El Poder de la Pluma ✍🏽

When Medicine Was My Whole Identity

For most of my life, my identity was tied to medicine.

I was a physician first — triple board-certified, a caregiver, a healer.

That was who I was.

And then, after speaking up about inequities and suffering retaliation, I found myself pushed out of my job.

Stripped of Purpose

I was forced onto ADA leave.

Denied access to the very physician mental health programs my employer advertised.

Denied workers’ compensation.

Denied short-term disability.

And suddenly — I was broken.

When something so central to your life is stripped away — taking care of patients, serving your community — you’re left in the most lonely, vulnerable place you’ve ever been.

Silenced. Isolated. Retaliated against. Threatened even when you try to get help.

I didn’t know how to deal with it.

When Silence Became My Teacher

I’ve always thought of myself as more scientific than creative.

Writing was never easy for me.

But in that silence, writing became my only therapy.

Ironically, it was litigation that unlocked my voice.

My employer literally told me I wasn’t allowed to speak at a Black church about stroke prevention in my capacity as a physician.

My workers’ compensation claim was denied — without any exam, any interview, any review.

I was forced into litigation, and I had to start writing.

The Letters That Changed Everything

I wrote to my legislators.

I wrote to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the insurance board.

I wrote in the workers’ comp portal — only to be told by the ombudsman:

“Oh, the judge doesn’t even see anything you upload there.”

At first, I was crushed.

Then I realized — bet. That portal would be my journal.

That’s where I wrote Still I Rise to explain why I’d never settle.

That’s where I wrote You Should Have Asked My Mama.

That’s where I found a voice I never knew I had.

From Litigation to Liberation

And now I’m here — blogging.

I’m not completely healed, but I am better.

And no one will ever take my voice from me again.

Finding Purpose in the Rubble

Now, I don’t just speak for myself.

I speak for other silenced workers.

I speak for those with disabilities whose claims are denied.

I speak for physicians and whistleblowers who were retaliated against.

I speak for anyone suffering inside toxic workplaces.

This experience broke me.

But in the rubble, I discovered something powerful:

my pen, my voice, my truth.

And I will keep writing —

for me, for you, for all of us.

The Power of the Pen

In Spanish, El Poder de la Pluma means The Power of the Pen.

It’s more than a title — it’s a reminder.

Even when everything is taken from you — your job, your reputation, your community — your words remain.

The pen can heal.

The pen can expose.

The pen can build something no retaliation can destroy — truth.

✊🏾 Join the Phoenix Movement

If you’ve been silenced or retaliated against, you’re not alone.

📣 Share your story with the Phoenix Advocacy Network.

💬 Follow us for real stories of courage and reform.

🕊️ Use your voice — in writing, in testimony, in truth.

Because when they silence one of us, we rise together.