do they show us we're actually not that different from one another. We have more in common than we have. That's different. And when we realize that, when we remember that we're able to stand up for each other and we're able to be better people and better humans, right.

43:44

There's the idea of books and storytelling being windows and mirrors, right. So for a little Dominican kid that's reading my books, my books are a mirror for them, probably the first mirror that they're seeing in literature. It's probably their first time that they're seeing themselves in a book. But for little kids that aren't from our background, it's a window. It's an opportunity for them to peek into another culture and be like oh, we're actually not that different Because I might not eat platanos but I eat potatoes Right. Like I might not eat platanos but I eat arepas Right, and I love spending time with my abuela, right. Right, and I love spending time with my abuela, right. So I think storytelling has it is an act of rebellion, because the most rebellious thing we can do is love each other right, come on, yes, because that's exactly what they don't want.

44:48 - Alyssa (Guest)

That's exactly what they want us to always constantly be divided, or you said that so beautifully and you also shared with us that you feel we all deserve to be seen and feel loved, and your books are. I think you said a love letter to children and I'm like, yes, I love that, I love that so much and I think again, I hope that you know, as we, we're also going to put all your books and all of your information in the story notes, but I would, before we close, I would like you to share where people can find your information and where they can go get your stuff, but, like I said, we'll include it as well.

45:32 - Nachi (Host)

For sure. Yeah, the best way to find me and contact me is through my website, alyssaauthorcom A-L-Y-S-S-A Authorcom. I have like a contact me page and it sends me an email directly, so that's one of the ways you can contact me. I'm also pretty active on Insta and you can buy my books anywhere. So, ideally, support your local bookstore. For my Washington Heights listeners go to Word Up Books. They're amazing, a community like Beacon, an amazing bookstore that does a lot of work for our people. And then, if you're not in that area, there are many independent bookstores that are out there that are spaces that are like shepherding our stories and they're safe spaces where we can be ourselves outside of these institutions right, these third spaces other than our homes and schools that are really making space for us where we can feel safe and heard and seen and loved and nurtured and all of these amazing things. But you can also get it on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.

46:51

I would encourage Bookshop as well. Bookshop is kind of like Amazon in the sense that you get a similar online shopping experience, but every purchase you make actually supports an independent bookstore. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, good to know. Actually, I strongly encourage Bookshop. My books are picture books, so they're not like in audio book form. But if you love listening to books like audio books, I strongly recommend Libro FM. They're kind of like Audible, but not owned by Amazon, and Libro FM does does similar work that Bookshop does. Every time you buy a book on Librofm, they support independent bookstores, so that's my support.

47:45 - Alyssa (Guest)

That's important and I want to thank you for coming on our show today. You shared your experience and that means a lot to us and we love hearing your story because, again, we want to hopefully just continue to encourage other would-be authors and writers, because if you have the talent I mean, even if you don't have the talent I feel like people don't think they have the talent, but they actually are talented, so just put your foot out there. You lose nothing by trying. I put out bars every once in a while on IG, so, and like three people like it, but whatever, I'll take it, thank you.

48:25 - Nachi (Host)

Thank you, yes, okay, two of them are right here, myself and for perspective, like the story that you write, that you have in your heart, is so important and so needed. The books that we see on bookshelves were not created in isolation. Right, like you have, every book that is on a shelf was read by hundreds of people before it was published. It was. It was read by a critique group, then a literary agent, then an editor and multiple people within the publishing house. Right, there's an editor and a copy editor. So sometimes it feels like I can't write something that good, right, but just know, like that was not done. That wasn't their first draft, not the first draft, absolutely not. Like Platanos, our Love went through 27 revisions before it became what it is right. So, if you have a story in your heart, just write it, because you can find amazing organizations that can support you, like the Dominican Writers Association, like Latinx in Publishing, like we Need Diverse Books, and there's a lot of like mentorship programs out there.

49:42

If you go on my website, I have like an entire blog post about organizations like Queli and the Storyteller Conference.

49:51 - Alyssa (Guest)

Okay, we'll make sure to put that particular page in the show notes as well.

49:55 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, I'll make sure you guys have the link, because it has a bunch of resources to help figure out your way and get published, because our stories are important and if you have a story in your heart, I can't wait to read it.

50:11 - Alyssa (Guest)

Absolutely Same here. So we're going to close out the way we always close out. There's a lot of noise out there, but our message is consistent Stop getting distracted by the smoke and mirrors, tune out the noise and focus on your divine purpose in life. Vibrate higher to elevate your frequency and always. Thank you for listening. So, that said, don't forget to subscribe to our channel and follow us on Instagram, Tiktok and Twitter @imnotyelling_, and we look forward to talking next time. Bye.