Latino Muslim Unity hosted #WomxnarePowerful #GirlsarePowerful Summit, a healing and empowering space for over 450 Womxn and girls of Color on March 30th in Anaheim. attendees shared their stories of vulnerability, bravery, resilience, and intersectional struggles. Legendary civil rights leader, Sylvia Mendez received the lifetime achievement award and stated:
““This Latino and Muslim solidarity movement is so important because Orange County is more segregated than it’s ever been and this event recognizes that women of color are powerful here, our voice is powerful... I’m 86 years old and I learned what mansplaining was today, I didn’t know I was being mansplained so many times until I understood what it meant, we have a voice, our voice is enough to send our message.” ”
There were tears from attendees listening to Cristela Alonzo’s Powerful keynote about her mother’s story of resilience against the odds and how her mother inspired her to be the first latina to create, produce, write and star in a network tv sitcom “cristela”. Words of encouragement from Dalia Mogahed, Cultural Change Visionary Honoree and stories of powerful women of color elected leaders and organizers shared intersectional narratives of the struggle to be heard, fight for equal opportunities and advocate for positive cultural change. The mic was passed to the audience to give the platform to girls of color who shared how they defined their own narratives and claimed power in their lives.
The event served up halal tacos and elotes for lunch and reflective breakout sessions that spoke truth to power about gentrification being a women’s issues; Native American women’s contributions to traditional healing; emotional intelligence and how to utilize it at work, home, in relationships, friendships and school; how to run for office, and how to identify triggers and use mental health resources to preserve their energy.
Special thanks to the summit chair, rida hamida, organizing committee, volunteers, speakers, elected officials, partners, attendees, resource orgs and Anaheim Elementary School District for making sure the event ran smoothly. This event was made possible by California Endowment, Anaheim Public Library, Institute of Museum and Library Services, California State Library, Republic Services, and Individual donors: Maria Cervantes and Eddie Quillares.
