Cantando En Las Sombras.

Cantando En La Sombras is a cathartic work that provides an unexpected repose to my consistently restless mind. A multi-sensory experience, this essay is a self-reflective piece that speaks to my sexual identity and journey of self-discovery through prose and song. Inspired by the groundbreaking work Chicana Lesbians: The Girls Our Mothers Warned Us About (Trujillo, 1994), I found the fortitude and autochthonous voice to tell my story, my way, through the candor, realism, and integrity in the stories of women who not only dared to live their truths but to immortalize them in words. The work is unceremonious and intimate, and although it is unique to me, when the audience reads my story and hears my songs, they may be reminded of the other contributors to the anthology-their hopes, dreams, struggles, and heartbreaks. My hope is that readers find their own veracity, substance, and strength reflected in my words and music, and realize that we are all hermanas, "…mujeres extranjeras, compartiendo la misma alma."