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Writing Fearlessly with Jesse Leon ONLINE (members)
February 4, 2023 @ 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Jesse Leon, SDWF memoirist of the year, will do a short reading from his stellar memoir, I’m Not Broken and then discuss the path he took to write it all down fearlessly.
ABOUT I’M NOT BROKEN
In this unflinching and inspiring memoir, Jesse Leon tells an extraordinary story of resilience and survival, shining a light on a childhood spent devastated by sex trafficking, street life, and substance abuse.
“A book for survivors and those who know someone they hope survives, bodhisattvas all.” —Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street
Born to indigenous working-class Mexican immigrants in San Diego in the 1970s, Jesse Leon’s childhood was violently ruptured. A dangerous and harrowing encounter at a local gift shop when he was eleven years old left Jesse with a deadly secret. Hurt, alone, and scared for his life, Jesse numbed his pain by losing himself in the hyper-masculine culture of the streets and wherever else he could find it—in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. Overlooked by state-sanctioned institutions and systems intended to help victims of abuse, neglected like many other low-income Latinos, Jesse spiraled into cycles of suicide and substance abuse.