The Power of Story: Our Event at Yale University

In this episode, we return to March 7, 2026. It is a reflection on Grace & Boldness: Latina Voices for Change, the first public event hosted by Casa de María Publisher at Yale University. 

We revisit key ideas from the keynote address, beginning with a central truth: storytelling is not separate from social justice. It is often where the work begins. Before policy is debated and community change is ratified, someone tells the story of what is happening. In doing so, this act asserts that their life, and the lives of others, matter.

This episode reflects on what it means to hold story as both power and responsibility. We explore the role of literary spaces in safeguarding memory and dignity.

We return to the voices of the authors who shared their journeys. Each naming the tension between telling the truth and protecting what must be held with care. Their reflections remind us that writing is not only about expression, but it's about responsibility to self, to family, and to community.

This episode also traces the origin of Casa de María Publisher. A commitment to build a literary home for writers.  Learn more about each of our speakers and future events.  Writing Programs: Retreats, Webinars & Podcast

Media Coverage by Zuleyka Torres.  Follow her on Youtube Channel @Inspire Me By Zuly Torres. 

Guest Speakers:

Chef Red (Kristina Cruz-Diaz). Follow her on Youtube Channel @Red Kruz

Jill Interlandi, Owner of DoNo Cafe 

Rachel Torres (Moderator of Panel Discussion)

AUTHORS:

Daisy Plaza, Author of I Did it for Her: From Trauma and Fear to Pure Love and Strength

Jacquelyn Santiago, Contributing author in the anthologies Becoming Her: A Woman's Path to Purpose, Self Love, and Fulfillment and Live Your Optimal Life: A Transformation Anthology 

