The poet positively embraces her bi-cultural heritage, perceiving the dual perspectives of her parentage as a source of enrichment that drew her closer to other cultures. She feels very close to Mexican culture because of the sense of otherness that Mexicans feel in the United States; a sense of otherness that she can identify with. In an interview with Phoebe Davidson, she explains her attachment to other cultures, and particularly Latin American culture: "It doesn’t matter it isn’t my culture, I’ve always felt that any little bit of other in our lives …gives much more than it takes away" (1998,162). Many Arab-American women have sought spaces of empowerment and visibility through alliances and coalition-building with other minorities. For
