Gratitude for Community

Our story began during the pandemic. I had lost my job to racial discrimination at an organization where I had worked as a contractor, raising thousands of dollars for grassroots nonprofits. I was humiliated, belittled, and isolated. That last part was the one I remember most. The isolation and humiliation that I felt when I walked into spaces in Madison. Many women who are survivors of abuse on the job or in relationships feel this pain. I'm also a survivor of domestic violence. As a child and teenager, I faced many nights in fear.

This beginning might seem like a negative.

Heather coached me and so many others to think about the direction of Midwest Mujeres

But let me tell you something about being a survivor. We are genius untapped. We are innovators unrecognized. We are leaders unknown.

During the pandemic, we all had to pause and look inward. Many people realized that they were working for someone else's dream, and the great resignation began.

We wanted to work for our own dreams. Midwest Mujeres was born out of a lack of recognition of the power of Latinas and Black women in Dane County. In 2020, we hosted several "TalkBacks" shows on YouTube, featuring artists, political candidates, health professionals, and mothers. Our actions caught the eye of our local PBS radio show, Wisconsin Life, and we took the best of our stories, and a five-part series was born. From there, we decided to take our stories to the main stage. Our openning night, we had over 180 people show up. So we did it again. And again. Yo Quiero Dinero was our north star against the oppression that steals our stories.

I, along with 10 coaches, train over 80 people in our community over 12 weeks. https://www.midwestmujeres.com/post/voices-and-dreams-academy-our-stories-have-value

We teach them financial education, self-esteem, and embodiment, and how to put their stories together for flow and impact. They teach us about prayer, faith, and resilience, like how coal turns into diamonds. They show us the brilliance of community.

My personal journey of becoming a founder might have begun from a place of sadness or rejection, but that was just the spark. I found hope in the stories of other women. When I began to share my story, they shared mine. I could not help but think, "If I'm learning from you, what could others learn? What inspiration would other people get?"

Johnathan Delgado has been in many ways our Co-Founder and Biggest believer in the mission--Thanks, Brother De Puerto Rico! Boriqua 100%!

In the last few months, we have been supported by TruStage, Ascedium Education, Widen Foundation, and now the Solar Grant. They believe in what we believe, that providing education and a platform for stories of resilience is what our community needs right now. We (Latinas and Black women) are the lowest paid in this country, and yet here we are serving up hope. We are often discriminated against violently at work and abused at home.

We carry things that most would not dare touch. In our stories, we do not mince our words; we do not dismiss the pain that we felt or witnessed. Our stories are not for petty. We want you to raise our worth by networking us into rooms where we are not invited to!

We know racism exists, and we might be here to see its fall, but in the meantime, we will continue to teach our community the many multitudes of bright lights that shine through those bad times. When they passed us up in school, when we were abused by hands that were family, by society that said our hair wasn't right, by those who laughed at our accent, by boyfriends or husbands who hurt us, by jobs that didn't pay us, by all the things that were set out to destroy us.

We will continue to be loud and be bold. Midwest Mujeres is us.

When I found out we got funding tonight that will pull us through the rest of the year, I cried a little, prayed, and got on my knees to ask for forgiveness for doubting myself. Poco a poco, we are doing it. Gratitude is my word tonight. In each heartbreak, I'm learning to walk in my power, God's plan, and work out the legacy that my Abuelita left so many years ago when she came as a migrant farm worker to pick beets in Nebraska and corn in Sun Prairie, only to clean the floors of the UW Humanities building. She was a union worker. She and my mother were the first Midwest Mujeres in our family, and now we can take that story of community to others.

PS Happy Women's History Month!