I was fortunate to meet Dr. Liovani Nazario during an immersion experience at the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding in Gainesville, Florida in October 2019.    As you'll see and hear, Liovani’s story is a unique and inspired example of “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World”.  Her life resonates with clear themes of fairness and inclusivity.  With a strong role model  in her mom,  she starts by telling us about her roots in Puerto Rico that led her to a life of service.  The second half of our conversation moves to her current work with college students and her perspective on what it means to be a changemaker. 

 

 























Homegrown Liovani
Liovani was born and raised in Puerto Rico and  spent the first half of her life there. In her twenties, she moved to Tallahassee, Florida for graduate school at Florida State University and has lived in that area ever since.  She travels home to Puerto Rico every year to see her family and describes herself as “100% Puerto Rican”.
It’s a huge part of who I am because I was there half of my life and most of my family is still there. It’s who I am, how I treat people, how I am, the person I am, how I cook, how I talk, how I express myself.
Being Puerto Rican helps her see the world “with another set of eyes”.  She often looks at situations considering “how the people in Puerto Rico see…or feel… an event or a catastrophe or a virus.”
Her description of how she grew up gives us a window into where she developed her strength and determination.
I was raised with my mom, which was really my grandmother.  My grandmother adopted me when I was born because my biological mom was very young . . .  I was raised with her and then my biological mom and my biological aunts as my sisters . I knew who I was, but it was just this house full of women…I think I get a lot of who I am, my strengths, because all these women were so strong and just knew what they wanted and went for it…The people that I had around me when I was born were these strong, awesome, beautiful Puerto Rican women just doing what they want to do… They just went for it!
Her sense of fairness developed early on.  She says the question, “How do we make things fair for everybody?” was often in her head.
  I was always in that set of mind of “Why is this group of people being treated like this?” 
Her mom was an ever-present reminder of what it means to live a life of service.  After a career as a teacher and librarian, she volunteered regularly at her church, the hospital and community organizations.   Liovani says her mom  never complained about the work in the slightest.  She seemed to have a need to live in service.  The importance of helping others rubbed off on Liovani and became a big part of her own value system. 
She takes great joy in her family, too.  India, Liovani’s 18 year old daughter, is currently home from college taking classes online because of the Coronavirus.  Though India may not be quite as happy about the situation,  Liovani fully admits enjoying having her back under her roof for this time.  She’s creating that same sense of what it means to be a strong independent woman for her own daughter. 
Liovani's Patchwork
Liovani’s family is a patchwork unto itself.  She describes this as very representative of Puerto Rico as a whole. 
There's a lot of color diversity because Puerto Ricans look in such a big spectrum.