Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee Allabest. Most of us would love to have a perfect memory.

But the truth is, we often fall far short of this aspiration. After all, who hasn't forgotten someone's name right after you were introduced?

Or failed to remember where you left your car in the parking

lot. Our memories are rarely as reliable as we would like them to be. And more so, our memories,

even some of our most formative memories, can alter over time. Each time we return to a memory,

it can change ever so slightly until the story in our minds,

while it may reflect a personal truth, is suddenly far from the facts of the lived reality.

Memory is ephemeral and ever-shifting, and yet it's foundational to the ways we understand our worlds

and ourselves.

So today I'm really excited that we're going to be exploring these phenomena with two outstanding guests.

And of course, along the way, we'll also be discussing and exploring the influence of patriarchy as well.

Later in the episode, we'll hear a harrowing story of hazy memories and toxic

paternal fury as an anonymous contributor entrusts us with her recollections of patriarchy in her

childhood home. But first, we're going to be joined by essayist and educator Emily Prado,

who speaks to us openly about the

intersections of patriarchy and white supremacy. She will also read a personal essay from her

collection of coming-of-age stories, Funeral for Flaka. In this particular essay, Emily writes

gracefully of her father, her family structure, of memory,

and of doubt, and we're so grateful to have her with us today.

Emily Giselle Prado is a writer, a DJ, and an educator living in Portland, Oregon,

with roots in the San Francisco Bay Area and Michoacan, Mexico.

As an award-winning multimedia journalist, Emily spent

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