Esperanza means hope.

Esperanza is my grandmother’s and my mother’s name. I inherited their radical esperanza.

As humans living on this planet, we carry with us the trauma of colonization and white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (bell hooks). These methods of suppression and oppression are rooted in the marginalization and the exploitation of our minds, bodies, hearts, spirits, and of Pacha Mama. 

We often internalize this oppression and unconsciously bring these traumas into our personal lives, our relationships with self and others, our organizing spaces, our social movements and our heart work. This mode is unsustainable.

For people of the global majority, we may feel guilty for wanting to heal, experience authenticity, abundance, joy, and pleasure. This dissonance can lead to great heartache, exhaustion, a sense of inadequacy, powerlessness as well as shame, guilt, and imposter syndrome.

Parallel, for white allies wanting to become accomplices, supremacy has led to dehumanization, emotional numbness, disembodiment, disconnection, helplessness, immobility and paralyzation; all of which prohibits necessary authentic action towards collective liberation. 

I recognize our interdependence and know that together we can heal our ancestors and our descendants, birthing a better world for the next seven generations.

I have radical esperanza that we can heal individually, communally, collectively and globally.