I'm Adali Mone and this is The Slowdown.

I think we have a lot to learn from studies on empathy and how people can foster empathy

by reading and even writing poetry.

I think about how important it is to use writing to heal, but I think it's as important

to use reading to understand different elements of the human condition.

We often talk about this with food or travel, how exposure to someone else's life or

experience helps us broaden not only our minds but our hearts.

I travel to South America each summer and every time I learn so much about the different

histories and culture of each area.

Whether I'm visiting Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, or Buenos Aires, I'm reminded that each

human experience is unique and nothing can be summed up.

Even by saying South America or Latin America, I'm not doing justice to the singular cultural

practices of each place.

In the United States, there's a lot of discussion as to whether we should use the word Latinx.

Some insist that we should say exactly where we are from.

Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, and so forth.

Some push against one term that dares to contain us all.

Others insist that in order to have some semblance of power and agency in a country is large

as the United States, it behooves our community to advocate for one another as a large entity,

as a Latinx community.

Regardless of your feelings about the names we use to define ourselves and our community's

identity, the one thing that we can always be clear about is that everyone has their own

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