Source: The Xavierite
On Wednesday Oct. 18, Imelda Macias, Ph.D. and Camila Marquez of the Office Of Inclusive Excellence hosted a book club session to discuss the book, “For Brown Girls With Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter To Women Of Color” by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez.
As part of SXU’s celebration of Latinx Heritage, the Office Of Inclusive Excellence held two sessions to discuss the novel, the first of which took place on Sept. 26. Students Diana Mendoza, Andrew Guzman, and Michelle Coronado were in attendance for both sessions.
The group discussed several topics surrounding the novel such as religious upbringing, toxic masculinity at home, and navigating academia as a person of color.
The members spoke from 3pm to 5pm, sharing stories of how they have overcome prejudice, and their experience with the topics discussed in the book.
Published in 2021, “For Brown Girls With Sharp Edges And Tender Hearts” is a book about the author’s experiences growing up in a traditional male-led household, as well as navigating her romantic and academic life while dealing with the hardships of racism and sexism.
Rodriguez covers issues such as white fragility, intersectionality, and imposter syndrome. The group members found themselves relating to the subject matter, as well as the anecdotes one another shared on their cultural experiences and hardships they experienced.
Rodriguez is a prominent public speaker, having given talks on her experiences as a Hispanic woman across the country, recently in Oak Park at the Veterans Room this past September.
She is currently working on two more projects, namely an anthology about female religious figures, a cookbook, a graphic novel, and a new book titled “Tias and Primas” about more hyper specific issues within Hispanic families.
She is also a strong advocate for the rights of BIPOC, giving talks on female empowerment and cultural inclusivity. As a first-generation student and a storyteller, she strongly believes that education is important. As such, she sent a short message to the club, wishing them well on their journey and thanking them for recognizing her work.
Macias discovered the book while in a book club with friends, and found it to be a good novel for the SXU community. She related to the themes of intersectionality and religious upbringing in the book and thought that students could benefit from Rodriguez’s words of empowerment.
She was lucky enough to meet Rodriguez in Tennessee shortly after reading the book. They sat down for breakfast and discussed the book, as well as the points that they could relate to. Macias noted how open the author was, and how “willing she was to meet a total stranger” in order to connect with a reader and discuss her work.
This is the second year the book has been celebrated during Latinx Heritage Month, and Macias hopes that it won’t be the last. Other RSO’s have held book discussions, and there have been literary focused events. Though recently SXU has not had an official book club.
Macias expressed that she “would love to have a monthly book club,” that would be open to all students for them to discuss different global cultures, and help them get a better understanding of the world. Those who came to last week’s discussion gave their emails for future reference.
The reading list would be a mix of fiction and nonfiction, based on global perspectives and human issues. If students are interested in starting this club, Macias is available by email (macias@sxu.edu) and will be looking to gauge student enthusiasm behind this idea. There also may be a callout on The Den in the future for anyone interested.