A book for and by the members of the Latinx Diaspora desperately wanting to be represented. A book to provide a window into their lives, culture, and a reminder they are much more than stereotypes. That was the goal of Saraciea J. Fennell, a Black Honduran writer living in New York City, when she edited the book, Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed.

Published in November 2021, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed is a compilation of 15 original pieces written by best-selling and award-winning authors as well as up-and-coming voices that interrogate the different myths and stereotypes about the Latinx diaspora.

These 15 texts delve into everything from ghost stories and superheroes, to memories in the kitchen and travels around the world, addiction and grief, identity and anti-Blackness, and finding love and speaking your truth. Full of both sorrow and joy, Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed is an essential celebration of this rich and diverse community.

The best-selling and award-winning contributors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Cristina Arreola, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Naima Coster, Natasha Diaz, Saraciea J. Fennell, Kahlil Haywood, Zakiya Jamal, Janel Martinez, Jasminne Mendez, Meg Medina, Mark Oshiro, Julian Randall, Lilliam Rivera, and Ibi Zoboi.

“Too often, individuals from the Latinx diaspora are placed into a box, into stereotypes, that society deems necessary in order to define us. But we are so much more than the myths, than the stereotypes, than what white people and Western ideals want us to believe,” wrote Fennell, who is also the founder of The Bronx is Reading, in the introduction of the book.

As an Honduran Afro-Latina, Fennell felt the push to publish this book as a consequence of her own constant struggle to be recognized as a Latina, which led her to seek out other voices that echoed her experience.

“It was a frustration over the last couple of years and honestly most of my life. As soon as I was old enough to find out I was Latina and what that meant, I’d look at media, books, TV, movies and think, where am I reflected? Even as a Honduran-American, I’m still searching for that,” she told PopSugar.

Another reason behind the Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed anthology was to open up the conversation around colorism and anti-Blackness within the Latinx community.

"Though we are having more and more open conversations about these pain points in our community, there are those who still tend to put Whiteness in the spotlight,” she told CNN. “We’ve seen media, beauty brands, and book publishing do this, claiming that a character or person is Afro Latinx, but then only highlighting those on the lightest spectrum of the color wheel. It’s time these things change, there’s room for darker skin and coily hair, and we deserve to be in the spotlight too.”