[Applause]
imagine this you’re an 8 9 year old girl
and you’re reading this book about a
beautiful blonde girl in high school
she’s dating a kind tall handsome
sensitive guy and everyone at school is
talking about you – you guys are quick
they’re quickly becoming the most
popular couple at school however there’s
a problem her parents don’t approve of
him because he’s Mexican and according
to her parents those type of people are
trouble men imagine you’re reading
another book and this one is about a
girl named Rose she’s the new girl she’s
the new girl at school everybody wants
to talk to her everybody wants to hang
out with her she’s quickly becoming the
popular girl – but she has a secret her
name is not really Rose it’s actually
the Rosa
and she’s not from Boston like she
claims to be she’s from Texas and she’s
Mexican but she’s so embarrassed of her
heritage and culture that she’s afraid
of that if her new friends find out the
truth they’re not going to want to hang
out with her any longer these two books
were actually published and they were
part of the Sweet Valley High book
series a series that I was obsessed with
in the early 90s I so wanted to go to
Sweet Valley High I wanted to be those
girls I wanted to date those guys and I
just wanted to just be part of the
popular crowd so you could just imagine
what these two stories these two books
made me feel about my identity as a
Latina growing up I didn’t have a lot of
people that look like me that I could
look up to and television in books or in
magazines but I did read a lot and I
also loved to play pretend the thing
about playing pretend with me is that it
allowed me to become
people that in my mind I never thought I
could ever be it allowed me to pretend
that I could be on a stage like this
that I could be a scientist that I could
be a fashion designer a news broadcaster
a detective because I only got in my
head there was a voice that would tell
me that those awesome cool things that I
would read about and watch on TV only
happened to other people not people with
my brown skin last year
3400 children’s books were published at
over 3400 only 4.9 percent were about
Latino characters eight percent
african-american characters seven
percent Asian American characters in
recent years the numbers of black
characters in children’s books have
definitely doubled and we have seen a
small increase in Latino and Asian
American characters but we’re not even
close to be where we should be when I
became pregnant with my first child a
few years ago I thought about those
things and about me growing up and as an
adult I realized that I felt the way I
felt and I saw myself not worthy enough
because I didn’t see living proof of the
same people of my color in these
platforms and spaces so I promised
myself that I was not ever going to
allow my son to ever feel that way
because he deserves to believe that he
can do anything he wants so the first
thing I said to myself was what can I
introduce my child that would give him
the proof the minute that he’s born that
he belongs wherever he wants to be and I
thought about books and I went looking
for these books I wanted books I
celebrated my culture celebrated who I
was so they were proud of the way I
spoke my language like the color of my
skin without ever feeling ashamed and I
went looking for these books and I
couldn’t really find them and I was kind
of disappointed because I thought that
by now these books would have existed
already somebody might should have
created them or
but instead I found translated classics
of the books that we grew up with you
know which ones where the wild things
are if you give a mouse a cookie we all
read those books growing up but we all
know those books were not created for us
for marginalized communities they were
never intended or read or mean written
for us people of color so I said you
know somebody needs to hurry up and
create these books because I want to buy
them for my child and then I said wait
why don’t I create the books but then
that voice in my head the one that keeps
telling me that I’m not good enough kind
of came back in here and started saying
who do you think you are you don’t
desert you don’t have the permission to
write these books or create these books
but now old enough I understood that
that was suggest a monster that does not
exist in my head and I said I’m going to
create this manuscript and I’m going to
find a publisher that can publish these
for me and I was really excited I was
really motivated I really thought a
publisher was going to say that is a
great idea patty
why haven’t we thought about this but
instead those publishers that did get
back to me they all said no and I wasn’t
surprised and I was discouraged and I
forgot about the idea and I moved on
with my life then it figures later in
2014 I had a house fire my family wasn’t
at all at home so that’s a huge blessing
but I don’t know who ever have gone
through something that stressful but
it’s it’s hard it’s really stressful you
are one day you have everything you ever
work for in the next day it’s all gone
you don’t have anything all you have are
the underwear that you left that morning
with that is it and I got really
depressed and I started questioning my
existence who I was as a human being as
a Latina and as a mother and I
remembered the books in the manuscript
and at that time they still were not
these books that does not exist yet and
I said you know what I am going to do
this this house fire was a sign for me
to be reborn and do this for my
community and my children so I got rien
spired remote evaded and I started
sending out the idea the manuscript to
independent publishers thinking that
independent publishers understand how
marginalized communities aren’t
represented or heard and I’m on the
phone with one of them and I’m really
excited sharing my story I’m like I’m
