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On Being Liked…
Over vacation, I finally read The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are by Alicia Menendez. I’ve had it for a while and fiiiiinally read it—and I’m so glad I did. I recommend it, especially for those a few years into their careers and trying to figure out the next steps. The Likeability Trap is about just that—the trap that women fall into when trying to succeed at work. It’s the rock and hard place where if we’re too nice we’re seen as ineffective but if we’re not nice enough we’re seen as aggressive and angry—far too emotional to be leaders. The book goes into case…
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Summer Series: Prepping for the Marathon
Another Summer Series story! Summer Series shares stories all summer long from Lawtinas all over the country. We get to hear from pre-law students prepping for their upcoming year 1L year; students in different internships; and law grads prepping for the bar exam. Today we hear from Danielle Taylor, a Texan who has moved to the Windy City to start law school. Danielle breaks down all the things she’s focusing on to put herself in the best position for a successful fall semester! Who can serve as an authority on the best way to prepare for law school? Could someone have enough perspective on if they prepared correctly…
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Lawtina Bookclub: Undocumented Americans
It’s time for another Lawtina Bookclub session! And I know lots of you loved this latest selection, Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicenico. I finished this book earlier this month and it left me feeling some type of way. I think mostly because I felt frustrated…let’s get into it! First, Undocumented Americans is a non-fiction collection of stories of undoc folks living throughout the United States. The author grew up undocumented as well. She interviews workers throughout the U.S. and shines a light on their experiences. Not just the day-to-day, but also the dismissal and mistreatment they experienced in cities/towns where major traumas occurred–NYC during 9/11; Katrina; Flint, Mi.…
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Lawtina Book Club: Make Your Home Among Strangers
ok a teensy bit delayed with our bookclub I know, but I think the chaos we’re in gives me a bit of an excuse. #mybad For (last month’s) pick, we selected Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet. It is her first novel (though she recently had a second published). And unfortunately, she made the news because at recent lecture at a college, some students couldn’t handle discussing racism and took to burning her book (!) as protest. I mean, wtf. It was appalling and immediately I wanted to support this author by lifting up her work. Doing so, though, is not difficult because wow wow wow–what a…
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The Danger in Being the First
Wow, so I didn’t think I would write anything substantial about the American Dirt publishing industry scandal but like always Latino USA came through and inspired me. To bring ppl up to speed, American Dirt was written by a White woman and given a seven figure (!) advance by a publishing industry that then turned around and spent even more money to promote it. They landed promos with Latina influencers, a spot on Oprah’s book club, and blurb by the Chicana literary icon, Sandra Cisneros. The book, while fiction, seemed to be steeped in stereotypes and an obvious lack of knowledge of what it means to be Mexican. When a…
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Lawtina Book Club: Sabrina and Corina
When I first decided to read this book by Kali Fajardo Anstine, I was mostly intrigued because a lot of the Latina content creators I follow were mentioning it. I purchased it and didn’t even read the blurb, assuming it was a novel about two women. Well, let me be the first to explain this is actually a collection of short stories and I don’t think I have a read a piece like this ever in my life. Sabrina and Corina spans across different women, in different seasons of their lives and yet ties them together with similar tragic, painful, and often violent experiences. A little warning, if you can’t…
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50 Lessons for Women Lawyers, a Review
A few weeks ago I received a copy of 50 Lessons for Women Lawyers by Nora Riva Bergman. This book is a compilation of contribution from 50 successful, accomplished women lawyers in the U.S. and Canada. The attorneys are in different stages in their life, have had different careers, experiences—it is a really great group of people offering guidance. What I appreciate is that many of the contributors share vulnerable moments in their personal life and careers that are experiences many of us can relate to—the attorney who opts to take a break to take care of children, the one who experienced domestic violence as a child, and the most…
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Side Bar: March Madness
Truly, Madness. It was a whirlwind of a month with E moving and getting everything prepped for that, but here are the highlights: Vacation in Puerto Vallarta. I mean, Mexico is beautiful, the beach is amazing, food is delicious, and you can’t beat sitting just a few feet away from the water while drinking fruity cocktails all day. 2. At the beach I read White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo and it is a must read. I have recommended it to so many colleagues and took so many notes—eye opening and had me yelling “aha!” at the beach because it…
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Lawtina Book Club: Becoming x Michelle Obama
First, so excited for this first rendition of our book club! We’ll try different platforms as we go along, but I thought it made sense to make the first discussion here. And because everyone and their mother received Becoming for the holidays (or so it seemed) this seemed like the logical first choice. Overall, I loved it! She gave us such great snippets of her life from the beginning of a relationship with an up and coming politician to the tiring and the glamorous parts of being First Lady. But really what I took from their story is how difficult it is to be a political family, especially with young…
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American Like Me: A Book Review
On one of my first days of school in the U.S. a young boy approached me and asked: What color are you? I had never been asked this before and remember showing him my arm, confused that this poor boy didn’t know his colors and answered: I’m tan. Later when I told my mom what happened, she laughed and said if someone asks you that again just say you’re Mexican. Easy enough. However, as I grew up, I realized the complexities of race in the U.S. I grappled with my own cultural identity and picking the right “label.” It’s all so complicated and made more so by the fact that…