3 days agoOpen Letter to AWP[I had applied for their 2023 AWP Community Scholarship, which grants awardees access to the annual conference by waiving the registration fees, which, this year is $350 for non-members (←which is the cost of a flight from Newark to Seattle! seriously??) and $250 for members. They have other rates that…Race3 min readRace3 min read
Jul 26, 2022I’m coming clean with a bit of truth for you[This was an email I sent to my community but feel that it deserves a wider audience to reach those of us who are called to be in service of others, but often lose sight of our divine path when we get caught up in the DO-ing.] Hey love, Confession…7 min read7 min read
Mar 14, 2022How BTS Rocked My Asian-American WorldMaverick Mondays are back for another season! Weekly posts about what it’s like to live in the US as a woman of color, as the daughter of Filipino immigrants, as a spiritualist, as a witch, as a poet-writer, and as a mom to three young women. I like to call…Asian American7 min readAsian American7 min read
Aug 2, 2021Heal Your Money StoriesLike the majority of folks of color, I was raised on money stories of scarcity. Add that to the fact that my parents were immigrants, fleeing a country under martial law, and had nothing when they first got here. Super scarcity! (Not a superpower you want! Haha) The other day…Healing7 min readHealing7 min read
Jul 26, 2021The Trauma of HustleThese are the messages we receive in our capitalist society. It’s all GO GO GO. Do Do Do! It’s no wonder we’re all suffering from some kind of ailment, whether it’s physical illness like Crohn’s disease or a mental one like depression. This is the trauma of The Hustle. * …Healing5 min readHealing5 min read
Jul 19, 2021The Labels We Give Our Trauma[content warning: child abuse, sexual violence] When I was in sixth grade, my religion teacher, Sister Pam, a young light-skinned Black nun in our parish, talked to us about how to behave like good Catholics. The night before, I had done something to anger my dad and got whipped by…Healing From Trauma6 min readHealing From Trauma6 min read
Jul 12, 2021You Don’t Belong HereYou don’t know that you truly don’t belong until someone points it out to you. A few months ago, a Filipina woman was knocked down and beaten in midtown Manhattan in broad daylight. The attacker screamed at her, “You don’t belong here.” After it happened, I talked about this with…Healing5 min readHealing5 min read
Jun 28, 2021Healing Racial TraumaThe Summer of 2002 was the first time I entered a space exclusively for people of color. This was the intent of the space: to bring folks of color-specifically writers of color-together WITHOUT worrying about the white gaze. I was dumbfounded. To be able to be authentically ME without measuring…Healing From Trauma5 min readHealing From Trauma5 min read
Jun 21, 2021Mothering While Brown“You can use my foundation,” I said. “No, Mommy. I can’t.” “Why?” “Because it will be too brown.” Whoops. For a brief second, I had forgotten. My oldest and I were out shopping for makeup at the local drugstore. She was attending her first Sweet 16 party and wanted some…Women Of Color5 min readWomen Of Color5 min read
Jun 7, 2021Know Who Your Friends AreThe last five years have been a kind of reckoning. A revelation into who’s got your back. And who doesn’t. * As kid growing up, I didn’t have many friends. I was friendly with people, but for the most part, I was quiet. …Women Of Color7 min readWomen Of Color7 min read
