Her latest book isSanctuary.
In Valis America, undocumented immigrants live in a state of constant fear of being caught.
Well+Good: Why did you decide to writeSanctuary?
Paola Mendoza:The idea forSanctuarycame to me after I helped organize theMarches Against Family Separationin 2018.
I was trying to do whatever I could to help those reunifications happen.
Family separation was all around me, and it was a super dark time and very painful and unbelievable.
Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author, and artist working for women’s rights. She is also the co-founder of the Women’s March and co-authored the New York Times bestsellerTogether We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World. Her latest book isSanctuary.
Why did you choose young adult fiction as the genre?
Why did you want to write to that audience?
What is The Missionary Sex Position?
I really believe that this country has so much healing to do from centuries of past injustices.
I dont think people necessarily think of the word reading right after they hear the word activism.
(Although, I hope this is changing!)
Why was a book the next logical step for you as an activist?
For me, its always about, How do I best tell the story?
I am an artist, a storyteller.
Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author, and artist working for women’s rights. She is also the co-founder of the Women’s March and co-authored the New York Times bestsellerTogether We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World. Her latest book isSanctuary.
I trained as a storyteller and as a filmmakerfirst as an actress, then as a director.
I went into documentary filmmaking, then I went to narrative filmmaking.
I became politicized by reading, to be quite frank.
It wasnt discouraged; there just werent books in my house.
To me, reading is [activism].
Reading is very much how I became aware of the world outside of my own experience.
This feels so relevant to the year 2020.
The problem becomes: We cant live in an anti-racist society unless white people do the work.
White America has to do the work.
White America cant just be bystanders, watching things unfold.
Thats not how we become an anti-racist society or an anti-xenophobic society.
This book is a call to action for people who are not from these vulnerable communities.
We donthaveto engage with people who are suffering or people who need help.
We cant live in an anti-racist society unless white people do the work.
We decided to take care of things that had an economic benefit in the immediate future.
That has a long-term effect.
Am I the one who is annoyed because I have to get checked three times with my wrist?
Or am I Sister Lottie: Someone who is actively engaged in trying to help.
(This question contains spoilers.)
Theres a beautiful scene where Vali, Ernie, and Malakas swim from America to California through a lake.
The scene felt so visceral and beautiful to mewhy did you choose water as a symbol of safety?
Water means a rebirth.
At that moment in time, Vali has found her sanctuary.
That experience is the same.
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