First Queens
Araceli Esparza
Poetry, digital collage
$150
Tables
The She power on this table
Spans decades
Crosses world’s
Riding
Taking power
Haters seething
That they
Don’t have
The quick
Creativity
Attraction
That this
Table has
You Me
Her and She
Are the strong women
Truth tellers
In the pinnacle of massive
Cultural shifts turned into the
Leaders we need.
Yes, Leaders dance on tables.
Artist Statement
Betty said, “Not my power, but the power of the position, a power which could be [used] to help.” After leading the nation in the Equal Rights Act and then giving the concession speech for her husband, for losing the 1978 presidential election, she knew how to use her power and position.
In 1978, Betty was a walking contradiction: being republican and embracing the word feminist, without hesitation. 42 years later, Cardi B became the first solo rap artist to win the best rap album for a Grammy. An award typically won by men.
Cardi B is that public fearless version of a woman, we need, she raps, “I went from making Tuna sandwiches to making the news//Started speaking my mind and tripled my views.”
Both used their positions of power and gave voice to what many women feel-- a need to be understood. One for her civil rights, another for her right to be a solo rap woman artist.
There are several versions of feminism but the women who break their names on the pavement of patriarchy in the midst of pandemics and Presidential scandals, are more than First ladies they are Queens.
About the Artist
Araceli Esparza is a Latinx Poeta. MFA graduate from Hamline University, with strong migrant farmer roots, she recently co-edited a poetry anthology with Flying Ketchup Press, The Very Edge Poems. She was named Wisconsin's Most Influential Latina 2018 (Wisconsin State Journal/Madison 365). Araceli founded and runs the podcast Midwest Mujeres, is a community educator, and is the owner of MWM Productions, a digital social justice company that helps build bridges to donors and audiences to create a positive impact on marginalized communities.