In Conversation with Veronica Flores: Uncovering the Power of Women in the Search for Liberation

As one of ERI’s Scholar-Activist in Residence, Veronica Flores is developing a forthcoming book based on her decades of work in social justice, women’s health, and leadership development for young women of color. She emphasizes the importance of recovering hidden stories, understanding patterns of oppression, and breaking those patterns to create opportunities. In this conversation, Flores highlights the significance of mentorship and networks, particularly for young women of color, and mentions wanting to continue these conversations to foster connections among women. She references influential authors like Audre Lorde and Angela Davis and stresses the need for systemic understanding alongside individual empowerment. Below are excerpts from a conversation between ERI staff and Flores on her inspiration and goals for the book.

Editorial note: this transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Cynthia 
Welcome Veronica. Thank you so much for your time. We’ll dive right in. To introduce you  to the ERI audience, tell us a bit about who you are in the world, and what led you to want to write this book.

Veronica 
Well, I have been in service forever, I think living a life of service is really what has fulfilled me. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for the majority of my adult career–in social justice, organizing, women’s health, women’s well-being, and domestic violence. Part of what’s been really difficult for me as a brown woman in leadership positions [has been] being forced into invisibility or to be quieter, to not speak so loudly, to keep myself–particularly as a Latina–more modulated, more controlled. And finally, part of what I’ve gained over time is knowledge, expertise, confidence, security. All of these things have come from being around other women who have been my mentors, who have fought for me.

So, what do I do now? I want to put something in writing where I can give other women an indication of [how] this is not just about being who we are as individuals, but about a legacy. How do we create circles of action and opportunity for ourselves? I think knowledge is the most powerful instrument, and that’s where the book came from.

Cynthia
Can you tell us about the themes or structure you envision for the book? Is there anything you would like to ensure this book communicates?

Veronica
I think pieces of it are that we have to look at those histories [of women] that have been hidden. The other part is understanding the patterns that were there, the patterns of erasure, the patterns of oppression. Some of them are not that different from today, unfortunately. In some cases, those patterns are so endemic in our societies that you can’t step over them. You have to break them. But to do that, you have to understand what’s in front of you. So, understanding those patterns and finding those themes are going to be important.

Another piece is about how we go forward. How do we put some light into this so that this path of breaking those walls becomes clearer. In that process, it’s going to be important for us to understand governance and power because it’s really all about power. It’s about removing power or gaining power. So, we want to look at eras because it allows us to see the patterns of oppression from different eras and the patterns of oppression from different cultures. Ultimately, we need to get to liberation and justice. How do we seek liberation for ourselves and for our sisters? That’s really the sort of structure of the book overall.

Cynthia
At this point in your trajectory, what other authors or books do you see your book aligning with?

Veronica
So, when I think about Audre Lorde, you know, she’s one of my sheroes, she was very significant in my development. One particular book that I have on my shelf is Sister Outsider. [This book] really helped me, and a lot of women that I know, a lot of activists, to really center yourself and your power.

Angela Davis, of course, Women, Race and Class and sort of the evaluation of systemic approaches to oppression. She was one of the women who were thinking differently in their writing. There is the Rebel Girls series, that’s another one that really underscores the relationship of power. Mickey Kendall’s, Hood Feminism. You know, there are different books that I think I fit. And the difference for me, as I’ve read so much about this, is that we need to be looking at things systemically. There is nothing but systems in our society that have been set up. But there’s another element to this, the element of individuality, and that’s what I want this book to be: let’s understand the forces behind it all, but let’s also think about, what are those elements that are so individual about women [leaders] in a particular time that we can learn from? So, that’s the difference between what I’ve read and what I’m trying to do. I don’t know if it’ll be successful, but at least I want to try.

Cynthia
In this book, you want to analyze the impact of individual women and understand the systems that they were operating under. What connections do you want to be able to draw between the women that you investigate and the world around them?

Veronica
Yes, because my audience is young women of color, but we don’t live in isolation. So, I want this to also be for allies. I want men to be able to read this and say, “Okay, let me understand my place, the space that I take, and what my role has been in this erasure and invalidation of women in society.” 

I think my dad was a good example of that. As I grew up, he was always very overprotective. You know, it was the girls did this and the boys did that. But as I got older, he saw me reading feminist books, and he loved to read. So finally, I said to him, if you want to connect with me in any meaningful way, I need you to read these books because I don’t think you’re ever going to understand what I’m experiencing right now as I’m trying to become a different person. And he started reading them. He changed. So, I know if it’s possible for my father and his generation, I know it’s possible for us to understand each other in different ways. I’m not expecting equality, but I am expecting understanding.

Lupe 
Reflecting on your own lived experience, what does writing this book mean to you and your legacy? How do you want it to resonate in the world and with whom?

Veronica

It’s funny, legacy is such a huge word, isn’t it? I feel like my legacy is to be able to relate my experiences that could be similar to many other women who look like me, who talk like me, who are immigrants, who’ve had to struggle. Particularly now [with] immigration, I am sorry (pauses) yeah, that’s a tough one. I’m a political refugee. I had to go through that. You know, what would it have been like if they had sent me back when all of that was happening for me and my family? We wouldn’t have survived. So, this book, in some ways, also gives me the opportunity to talk about that. It gives me the opportunity to talk about immigration [and] displacement.

Another part of my legacy is those experiences that led me to where I am, but it also gave me a voice, right? How do we find our voice within whatever is behind us or in front of us at the time? I think for me, that’s the legacy. I need to be able to tell those stories so that somebody can listen and say, “I have a similar experience from that”. That’s the legacy.

Lupe 

I appreciate how you’re relating it all to the current moment–to what’s happening and continues to happen in this country. Is there anything else that you want people to walk away with from this project?

Veronica  

You know, I would like to engage in conversations. I do want to work on the book but then [create] spaces where we can talk about this. Where we can share experiences because it is about mentorship and networks. Sometimes, as women, we don’t prioritize developing our networks as much as we should. [Women are] thinking about their family, partners, nephews and nieces, and grandparents. They’re thinking about their community. There’s a lot, and if you have a leadership position, you [need to] think about who you need to help you lead and how you want to lead.

Thinking about ourselves as individuals who need a circle of support is sometimes secondary, and that is something that needs to change. I want to be able to do that and I think that the book can be a great stepping stone because it allows me to give context, to have these conversations where women can speak freely and discuss. Actually, a friend of mine and I began to talk about this, and we’re going to kick off a [project] that will focus on Latinas. We started out talking about politics and then we moved from that and actually said, “This is so much bigger than that. It’s so much broader than that.” And so, that’s also a new development and I’m looking forward to it.