By JP Infante
Cat Lantigua is a Dominican-American community builder and advocate for social wellness. Whether through her community organization, Goddess Council, or her podcast, “Chats with Cat,” Lantigua creates spaces for belonging. Her debut book, Build It and They Will Come: A Guide to Architecting Intentional Community, is for readers interested in building community and personal development. Through personal stories, actionable advice and a wisdom we usually find in viejos, Lantigua investigates our need to belong while analyzing the labor it takes to maintain community.
Out tomorrow July 23rd by Parea Books, Build It and They Will Come is divided into two parts: “Design” and “Sustainability.” The first half contextualizes the current “loneliness epidemic” affecting modern society. Despite being digitally connected we still feel alone because, according to Lantigua, the online world is, “not a replacement for the most authentic forms of human connection.” She adds, “A person online cannot sit across from you and ask you how you are feeling while looking you in the eyes, nor can they give you a hug, march alongside you in a protest, sit next to you on the couch to watch a movie, or hold space as you cry.”
After moving from Florida to New York City, Lantigua felt alone in a city populated by 8 million plus. One day she realized that if she wanted friends and community, she would have to do something about it. Initially she wanted a group-chat called the Goddess Council. She put out a call on the internet for women who wanted to bond with other likeminded women. What began with only three people at the first Goddess Council meeting grew into a global women’s wellness community.
While Lantigua created a space for herself and other women, she realized she had been, “living with an untreated sisterhood wound.” She writes, “I had to release old perspectives that were inhibiting my ability to forge deep connections with new women.” Lantigua’s story highlights the intersection between the personal and the collective, reminding us of the interdependent relationship between inner-work and community work. Her self-reflection teaches us that to be in communion requires looking without and within. It’s her personal experience as a leader and community organizer that makes her advice accessible and applicable. Lantigua’s book can help readers whether they’re organizing friend groups, work colleagues or likeminded people united by a common vision and purpose.
I wish I had this book years ago when I gathered people in Washington Heights. Like Lantigua, it was my need for connection and belonging that had me organize get-togethers and cultural events. Lantigua's emphasis on knowing “Your ‘Why’” had me reflect on my own intentions. I realized the lack of clarity around the norms and practices in some of the communities I helped architect. If Build It and They Will Come had existed back then, I would have avoided or better managed the challenges of sustaining these spaces.
Part Two of the book, “Sustainability,” is made up of the following chapters: Disarming/Safety, Leadership, Money and Recognizing Burnout. These chapters ground us into the nitty-gritty without the romanticization of the memes, buzzwords and cliches around “community.” Lantigua informs us that effective leadership requires “navigating conflicts with emotional intelligence… understanding different perspectives, and addressing issues with compassion.” The more you read Lantigua, the more you understand the labor it takes to lead, build and maintain community. You discover it’s not only about being aware of other’ perspectives, but being self-aware. “Self-awareness helps leaders recognize their own emotional triggers and biases, allowing them to respond more thoughtfully in various situations.”
Yes, it’s clear Lantigua is speaking from research and experience, but what struck me most as a reader is that her voice as a writer has the qualities she claims are necessary to create and maintain community. There is no point while reading that you don’t trust the narrator or question her intentions. From her vulnerability in sharing her loneliness in the opening to her burnout in the closing, Lantigua, the narrator, builds her own relationship with the reader. In Chapter 5 (Disarming/Safety), she writes, “Transparency, honesty, and consistent communication are key to building trust within a community.” And this is what the book does for its reader.
Build It and They Will Come is in line with Lantigua’s past projects like the Goddess Council and “Chats with Cat.” Both of these initiatives brought people together, just like this book will have readers feeling less alone in book clubs and in their own communal endeavors. Lantigua’s debut is a continuation of her life’s work: reminding us that “Together we can build new worlds.”
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Visit our Bookshop to purchase a copy of Build It and They Will Come.
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About the Author:
Cat Lantigua (she/her) is a first-generation Dominican-American creative living between Miami and New York City. Lantigua founded Goddess Council, a global women’s wellness collective that operated through 2021 and is the host of the "Chats with Cat" podcast. She is a writer, wellness facilitator, audio producer, and community architect passionate about building spaces that foster soul-centered conversations and a sense of belonging.
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JP Infante is a teacher and the author of On the Tip of Your Mother’s Tongue and Aquí y Allá: un retrato de la comunidad Dominicana en Washington Heights. He is the winner of PEN’s Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and Thirty West’s Chapbook contest. His writing has appeared in Kweli, The Poetry Project, and elsewhere. He has been awarded scholarships and fellowships from the NY State Writers Institute, PEN America and The Center for Fiction. He holds an MFA from The New School.
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