going to change the world with these
books you know we have to we have to
publish them he cut me mid-sentence and
tells me young lady you’re wasting your
time Latinos don’t read to their kids
and I had heard that before not exactly
in those words but we’ve all heard it as
members of marginalized communities one
way or another in the lack of
representation and television in the
lack of stories and books and magazines
even in our heads when we tell ourselves
then we can’t do something because of
the color of our skin or we don’t
believe in ourselves because it’s been
ingrained since birth that we’re
second-class citizens and right there
and then I decided to stop that voice in
my head and decided that I needed to do
this so I call my best friend Arianna
and we start exchanging ideas and we’re
really excited and we’re telling each
other we’re going to do this we’re going
to change the world our children are
going to wake up and see themselves in
books and we’re going to be celebrated
and then we looked at each other and
we’re like how are we going to do this
but we managed because we had the heart
and we create our publishing company a
bilingual publishing company for
children we call their little liberals
which translates to little books a few
months later we publish our first three
books then three months later we
published our three more books and then
now we have nine
titles and thanks to the support of our
community our parents our grandparents
and our children these books are now
available at Target at Barnes & Noble at
the Museum of Modern Art in New York at
the LA County thank you at the LA County
Museum of Art you know this is not just
about these books this is about all of
us here all of us here are capable of
becoming role models and mentors for our
children we’re all capable of creating a
world for them where they wake up
knowing they belong when I started
looking for these children’s books for
my when I was pregnant with my child I
would go to these stores and I would ask
and say ask them and ask for where can I
find your Latino bookstore where can I
find your your bilingual books or your
Spanish books and at all they will
always motion to the back of the store
to IO x y&z the last aisle and say oh
they’re over there and I would ask is
this all you have available and they
would say well they don’t really sell
and I really wanted to say how do you
expect them to sell when you have them
in the back and that’s how I feel most
of my life how do you expect me to
achieve and be the best I can be when
you’re having us in the back when you’re
not giving us the opportunities that
others are given so I invite you all
here to join me and speak up go to these
stores go to the movie theater ask for
stories by our stories watch our stories
listen to our stories seek our stories
because our children deserve role models
that look like them
thank you
[Applause]
imagine this you’re an 8 9 year old girl
and you’re reading this book about a
beautiful blonde girl in high school
she’s dating a kind tall handsome
sensitive guy and everyone at school is
talking about you – you guys are quick
they’re quickly becoming the most
popular couple at school however there’s
a problem her parents don’t approve of
him because he’s Mexican and according
to her parents those type of people are
trouble men imagine you’re reading
another book and this one is about a
girl named Rose she’s the new girl she’s
the new girl at school everybody wants
to talk to her everybody wants to hang
out with her she’s quickly becoming the
popular girl – but she has a secret her
name is not really Rose it’s actually
the Rosa
and she’s not from Boston like she
claims to be she’s from Texas and she’s
Mexican but she’s so embarrassed of her
heritage and culture that she’s afraid
of that if her new friends find out the
truth they’re not going to want to hang
out with her any longer these two books
were actually published and they were
part of the Sweet Valley High book
series a series that I was obsessed with
in the early 90s I so wanted to go to
Sweet Valley High I wanted to be those
girls I wanted to date those guys and I
just wanted to just be part of the
popular crowd so you could just imagine
what these two stories these two books
made me feel about my identity as a
Latina growing up I didn’t have a lot of
people that look like me that I could
look up to and television in books or in
magazines but I did read a lot and I
also loved to play pretend the thing
about playing pretend with me is that it
allowed me to become
people that in my mind I never thought I
could ever be it allowed me to pretend
that I could be on a stage like this
that I could be a scientist that I could
be a fashion designer a news broadcaster
a detective because I only got in my
head there was a voice that would tell
me that those awesome cool things that I
would read about and watch on TV only
happened to other people not people with
my brown skin last year
3400 children’s books were published at
over 3400 only 4.9 percent were about
Latino characters eight percent
african-american characters seven
percent Asian American characters in
recent years the numbers of black
characters in children’s books have
definitely doubled and we have seen a
small increase in Latino and Asian
American characters but we’re not even
close to be where we should be when I
became pregnant with my first child a
few years ago I thought about those
things and about me growing up and as an
adult I realized that I felt the way I
felt and I saw myself not worthy enough
because I didn’t see living proof of the
same people of my color in these
platforms and spaces so I promised
myself that I was not ever going to
allow my son to ever feel that way
because he deserves to believe that he
can do anything he wants so the first
thing I said to myself was what can I
