Alejandria Fights Back!

Join nine-year-old Alejandria as she fights to save her neighborhood in this bilingual picture book!

For nine-year-old Alejandria, home isn't just the apartment she shares with Mami and her abuela, Tita, but rather the whole neighborhood. Home is the bakery where Ms. Beatrice makes yummy picos; the sidewalk where Ms. Alicia sells flowers with her little dog, Duende; and the corner store with friendly Mr. Amir.

But lately the city has been changing, and rent prices are going up. Many people in el barrio are leaving because they can no longer afford their homes, and "For Sale" signs are popping up everywhere. Then the worst thing happens: Mami receives a letter saying they'll have to move out too.

Alejandria knows it isn’t fair, but she's not about to give up and leave. Join Alejandria as she brings her community together to fight and save their neighborhood!

--

Para Alejandria de nueve años, el hogar no es sólo el apartamento que comparte con Mami y su abuela, Tita, sino más bien todo el barrio. El hogar es la panadería donde la Sra. Beatrice hace unos ricos picos; la vereda donde la Sra. Alicia vende flores con su perrito, Duende; y la pulpería con el amistoso Sr. Amir.

Pero últimamente la ciudad ha estado cambiando, y los precios de alquiler están subiendo. Muchas personas en el barrio se están yendo porque ya no pueden costear sus hogares, y letreros anunciando “Se Vende” están apareciendo por todos lados. Entonces ocurre lo peor: Mami recibe una carta diciendo que ellas también tendrán que mudarse.

Alejandria sabe que no es justo, pero no está dispuesta a darse por vencida e irse. ¡Únete a Alejandria mientras ella reúne a su comunidad para luchar y salvar su barrio!

The Rise-Home Stories Project is an innovative collaboration between multimedia storytellers and social justice advocates from several grassroots organizations who work at the nexus of housing, land, and racial justice in the US. It came together in 2018 to reimagine the past, present, and future of our communities by transforming the stories we tell about land and home. To that end, the Rise-Home Stories Project is creating a body of multimedia projects aimed at diverse audiences that expose the generational impacts of racist land and housing policy while planting a long-term vision for our collective future. Alejandria Fights Back! is one of those projects.

Leticia Hernández-Linares is an educator, interdisciplinary artist, and author of the poetry collection Mucha Muchacha, Too Much Girl. She is also the coeditor of The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States. Her work appears in collections and journals such as Latinas: Struggles & Protests in 21st Century USA, Street Art San Francisco, Huizache, and Pilgrimage. A 2017 San Francisco Library Laureate, she is the recipient of four San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist grants, and has received support from the Creative Work Fund and the Zellerbach Family Foundation. A longtime community worker and Mission resident, she teaches in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

Robert Liu-Trujillo is a lifelong Bay Area resident. Born in Oakland, California, he is the child of student activists who watched lots of science fiction and took him to many demonstrations. Always drawing, Rob grew up to be an artist, falling in love with graffiti, fine art, illustration, murals, and children’s books. Through storytelling, he’s been able to scratch the surface of so many untold stories. He is the author and illustrator of Furqan’s First Flat Top.