Let's Talk About It

Speakers:

Lizbel Ortiz is a first generation American-Dominican Author, Poet and Filmmaker. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She Published her first book “Let’s Talk About It Por La Buena O La Mala” in 2020 where she peeled back layers of the taboo topics we have been told to keep in between the four walls of our Caribbean homes. She is working on her first short film detailing the trials that have shaped our elders including the long term effects of poverty, racism, sexism, sexual assault and other major traumatic experiences that can be repeated. Her main goal is to uncover the hidden pain that will eventually lead to intimate moments of healing, both personally and collectively as a community."

Jasmine Cepeda, LCSW is a Latinx psychotherapist working in private practice in Brooklyn. You can contact her through betternowtherapy.org or social media @betternowtherapy. As a Psychotherapist raised and still living in the diverse mega-city that is NYC, she has helped hundreds of folks from all races, ethnicities, and cultures cope with their distressing feelings and thoughts about their mothers. Jasmine is the author of "12 Ways to Cope With Your Latina Mom and Her Difficulties",  "Your Latino Dad and His Difficulties", along with the journal "Making Peace with Your Emotional Disconnection With Your Parents".

Jasmine writes about the nuanced difficulties of Latina mothers/fathers is her experience in facilitating groups with Latinx individuals (a gender-neutral term for Latinas and Latinos) struggling with their parents. Being involved in these groups has clarified the similar and overarching grievances that many Latinx folks experience. Relationships with fathers are a crucial piece. Internalized misogyny, negative machismo attitudes, and patriarchal beliefs play significant roles in the psyche of Latina mothers (and those of women and men in general).