FOR MANY OF US, THE JOURNEY TO UNDERSTANDING YOUR IDENTITY CAN BE COMPLEX IN OUR NEXT GUEST IS NO EXCEPTION.

SHE'S NOW DEDICATED HER LIFE TO TEACHING BREAKING DOWN EDUCATIONAL DISPARITIES AND EMPOWERING STUDENTS.

SHE SHARES ALL THIS AND MORE IN HER NEW BOOK RABBIT ON THE MOON, EMBRACING IT, EMBRACING MY MEXICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY.

AND JOINING US NOW IS AUTHOR ELIZABETH, THAT IS THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

THANK YOU HAVE YOU HERE.

NOW, I WANT TO START.

YOU'VE MENTIONED BEFORE THAT YOU BECAME A TEACHER BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WANT OTHER STUDENTS TO GO THROUGH WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT SCHOOL LIFE WAS LIKE?

ENTRY YEARS WERE NOT VERY HAPPY YEARS.

I STARTED WANTING TO REALLY BE LIKE TEACHERS PAP AND SHINE.

AND AS THE YEARS IT WAS MORE OF MY SPIRIT BEING TEACHERS LOOKING AT ME IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE I WAS MEXICAN IN AN ALL-WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD, ALL-WHITE SCHOOL.

AND BY THE TIME YOU GET TO MIDDLE SCHOOL.

BY THAT POINT, I FELT LIKE THERE WAS SUBTRACTED SCHOOLING HAPPENING TO ME.

I DIDN'T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE MY EDUCATION AND FELT LIKE I DIDN'T FIT ANYWHERE IN SCHOOL AND CURRICULUM AND ANY THINK LET'S TALK ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

YOU GREW UP A NEW GROUP WITH 3 SIBLINGS AND YOU GROUP IN MARQUETTE PARK.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE NEIGHBORHOOD AT THAT TIME GROWING UP.

I DESCRIBE THE BOOK.

IT'S IT'S THE SAME PLACE WHERE MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR.

I'M ACTUALLY WENT OVER THERE DURING WINDOW WAS A MARCH OF KKK AND HE GOT HIT WITH A ROCK AND FELL TO ONE KNEE.

SAID YOU HAVE TO COME TO CHICAGO TO REALLY UNDERSTAND RACISM AND HATRED.

AND SO WE CAME IN, MOVED IN AROUND 1974.

WENT TO SCHOOL DURING THAT TIME, MY SISTERS ACTUALLY WENT TO SCHOOL AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL THERE SPEAKING SPANISH.

I'M HAVING DIFFICULTY BECAUSE OF AN ACCENT AND BEING BULLIED BECAUSE OF THAT SHAMED BECAUSE OF THAT.

AND SO PARENTS SENT US TO A CATHOLIC SCHOOL THINKING THAT THAT WAS GOING TO BE SAVING GRACE FOR AND IT WAS NOT ANYTHING.

AND YOU COULD ONLY WE COULD ONLY TAYLOR BEING MEXICAN AGAIN BEHIND OR A MEXICAN WOULD YOU SAY THAT IMPACTED YOUR IDENTITY HOUSE THAT LIKE IT ACTUALLY IDENTITY BECAUSE WE REALLY WANTED TO FIT INTO WHITE SOCIETY.

AND YOU WANT UNDERSTAND LIKE, WHY DON'T I FIT IN AS A YOUNG GIRL?

I WAS I WAS THINKING LIKE, WHY DON'T HAVE ONE I DON'T HAVE BLUE EYES.

I WANT TO I WANT TO LOOK LIKE THE ONES IN THE PICTURES, MUCH ASSEMBLY.

I WANTED TO ASSIMILATE.

I WANTED TO BE WHAT THEY FELT AMERICANS, YOU KNOW, AMERICAN PER SE AND I WAS CONFUSED.

AND THEN AGAIN, YOU COME HOME.

YOU'RE LIKE, WELL.

NEXT, AGAIN AND DARK SKINNED.

I CAN'T HIDE THE SHOW IN.

YOU SEE ME IN RIGHT AWAY TO DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES, 100%.

AND I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BOOK.

WHAT WAS THE PASSION BEHIND WRITING IT?

SO I WANTED REALLY PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE JOURNEY OF BELONGING BELONGING HAS CORE VALUE OF MINE AND ANY TIME IN TEACHING YOU CAN'T.

MOST AUTHENTIC, TRUE SELF UNLESS YOU BELONG AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU BELONG.

AND THAT'S WHERE SCHOOLING COMES LIKE YOU REALLY WANT TO SHOW CARING, NURTURING, UNDERSTANDING.

CHILDREN WANT TO BE VALUED SCENE AND THEN THEY CAN SUCCEED.

AND SO THIS IS THE RABBIT ON THE MOON.

WE CALL CALLED A GRAB.

BECAUSE BACK IN 1995, I HAD SOME WONDERFUL STUDENTS.

THEY CAME FROM MEXICO ONLY SPOKE SPANISH AND THEY TAUGHT ME OF FOLKS STORY, WHICH IS THIS BOOK THAT YOU BROUGHT?

THIS IS THE SPOKEN.

IT'S CALLED VITAL REVENUE COYOTE.

IT'S JUST ABOUT A SINISTER RABBIT THAT TEASES THE COYOTE AND IT THE RADICALS ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON.

SHOW YOU A QUICK PICTURE OF THAT.

