Solo para que sepas…

A few days ago, while at a March 8 Coalition gathering in Puerto Rico, the beloved Yamilin Rivera took a moment to send a message that moved me to tears:

“Morning sunshine. Solo para que sepas que estamos en un tallereo de la Coalición 8M y estamos viendo los manifiestos publicados!!! La corilla está agradecida y emocionada.”

The coalition has been meeting and organizing since 2009, bringing feminist organizations and individual feminist activists from across the archipelago together, to mark International Women’s Day in Puerto Rico. Thanks to my connection to Vanesa Contreras Capo, I was able to include their manifestos from the 2022 and 2023 actions demanding feminist justice in the “Porque Estamos Aquí: Puerto Rican Feminism Against Empire” anthology (published by The Feminist Press, 2025). The cover for the anthology is a photo from the 2021 Coalición 8M manifestation in San Juan, taken by David T. Diaz of Four Two Photography.

When I began this project of assembling Puerto Rican feminist voices in one text, a motivating factor was precisely to activate moments such as these: where through witnessing, affirming, and amplifying our Rican feminist movements, we are able to feel the power of our collective presence across natural and human made divisions.

There is no amount of book royalties or status that could ever amount to the value of the smile I see on this feminista’s face* to my heart, our purpose, and the collective feminist labor for liberation.

If you want to contribute to our work, there are a few things you can do: 1) purchase the anthology from The Feminist Press (all royalties are divided between contributors); 2) follow the group on Instagram Coalición 8 de marzo Puerto Rico; 3) help me get the book translated into Spanish for publication; and 4) share this post.

Pa’lante! Siempre Pa’lante!

I have obscured it here because I do not have permission to share it. But trust me, it is a gorgeous smile.