The Impossible Poster: Inspire thousands in PR

This project attempts to bring utopia into reality: We want to inspire thousands of girls across Puerto Rico (and the world) to the value they hold within and the universe of possibilities they can unlock to take on the planet!  Often, when we talk about women's rights, we isolate and forget about young women and girls. However, if our mission to create change will prosper, we must start young. We must ensure our girls' wants and needs are heard and validated.

During the summer of 2022, Taller Salud's Afrocaribeñas de Taller Salud project held its second camp for girls from Loiceña and the eastern area of Puerto Rico between the ages of 7-12 years old, entitled: “Afrocaribeñitas que cambian cuentos” (Afrocaribeñitas who change stories). At summer camp, topics such as anti-racist education, bullying anti-racist education, and racist bullying and we delved into the issues of love and we delved into the themes of self-esteem,  Afro-ascendancy, reaffirmation of our identity, and blackness. 

In the pre-camp process, we identified racist experiences that the girls have had in their homes, schools and their homes, schools, and community. From harmful and offensive comments about their hair to actions such as rejection by their schoolmates because of their skin color. These experiences and the desire to create safe and healthy spaces and healthy spaces for children were the motivation to develop "Cambiando Cuentos con las Afrocaribeñitas" (Changing Tales with the Afrocaribeñitas), a guide to self-love, reaffirming our black identity.

This guide is the result of work done with the girls. It contains definitions of self-esteem, Afro-ascendence, and racism as we worked with the girls. These definitions are accompanied by exercises and practical tools that teachers, families, and community leaders can use in their settings to work with these issues. Also, it contains a section on what racism looks like in our childhood, and at the end, there are recommendations for three books to work on the topic of racism. We also include some recommendations on how to handle afro hair and a directory of resources for children.

We hope that this guide will serve as an inspiration to change stories about racism from childhood, contributing to the transformation starting with our local communities.