introduce my child that would give him
the proof the minute that he’s born that
he belongs wherever he wants to be and I
thought about books and I went looking
for these books I wanted books I
celebrated my culture celebrated who I
was so they were proud of the way I
spoke my language like the color of my
skin without ever feeling ashamed and I
went looking for these books and I
couldn’t really find them and I was kind
of disappointed because I thought that
by now these books would have existed
already somebody might should have
created them or
but instead I found translated classics
of the books that we grew up with you
know which ones where the wild things
are if you give a mouse a cookie we all
read those books growing up but we all
know those books were not created for us
for marginalized communities they were
never intended or read or mean written
for us people of color so I said you
know somebody needs to hurry up and
create these books because I want to buy
them for my child and then I said wait
why don’t I create the books but then
that voice in my head the one that keeps
telling me that I’m not good enough kind
of came back in here and started saying
who do you think you are you don’t
desert you don’t have the permission to
write these books or create these books
but now old enough I understood that
that was suggest a monster that does not
exist in my head and I said I’m going to
create this manuscript and I’m going to
find a publisher that can publish these
for me and I was really excited I was
really motivated I really thought a
publisher was going to say that is a
great idea patty
why haven’t we thought about this but
instead those publishers that did get
back to me they all said no and I wasn’t
surprised and I was discouraged and I
forgot about the idea and I moved on
with my life then it figures later in
2014 I had a house fire my family wasn’t
at all at home so that’s a huge blessing
but I don’t know who ever have gone
through something that stressful but
it’s it’s hard it’s really stressful you
are one day you have everything you ever
work for in the next day it’s all gone
you don’t have anything all you have are
the underwear that you left that morning
with that is it and I got really
depressed and I started questioning my
existence who I was as a human being as
a Latina and as a mother and I
remembered the books in the manuscript
and at that time they still were not
these books that does not exist yet and
I said you know what I am going to do
this this house fire was a sign for me
to be reborn and do this for my
community and my children so I got rien
spired remote evaded and I started
sending out the idea the manuscript to
independent publishers thinking that
independent publishers understand how
marginalized communities aren’t
represented or heard and I’m on the
phone with one of them and I’m really
excited sharing my story I’m like I’m
going to change the world with these
books you know we have to we have to
publish them he cut me mid-sentence and
tells me young lady you’re wasting your
time Latinos don’t read to their kids
and I had heard that before not exactly
in those words but we’ve all heard it as
members of marginalized communities one
way or another in the lack of
representation and television in the
lack of stories and books and magazines
even in our heads when we tell ourselves
then we can’t do something because of
the color of our skin or we don’t
believe in ourselves because it’s been
ingrained since birth that we’re
second-class citizens and right there
and then I decided to stop that voice in
my head and decided that I needed to do
this so I call my best friend Arianna
and we start exchanging ideas and we’re
really excited and we’re telling each
other we’re going to do this we’re going
to change the world our children are
going to wake up and see themselves in
books and we’re going to be celebrated
and then we looked at each other and
we’re like how are we going to do this
but we managed because we had the heart
and we create our publishing company a
bilingual publishing company for
children we call their little liberals
which translates to little books a few
months later we publish our first three
books then three months later we
published our three more books and then
now we have nine
titles and thanks to the support of our
community our parents our grandparents
and our children these books are now
available at Target at Barnes & Noble at
the Museum of Modern Art in New York at
the LA County thank you at the LA County
Museum of Art you know this is not just
about these books this is about all of
us here all of us here are capable of
becoming role models and mentors for our
children we’re all capable of creating a
world for them where they wake up
knowing they belong when I started
looking for these children’s books for
my when I was pregnant with my child I
would go to these stores and I would ask
and say ask them and ask for where can I
find your Latino bookstore where can I
find your your bilingual books or your
Spanish books and at all they will
always motion to the back of the store
to IO x y&z the last aisle and say oh
they’re over there and I would ask is
this all you have available and they
would say well they don’t really sell
and I really wanted to say how do you
expect them to sell when you have them
in the back and that’s how I feel most
of my life how do you expect me to
achieve and be the best I can be when
you’re having us in the back when you’re
not giving us the opportunities that
others are given so I invite you all
here to join me and speak up go to these
stores go to the movie theater ask for
stories by our stories watch our stories
listen to our stories seek our stories
because our children deserve role models
that look like them
thank you
[Applause]
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