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"Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us" by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez

Hosted by Ofelia Montelongo, Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

The Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights and Prince George’s County Memorial Library System presents a conversation with Ofelia Montelongo about Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez's new book, "Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us."

About the book:

From the author of "For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts," a celebration of the women at the heart of Latine families.  

Born into a large, close-knit family in Nicaragua, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez grew up surrounded by strong, kind, funny, sensitive, resilient, judgmental, messy, beautiful women. Whether blood relatives or chosen family, these tías and primas fundamentally shaped her view of the world—and so did the labels that were used to talk about them. The tía loca who is shunned for defying gender roles. The pretty prima put on a pedestal for her European features. The matriarch who is the core of her community but hides all her pain. 

In "Tías and Primas," the follow-up to her acclaimed debut "For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts," Mojica Rodríguez explores these archetypes. Fearlessly grappling with the effects of intergenerational trauma, centuries of colonization, and sexism, she attempts to heal the pain that is so often embodied in female family lines.  

"Tías and Primas" is a deeply felt love letter to family, community, and Latinas everywhere. ~From the Publisher.

About the author, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez:

Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez was born in Managua, Nicaragua but calls Nashville, Tennessee home. She got her Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University in the Spring of 2015. The bulk of her work is around making accessible, through storytelling and curating content, the theories and heavy material that is oftentimes only taught in the racist/classist institutions known as academia.

She started the platform Latina Rebels in 2013, and currently it boasts over 300k organic followers online. She has been featured in Telemundo, Univision, Mitú, Huffington Post Latino Voices, Guerrilla Feminism, Latina Mag, Cosmopolitan, Everyday Feminism, and was invited to the White House in the Fall of 2016. She is unapologetic, angry, and uncompromising about protecting and upholding the stories of Latinx communities. Que viva la gente! Find more information here.

About our host, Ofelia Montelongo:

Ofelia Montelongo is a bilingual writer from Mexico. She has an MBA in Strategic Leadership & an MA in Latin American Literature. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, Latino Book Review, Los Acentos Review, and elsewhere. She is the editor of the Latine Monsters issue at Barrelhouse. She currently teaches at the University of Maryland and she is a PEN/Faulkner writer in residence, a Macondista & a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow. Tin House, VONA, Key West Seminar alumna. Find out more here.