Yesika Salgado is a Los Angeles based Salvadoran poet who writes about her family, her culture, her city, and her brown body. She has shared her work in venues and campuses throughout the country. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Latina Magazine, Univision, Vibe Magazine, Huffington Post, NPR, TEDx, and many digital platforms. She is the co-founder of the Latina feminist collective Chingona Fire and an internationally recognized body positivity activist. Yesika is the author of Corazón and Tesoro
Discussion in Groups
Which elements were impactful in Salgado’s process of self-acceptance-love-respect?
Tesoro is a poetry collection that examines family, migration, survival, and the formative power of the women in Salgado’s life. It is a telling of the balance between love and perseverance. Tesoro is an unearthing of the sacred connections that make a person whole; the treasure we forever keep with us when we learn from those we love, when we mourn those we’ve lost, and what grows in between.
Tesoro-(Selection)–Y.-Salgado_searchable
Zoom Presentations:
Topics from our selection
.”Canela”
Self-definition; linguistic identity; storytelling, heritage, and latinidad (Latin-ness)
.”The women”
Sexual and gender violence at the borderlands
.”Mami’s Cooking”
Motherhood; Community and identity formation through cuisine
(1:30)
.”San Vicente, El Salvador”
Dignified country life; respect and appreciation of the homeland
.”The Therapist”
White privilege; self-protection and brown womanhood; being disinherited: “having things taken from us”; the power of words
Quick Commentary
Inspire in the poetics (topics, images, play with language, narratives) presented in the selection, how will you describe Yesika Salgado’s vision of Latina identity?