THERE.

AND THAT IS WHY DEFENSE IS THE MOON HAPPENED.

AND ACCORDING TO MY STUDENTS, THAT'S HOW THEY LEARN THE PHASES OF THE AND BACK THEN I WAS THINKING THAT'S NOT HOW YOU TEACH SCIENCE STORYTELLING IS NOT THE SCIENTISTS ABOUT CONCEPTS AND IDEAS AND THEY TAUGHT ME THAT STORYTELLING REALLY IS ABOUT BRIDGES, WHO WAS VERY INTENTIONAL.

IT WAS VERY INTENTIONAL.

AND YOU HAVE CHAPTERS IN YOUR BOOK NAMED PAUSING TO REFLECT AND CHALLENGES AND DECISIONS AND LETTING GO OF BURDENS, EMBRACING THE TRANSFORMATION.

PEOPLE WHO READ THE BOOK.

WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO FEEL WHILE THEY'RE READING THOSE CHAPTERS?

I REALLY WANT THEM TO JUST UNDERSTAND THAT.

WE WANT ACCEPTANCE.

THAT BEING DIFFERENT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED AGAIN GOING BACK TO BELONGING, NURTURING AND OVERALL THAT WE'RE ONLY HUMAN.

AND SO WE'RE UNFINISHED.

I'M WEARING PROGRESS.

AND SO JUST REALLY BEING COMPASSIONATE AND EMPATHETIC TO ONE ANOTHER.

YOU SAID YOU'VE BEEN A TEACHER FOR 13 YEARS, BUT YOU HAVE A LONG BACKGROUND IN EDUCATION.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY YOUR EXPERIENCE HAS HELPED TO GUIDE STUDENTS?

MY EXPERIENCE OVERALL IS THAT I LEARNED A LOT FROM MY MY CHILDREN, MY STUDENTS.

I THEY'RE NOT AND CAN WE'LL AND SO ALLOWING THAT TO BE OPEN SOME PICTURES OF I LOVE AND THAT YOU DANCING THAT WE DID TONIGHT.

WELL, THAT'S A LITTLE BEARSUN.

BUT YEAH, HAVE A WIG AND A LOADED, BUT DEFINITELY IT'S REALLY THAT MIGHT MY CHILDREN REALLY MADE ME UNDERSTAND, TEACHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY AND UNDERSTAND THAT EVEN THOUGH I'M PROVIDING THE TEACHING AND THEY'RE LEARNING I GETTING SOMETHING HOME JUST SAY MAKES A GOOD TEACHER.

TEACHER DID UNDERSTANDS THE WHOLE CHILD, A TEACHER UNDERSTANDS THAT EVERYONE COMES FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND REALLY BRINGS TO THE LESSON THAT THEY HAVE STORIES OUTSIDE OF THE SCHOOL.

THE CAN REALLY BRIDGE WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO TEACH AS WELL.

CHILDREN COME IN WITH SO MUCH ALREADY.

I MEAN, THEY'RE YOU KNOW, THE INTERNET ALREADY.

THEY RIGHT NOW WE HAVE GENERATIVE AI THAT ARE GETTING ALL THIS STUFF IS OUR JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY COMPREHEND AND UNDERSTAND AND EVENTUALLY TO THAT PRODUCTIVE STRUGGLE THAT WE WANT THEM TO GET AND I WANT TO TALK A BIT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY.

YOU'VE MENTIONED THAT FAMILY DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOUR SIBLINGS WERE GOING THROUGH SUCH A HARD TIME IN SCHOOL.

YOU MENTION YOUR DAD JUST READ YOUR BOOK AND GOT TO HEAR AND READ SOME OF YOUR EXPERIENCES.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY STOOD UP TO HIM THE MOST?

WELL, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE YET TO TALK TO HIM.

HE DID SAY TO ME THAT HE WAS READING THE BOOK AND HE WAS LIKE THE BOOK MY FATHER CAN PRETTY QUIET ABOUT THIS KIND OF SO MANY LATINO AND KIND OF HOLDING ONTO FEELINGS OR SOMETIMES EVEN REPRESSING IT BUT DEFINITELY, I MEAN, MY SIBLINGS AND I WE KNEW SCHOOLING WAS OUR JOB.

AND WE DIDN'T REALLY THERE ARE PARENTS ABOUT IT WAS A CULTURAL THING.

WE DECIDED THAT LIKE WE KNEW TO DIFFICULTIES WERE GOING THROUGH, BUT THEY DON'T PUT SO MUCH MORE.

THE MIGRATION HERE TRYING TO HAVE 3 JOBS RAISING 4 ALTON, YOU KNOW, JUST REALLY TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF US AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO BOTHER THEM WITH THEM.

HOW DO YOU THINK STUDENTS NOW?

WE HAVE 10 MILLION.

WE HAVE A COUPLE SECONDS OF DO THINK STUDENTS NOW ARE IN A DIFFERENT PHASE WHERE THEY'RE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE OR ARE ABLE TO REALLY EXPERIENCE THE BELONGING ARE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF IN A DIFFERENT PHASE.

WE HAVE TO KIND OF JUST A MORE QUIET, I THINK IN SOME SCHOOLS, DEFINITELY.

YES.

AND I HAVE SEEN BEING AROUND SO MANY SCHOOLS.

I DO THINK WE STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, ELIZABETH.

LOOKING FORWARD TO FINISHING THE BOOK.