Seeking a Mexicana/Mestiza Critical Feminist Ethic of Care: Diana’s Revolución of Body and Being

ABSTRACT

This Chicana Critical Feminist Testimonio reveals a Mexican/Mexican-American Ethic of Care and Testimonios of struggle and survival informing curriculum and pedagogy of one Mexican/Mexican-American female educator of predominantly Mexican/Mexican-American students. This work is part of a larger ethnographic study conducted through multiple methods. Findings here reveal Diana’s Ethic of Care, a (re)framing of social justice revolution/Revolución at the intersection of race, class, gender, language, and immigration status. As Diana (re)constructs and (re)claims her Mexican/Mexican-American identity, she likewise endeavors toward her students’ dignity and academic access. Findings have curricular, pedagogical implications for all educators serving marginalized youth and youth of color.

KEY WORDS:

• Ethic of care
• testimonio
• social justice curriculum and pedagogy
• Chicana/o, Mexican/Mexican-American
• Hispanic

Notes

¹ Mestiza/o and the more colloquial Mexicana/o signify a racialized identity at the intersection of Indigenous, Spanish, and African ancestry within the context of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico and the present-day Southwest. Although these terms may can never fully encapsulate identities whose essence is mutability and resistance of form, I utilize them interchangeably to describe the complexity of a hybridized, hyphenated reality not defined or limited along ethnic, racial, national, and political demarcations (Acuña, 1988; Anzaldúa, 1987; Córdova, 1994; Menchaca, 1999; Villenas, 2006).

² I capitalize Her and She when referring to La Revolucionista to highlight a unified spirit across participants. I in no way aim to distance this work from each of the participants who embody Her: They are La Revolucionista and She is them, never to be extricated.