Welcome to The Comadre Project|2.04.25
Hi! thank you for being here! This is The Comadre Project, a newsletter filled with musings, book reviews, and recommendations of all sorts! If you end up enjoying it, please consider subscribing!
Hi friends!
Thank you for being here. After taking a break from my newsletter, I decided to return. The layout of this substack will remain consistent for the most part, but I may adjust it based on needs. My goal with this substack is to spark curiosity for books, culture, and most of all to democratize knowledge that has once been limited to academia. So if you are a first gen, obeja negra, eldest daughter, parentified child of the family and/or if growing up you didn’t feel represented because you watched shows like RBD, La Familia P.Luche, or other novelas — amigxs this newsletter is for you! 🤎
🎧What I’m listening to
What the media gets wrong about immigration with Maria Hinojosa: A conversation between host, Jose and award-winning journalist, Maria Hinojosa on why the media fails at covering immigration accurately, Trump’s second term, Democrats’ failure on immigration policy, and the role of journalists in combating misinformation.
What if it gets to be easy?: In this soul session, Ayanda discusses how social conditioning sometimes overshadows our gifts. It’s easy to blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong in our lives, but what if we reframed those thoughts through a lens rooted in liberation?
It’s not too late to break generational cycles with Sahaj Kaur Kohli: Whoa! Where do I even begin?! Author, Therapist, and founder of Brown Girl Therapy, Sahaj Kaur Kohli, shares tools for setting boundaries, breaking cycles, and nurturing our relationship with our parents. I especially enjoyed the nuanced conversation on having empathy, guilt, and resentment toward immigrant parents. I do believe that we should place the blame on the systems versus the individual, but we should also acknowledge the effects of individual wrongdoings as it validates the children’s experience.
How Brown Badass Bonita Founder Kim Guerra learned to practice radical self-love: Last year, I read Kim’s book, and oof it changed my life - quite literally! Y’all know I’ve been on my healing journey and nourishing my inner niña has been a top priority. After reading Kim’s book, I started researching my family genogram and quickly realized that there were patterns (mother wound and migration). “Badass Bonita” inspires readers to question the traditional family structure, break the silence, and empowers them to become a revolution by uncovering our inner Guerrera.
📺 What I’m watching
Tías Norteñas| Las Alucines: Obvio! Leaving the Alucines for the “What I’m watching” section of the newsletter because it’s NECESSARY to visually see this pod. This is by far my favorite Spanish podcast! Tienen que verlo!
The trailer for Juan Gabriel’s documentary has dropped! It’s set to release later this year (November)! I know I’ll watch with my mom and/or sisters. Did you grow up listening to Juan Gabriel?
📚 What I’m reading
(Please note this post contains affiliate links and I receive a small commission when you shop — thanks for supporting Caffeinated Thoughts!)
Ageism Unmasked: I’ve been reading this book for a few weeks, but honestly, I may have to DNF this. Although this book is thoroughly researched, it lacks substance. I might return to it later in the year, but for right now I am leaning towards putting it away.
Tias and Primas: I have already read this book in the past, but I am revisiting it again! I love how the author makes difficult academic jargon accessible. If you are interested in learning about dynamics of the women in your family (aunts and cousins) I highly recommend this book! One of my favorite stories as Prisca was writing this book was the communinal support that she offered to the artist who illustrated the images.
“We were checking in pretty regularly, but she had given birth, and a single mom. I asked her, ‘So what do you need me to do to make it happen?’ And she’s like, ‘Well, can you come to Brownsville and take care of my baby?"‘ She was laughing, but I said OK.”
Read more about this story on La Cuenta!
📰 Making headlines
Anti-ICE protests took place all over California! It’s great to see the Latine community coming together to advocate and amplify undocumented voices amongst massive raids. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! Resources below!
➡️ Barrio Drive is a queer undocumented-owned brand that advocates for marginalized voices! You can purchase items under their DACA fund where proceeds of the items go directly to DACA application renewals.
➡️ Know Your Rights (red cards) are available for purchase or print your own via PDF format.
Willy Chavarria just brought out an all-star cast for his big Paris debut: For his Paris debut, Chavarria chose a church for his show, Tarantula. Raised Catholic, the designer chose an Episcopalian church after hearing Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and her now infamous sermon towards President Trump. The show is more than just a fashion show, it’s a declaration of love and community. See the full video here.
☕️ Coffee Corner
Yeems Coffee is now in Gardena! I am so glad this amazing coffee shop is now closer to my house! I had the Vienna matcha and it did not disappoint. The matcha is strong and the cream top is perfectly fluffy, flavorful, and blends perfectly with the matcha! I recommend adding vanilla syrup if you like your drinks on the sweeter side.
I’ve been seeing Cafe Tumbado all over social media and I finally decided to give it a try. I ordered three drinks to test out with my partner including the Cosmo and Wanda (matcha with strawberry foam), Duvalin Latte (part of their Valentine’s menu), and my favorite, the Cereal Latte (iced latte with foam top, corn flakes, and banana slices — my childhood in a cup!). Cafe Tumbado is a home-based coffee shop located in Norwalk! I love the space so much! There’s plenty of seating and the owner’s pup will greet you upon entrance! Please DM the business for the address!
A new local coffee shop opened near my house! Ritual Cafe, is a woman-owned cafe focused on community! My go-to drink has been the butter pecan latte with oat milk —oh and they don’t charge for milk alternatives! This drink is supposed to be limited edition, but it’s been very popular. The owner, Melissa told me that she’s thinking of permanently keeping it on the menu! The cafe is spacious with plenty of tables/seating areas, a kids’ corner, bathrooms, and books!
🌞 Dicho of the day
“El que calla otorga”
See you here next Tuesday - same time, same place!
-Maria 👩🏽💻