Taking Up Space as a Latina Is an Act of Resistance | Johanna Toruño

As Latinas, we’ve been taught, in both subtle and explicit ways, that being too visible, too loud, too opinionated, too ambitious, just too much can come with consequences. We are taught there is safety in being agreeable and virtue in being selfless. And so we disappear, both literally and figuratively, both physically and emotionally.

And right now, as our community is being targeted by immigration crackdowns, threats to our rights, and political rhetoric increasingly telling us that we don’t belong, that pressure to disappear can feel even more intense. Research shows that when you’re living with immigration anxiety, or the fear of being stopped, detained, watched, or profiled, it can change how you move through the world, where you go, how you show up, and even how comfortable you feel taking up space.

But what parts of ourselves do we lose when we’re constantly trying to be less, and what could our communities gain if more of us felt free to take up space?

In today’s episode of Sin Vergüenza by Somos, we’re getting into all the messages and expectations that teach us to make ourselves smaller and learning how to resist them and, instead, take up more space, for ourselves and for each other.

To do that, we’re speaking with Johanna Toruño, the queer Salvadoran-born, Virginia-raised, and LA-based artist behind The Unapologetic Street Series, a project she started in 2016 that uses public spaces across the country as a canvas for affirmations celebrating Latinas, immigrants, queer and trans people, and other marginalized communities.