Roots & Remedies 2021
Liberation
Vanessa Flores-Maldonado (she/her) is a queer Guatemalan woman born and raised in Los Angeles. Growing up in a working-class immigrant community meant learning at too young of an age the violence and trauma of the criminal justice system in this country. It wasn’t until she moved to Providence to attend Brown University where Vanessa would understand how white supremacy is fueled by capitalism and state violence at the expense of communities of color. A significant factor in developing her organizing and political analysis was meeting the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), a grassroots organization that centers Black & brown, queer & trans youth, and survivors of state violence in building a world without police, prisons, or borders. Vanessa first became involved with the PrYSM as a part of the queer trans programming before she was hired to coordinate the Community Safety Act Campaign. In January 2020, Vanessa transitioned to become PrYSM’s Co-Executive Director with Steven Dy as her other half.