I'm Regina, the creator of the Brown Girls Booster Deck and founder of Brown Girls Society. I promote self-understanding and self-love for my Mexican sisters, and this safe space is dedicated to that purpose.

 

I'm a Mexican American, no sabo kid. But that's only part of me. While my paternal grandparents immigrated to the U.S. over a hundred years ago from Aguascalientes, Mexico, my maternal ancestry has roots in the area of the Southwest when it was still part of Mexico.

 

I, however, grew up in a predominately Mexican community in Southern California. Mine was the typical Catholic household: family-focused, frequent family gatherings, a traditional patriarchal upbringing, siblings tripping over each other (forget about privacy), parochial school, and mass every Sunday.

 

Despite our heritage, we kids grew up very much aware of the lone Irish immigrant ancestor in our family tree, which subconsciously undermined our rich ethnic roots. It took me a lifetime to unpack what that meant to me, how it affected my choices in life, and how I related to my family.

 

My journey of self-understanding was the motivation to creating the cards, and with it Brown Girls Society.

 

I created the Booster Deck to be an encouraging voice for other Latina women who live with limiting conditioning and outdated narratives, because living the traditional way isn't always the best path for our well-being. And I created this platform to tell you that it's okay to deviate from that path, to live and advocate for yourselves, to explore your options, to be proud of who you are as you define it.

 

I see you, Brown Girl. I am one of you. And we are not invisible.