Cihuātocameh (Spiderwomen) Weaving Twenty Years of Transformative Justice Work in Higher Education

Abstract

While the student population in higher education has become more ethnically diverse the professoriate in universities remain predominantly of European descent. Reflecting this disparity of representation within the context of higher education in the United States, women faculty of color continue to experience tokenization, among other dissolutions. Within this inequitable context, we continue to find ways to resist these moments of fragmentation. We draw upon an analogy of spider weaving as a way to re-member the fragmented parts of being Women of Color scholar activists in the academy. In this paper, two Xicana Indigenous scholars highlight moments of resistance and transformation in the past 20 years of engagement with higher education. We begin with an undergraduate summer research experience and continue to the present moment as assistant professors. We share the context, our narratives of growth and resilience to unveil effects of the lived realities for Women of Color invested in social transformative justice. We offer a reflective opportunity for those who enter and continue struggling to survive and thrive within academia while navigating the shoals of privilege and marginalization. This awareness can offer a starting point for further discussions focused on the recruitment and retention of Women of Color faculty in the academy.

Acknowledgments

We honor our elders and sisters who have nurtured our growth along the way, especially Dr. Suzanne Schaefer who has warmly held us along this path less traveled. Tlazohcamati huei (Nahuatl- Big thank you) for your editing magic; our sisterhood helps us soar. We thank the Democratizing Knowledge project (DK) summer institute leaders Drs. Linda Carty and Chandra Talpade Mohanty for co-facilitating the space to begin writing about these processes and Dr. Cheryl E. Matias for her support. To resist oppression and seek transformative justice, we acknowledge and honor the original people of the land on which these relationships and ideas were cultivated; the Tataviam, Chumash and Tongva people in El Sereno, California and the Tongva people in Anaheim, California. We also honor the original people of the current lands where we reside—the Nototomne in Turlock, California and the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute people in Denver, Colorado. Tlazocamati huei for the relations we nurture with the land and the peoples of this land.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant financial interest or affiliations with any commercial interests related to the subjects discussed within this article.

Notes

1 Translation: offering.

2 We use femmetors as opposed to mentors as a way to highlight the feminist epistemologies that we embody in our daily lives.

3 We include “Hispanic” in quotations to subvert its use to describe people. This categorization of identity has been imposed to capitalize on populations to maintain white supremacy and profit from capital gain. See “Making Hispanics” by Cristina G. Mora (2014).

4 Translation: “First God and then school.”

5 Translation- Sharing with community.

6 More information at- https://democratizingknowledge.syr.edu/

7 See https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant Ancestral Computing for Sustainability #1938097. Its aim is to nurture problem-solving strategies drawing from ancestral knowledge systems for greater sustainability.