Dr. Vilma Luz Caban, Author The Heart of an Advocate

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Welcome back. Oh my goodness, it feels good to be back here in Puerto Rico after a trip to Connecticut for our first public launch event for Casa de Maria Publisher. On March 7th, we hosted that first public event at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and it just felt great to see a full house inside the historic Dwight Hall Center for Public Service and Social Justice. Having that room full of attendees who value the power of narrative was just worth everything it was. I want to thank every person who committed to being there on this momentous occasion. That event was fully booked in less than 24 hours because you believe in the power of story. So I want to thank you for coming out. I also want to thank content creator, writer, and blogger Zulie Torres for her meteor coverage of the event. She did an exceptional job capturing so many wonderful moments. Her interview of each of the guest speakers and panelists can be found on her YouTube channel, Inspire Me by Zulie Torres. I will include this information in her podcast description so you can click on the link that will take you to her YouTube channel. Before I begin, I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the space where we gathered in. Dwight Hall Center for Public Service and Social Justice has long been a place where questions of responsibility, service, and justice are taken seriously. It is a space that was shaped by students, educators, and community partners who understand that knowledge alone is not enough, that learning carries an obligation to act. And so for generations, this hall has held those tough conversations about equity, civic engagement, and leadership. It has supported work rooted in community care, accountability, and the belief that institutions must remain in dialogue with the communities that they serve. And that history matters to Casa de Maria publisher because when we talk about the power of story and social justice, we're not just speaking in abstraction. We are speaking in a space that has witnessed people grappling with injustice and asking what their role should be in addressing it. And we ask ourselves that all the time of our writers. We also gathered during Women's History Month, a time that set aside to remember the women whose courage reshaped public life, often long before their voices were welcomed in the historical record. And many of these women did not set out to make history. They set out to tell the truth about the conditions that they were living in or witnessing. There is a well-known phrase, often repeated during this month, that well-behaved women seldom make history. Well, the point is that progress rarely begins in that comfort zone, and it begins when someone is willing to speak what has not yet been acknowledged. So I am grateful that we had that time because it was a moment to really reclaim the power of story and how storytelling enters the work of social justice. Because long before movements are organized, before policies debated, before institutions actually respond, someone first told the story of what was happening. So stories are foundational to what we call real work, that tough work, and stories, narratives, or how people survive systems that perhaps were never built to hold them. So there are people that are living in conditions that have not yet been named, addressed, or repaired, and it is through the power of narrative that many people first assert this matters. In social justice work, story functions as evidence, and for communities that have been historically marginalized, excluded, or silenced, lived experience often becomes the first and only record. So long before these reports are written or studies are funded, people already know what they're enduring. So that narrative holds what systems fail to document. It records the daily realities. And so it preserves memory when official histories have probably left people out. So power alone is not enough in the power of sharing that story. Because story also carries a big responsibility. And this is where grace and boldness meet, because boldness is the decision to speak when silence is probably safer. So to name harm when systems probably prefer that you remain neutral. It's to tell the truth even when it disrupts comfort or challenges or power. Now, grace, on the other hand, is how that truth is carried. And it is the care that's taken to protect the dignity of the storyteller, the family, the community, and the culture that holds that story. So for our Latina writers, grace and boldness were not opposing forces. They were learned together. And that's what this day was all about. The power of story of each of those writers, authors sharing their story, as well as our guest speakers who understand that long before a book was published, there was a story brewing, or there was a poem brewing, or recipe brewing, and then it was shared as a contribution to the world. That stories carry memory forward across generations. They just connect us, our personal experiences to the collective understanding. And I'm excited that we are able to bring those stories forward. We also had a ribbon cutting, and it was our public launch to mark our beginning into public life in 2026. It was a promise to writers who are still finding their way, to stories that have been carried maybe for years very quietly, and to the future where those voices are not forgotten. So that was our promise, and it was very simple. It was to hold stories with care, to protect the dignity of those who tell them, and to prepare their work for the world without asking them to surrender their voice. I'm grateful to my family that was there to be able to share that space with me. I had my nieces and nephews as well as my son, my brothers out there as a part of that ceremony as we launched the first public event. So I want to thank every person that came out. After a dedication ceremony, we began with the stories that carried us forward into the evening. We invited an amazing person who created as we our reception. We had wonderful food, and we had Chef Red, who did a great job of sharing her recipes with us. And it was an honor not only for her to share her recipes with us and receive us, but we also had her as our guest speaker. Um Puerto Rican cultural chef, food consultant, and a caterer whose work centers grace in how we relate to our food, right? Our bodies and to our heritage. And it was through her work with Happybelly LLC that she reminded us that nourishment is not about perfection, but about dignity, access, and belonging. So Chef Red shared with us that grace and boldness live not only in what we say, but in how we care for our bodies, our traditions, and one another. And she continues to carry her mission forward with her recipe work and her YouTube channel, Red Cruz, as well as her food consultant work in the community. So you can follow her on YouTube and see the magic virtually in person. So I want to thank Chef Red for sharing her story, her mission, and her love language in her recipes that we enjoyed, the audience was able to enjoy from her Abuelitas recipes from Puerto Rico. So thank you. And I will share that link