Josephine Mendez-Negrete’s poignant voice resounded in the Clara Sperling Sky Room atop the Holmes Student Center on Wednesday night.

Dressed in black with a resplendent, yellow shawl wrapped around her, Mendez-Negrete read, enacted and sang parts of six stories from her book “Las Hijas De Juan: Daughters Betrayed.”

The professor from the University of Texas, San Antonio, was brought to NIU by the University Resources for Latinos and the ladies of Gamma Phi Omega.

The book recounts Mendez-Negrete’s experiences of growing up in a family of incest and abuse at the hands of an alcoholic father.

The six selected stories recreated the pain of abuse, the trials of her family on moving across the border from Mexico and their hope and humor.

Some of the stories were painfully honest while others took a look at the lighter said of things, like her sister’s rodeo on a pig.

“[The book] has given voice to our conversations in our head, our thought,” said Sylvia Fuentes, director of University Resources for Latinos. “We are very grateful for that.”

The readings were followed by a discussion with the audience.

“I’m doing this because I know that three-fourths of the girls have been abused,” said Mendez-Negrete. “I want to make this injury to women and children known so that we can make a difference.”

Mendez-Negrete said that what separated her from other victims of abuse was the support of her mother and being able to talk about what happened.

She said that she took up social work to be able to give back.

“Without knowing it, I was looking at a way to help myself,” she said.

“Thank you for coming out and bringing out these issues,” said Delia Ramirez, a sophomore art education major who attended the discussion to the author. “It gives us courage to stand up and tell our stories.”