as well. As we continued our stories, we moved from the kitchen as a site of nourishment to the cafe as a site of memory, labor, and community life. So, you know, storytelling does not happen on only on the page, it happens in the spaces we build, in the businesses we sustain, and in the ways that we choose to honor community and where we come from while creating something that serves others. So our next guest, Jill Interlandi, helped us bring that understanding into public view through her work as the proprietor of Dono Cafe. She is a Latina business owner in Hartford, Connecticut, and it was through her cafe that she created more than just a place to gather. She created a space where family legacy, cultural memory, and the history of Latino advocacy is living on her cafe walls in the city of Hartford in a beautiful mural that she created with archived pictures of different histories of that city as well as part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. She named it, she honored it, and she made it very visible. Her work reminds us that storytelling can live on walls in our daily rituals and in the courage that it takes to build something rooted in community, even in the face of challenges. So I want to thank Jill Interlandi for building her business from ground up, knowing full well that it was grounded in culture, resilience, and collective care. Thank you for your contribution and for opening up your space to community organizations and authors like me that needed a space to not only gather work, but to prompt community to celebrate journeys and milestones. So I want to thank her for opening up her space to author Daisy Glasa and myself in October to raise awareness about domestic violence as we hosted our author meet and greet in her cafe. Thank you, Joe. We also moved beautifully into the evening as we moved to our panel discussion with our authors. And Rachel Torres was our moderator. She did an exceptional job guiding us through those tough conversations about our author journeys and about not giving up. Grace and boldness are not abstract ideas, they are practices. They shape how stories are told, how they are held, and how they move into the world. So Rachel is someone who truly understands that and is deeply aligned with those themes in exploring story as witness, education as responsibility, and dialogue as a part of public practice. She is a high school global history educator whose professional journey has taken her into many learning spaces across the United States and Europe. And those experiences have shaped her commitment to teaching Black and Latino studies as well as Holocaust studies with depth, rigor, and care. In her classroom, Rachel challenges students to question dominant narratives and to recognize whose voices have been centered and who have been historically repressed or silenced. She understands education as a space where storytelling and critical inquiry meet, where young people learn not only what happened, but why memory, power, and perspective matter. So we're so grateful that she guided our author conversation with such attentiveness, curiosity, and respect for the stories that were shared. She shared how grace and boldness reflect two qualities that frequently coexist in this work: grace and how writers hold their histories, their families, and themselves, and boldness in the choice to speak openly, to take those writers' risks, and to claim space for stories that regrettably are too often marginalized or misunderstood. So she invited each of the authors to share their author journeys, and we are so grateful she did. Our first author speaker was Daisy Plaza, who is one of the panelists, the author of the book I Did It for Her. Daisy talked about her journey. She is a Connecticut-based author who is now relocating to Oklahoma, and she's also featured in La Casa de Maria Publisher Podcast, episode seven, After Survival, Choosing Voice. So I want to thank Daisy for being a part of that. She did an exceptional job sharing about her writer's journey. Daisy read some excerpts from her book and she talked about the challenges of writing a memoir, honoring her journey, but being mindful of community and the different needs. So Daisy shared some also amazing news of how her book was showcased on Broadway, bright lights in New York City with an amazing group of authors that are about making a beautiful impact for change. So you can purchase Daisy's book on Amazon or in Barnes Noble. I will share the link in this description. Our second author panelist was Jacqueline Santiago. And in episode 11 of La Casa de Maria Publisher podcast, Write, Reflect, and Reimagine, I sat down with nationally recognized violence prevention leader and youth advocate Jaclyn Santiago for a conversation about voice service and the legacy that grows from speaking when silence often felt safer. So Jacqueline is a respected author, community leader, and advocate whose work centers on youth empowerment, organizational leadership, and personal development. And with a career that has spanned over 25 years of community work, Jacqueline has made multiple visits to Washington, D.C. to share her expertise in violence prevention fields with the White House as well as the U.S. Department of Justice. During our Grace and Boldness event, she shared a writing piece in which she reflects on two murals that we spoke earlier in that episode. And how that recognition and celebration really brought her to find ways to continue digging deep to support community leaders and agents for change. She was one of those inspirational faces on the brick walls. And during our discussion, she's talked about the challenges that young girls face not finding their voice, especially when they are in very compromising or dangerous situations. She shared her personal story of tapping into that inner strength to speak up and to support victims of violence. Talked about the healing power of writing and how she hopes future writers can tap into that inner strength. And you can find Jacqueline's writing in two wonderful anthology series, Becoming Her, A Woman's Path to Purpose, Self-Love and Fulfillment, and another great anthology by Greenheart Living Press, Live Your Optimal Life, a Transformation Anthology. So thank you, Jacqueline, for encouraging the next generation of writers. I will have those links in our description. Now, during the Grace and Boldness Latina voices her change panel discussion, I was asked a question that writers often hear, and where did your writing journey begin? That one was tough. And I realized that my writing journey did not begin on the page, it began with my mother, Maria. And as a young girl, I was part of a quiet plan to leave an abusive home. My mother worked in secret as a seamstress in the lower east side of Manhattan, and she left after my stepdad would go to work, and she would try to get back right before he came home. So everything really depended on timing. And we we had to thrive in silence and we had to trust each other with that plan. So I was her accomplice. I cared for my younger brothers. I helped maintain that rhythm of the home. I made the rice, I made all the house feel like my mother had been there the whole time. You know, a little oil in the pan, a glove of garlic, voila. It was it was about just making it feel like she had never left the home. And that was really when I first began to understand the power of story. Like here was this young girl trying to help her mom get away. And they had a plan to try to build a house in Puerto Rico that her brother was gonna make for her, and she would send money secretly to him to construct this home. And uh regrettably, you know, I was worried. I was worried this plan was gonna fail. Uh, we were gonna get found out, you know, and at that point I came up with like a plan B. So, what about if my mom came home and my stepfather was beat her to it, right? Literally came before her. What was her excuse? So we said she was taking English classes at a community center, and my friend had given me in middle school a workbook that her father had used when he was learning English in the community center, and so I erased every page of that book and so she can reuse them, and it looked like she was doing the work, and you know, instead of being of working, she was in the community center, so she would study on the train just in case she needed proof that she was learning something. And for me, I learned how to kind of take those risks in the margins of strategy, in the margins of survival, in that quiet resistance. And I really believe that's where my writing life began. Not as an expression, but in witnessing, you know, watching my mom build freedom and little increments and watching her carry a future that didn't yet exist, this great promise. It wasn't until years later that I really came to understand what I had just witnessed. You know, I learned in that moment the power of how some women carry entire futures in their bodies, and someone must remember what they carried. And that understanding shaped my memoir that I wrote The Heart of an Advocate. I wrote to kind of make sense of growing up early, to name what I had lived before I had language for it, and to kind of hold memory with care about those experiences. And that writing changed me. It really required me to be clear. Um and the book was published, and I realized that writers began to find me, writers who have done the hard work of telling the truth, writers who had finished their manuscripts, but they didn't know how to bring their manuscripts into the world. And I thought again of my mother, of the house that she began building in Toalta, and a house that remains unfinished in her lifetime. You know, those concrete walls, no doors, no electricity. It was just an unrealized dream. But before she passed, I made her that promise that I would finish what she began. And over time I realized that promise was not only about a house, but it was about building something that could hold others too. And that is how Casa de Maria Publisher was born. It was a space where stories are not going to be rushed, where craft matters, where protection matters, and where memory is treated with care. So when I reflected on that panel conversation, this is what still stays with me. That my writing life as a girl started by protecting a fragile plan, and that plan to kind of get away, kind of translated into a plan to help readers get away, right? And to dive into other the power of narrative. And it kind of continues today, you know, as a promise. You know, as we continue to try to get stories ready for the world, I want to share that information so that you can be inspired through not only this podcast, but by joining us at Gaza de MediaPublisher.com. We have some great writing programs to support you. Come visit our page to learn about our writing retreats in Puerto Rico, our free webinars, and our subscription based webinars. And keep continuing to listen to these episodes. I want to thank all the authors that came out to support me and to be a part of the stream. I want to thank Rachel for understanding how tough that was, right, to hold each of our stories. And she did an outstanding job guiding our discussion and our time together with the audience. She brought down those tall ceilings in that beautiful hall. She closed in the walls, and you just were transported to a space that felt intimate and comfortable. It was wonderful. And I want to thank Daisy and Jackie, who have been such a source of love and encouragement and realizing the stream and opening up this publishing house, visiting La Casa de Maria Publisher, as well as being able to hold space together in our podcast. Their work in the world is reminding us about ways that writers value the power of story and they need support to carry that work forward. So I want to thank them for being a part of this. So I have great news to share that at the end of the event, I let them know that we are going to be back on the Yale campus in September. So September 19th, write it down. We're going to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with another free public literary event called What We Carry, What We Claim. Doctora Melissocos Aquino, who wrote the book Carmen and Grace, what a great novelist. We have Peggy Robles Alvorado, who wrote the book Burn Me Back, amazing poet. We get to hear from her. We had different genres, and we had Adriana Aaron Rivera, who wrote Paloma's song. She's also going to be there as a part of historical fiction. Beautiful work. Together we're going to explore questions of identity, cultural memory, and the narrative responsibility as writers. And that program is going to center on how writers navigate inherited histories and those personal experiences and to explore how these authors claim that authorship over their stories. Through these readings and conversations, we're going to reflect on writing both as a creative and civic practice. So it's one that bears witness, preserves cultural memory, and contributes to broader conversations about belonging, equity, and voice. So I hope you're going to join us for that fall event. You know, as a reflect on that evening, I just keep returning to what we witnessed was not just a program, it was a gathering, a gathering of stories, memory, lived experience. They went from the kitchen to the cafe to the classroom to public murals and to the page. So we were reminded that storytelling does not live in one place. It lives in how we nourish, how we build, how we teach, and how we remember and how we choose to speak. Each person that came out that day stepped into that space, contributing something larger to the single event. And I want to thank them. We waited when we launched our public event because we were waiting for the right conditions, the right space, the right care, because you deserve that. So Casa de Maria Publisher is grateful. And as we move forward, this is the work that's going to continue. We're going to continue creating spaces where stories can land safely. So we're going to continue supporting writers as they shape what they carry, and we want their voice not to be rushed, reduced, or forgotten. We are just excited that we are ready for a September event. And I want to thank you for being a part of this moment and for continuing to believe in the power of story.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Thank you for spending this time with me. If today's conversation resonated, I invite you to explore our free webinars.