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Hidden Figures: On White Feminism and Race
I saw Hidden Figures last Friday and was so moved by the movie. The movie is about Black women working at NASA during the space race and the strides they made and struggles they fought just for decency and respect. Before I get into it, I just need to take a moment and say that I cannot even imagine what life would be like to be as smart as Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson) like how is it even possible to understand math in that way? Maybe because I’m always on the struggle bus when it comes to math and science so it extra blew me away, but like HOW…
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Walkout: How Protests Lead to Increase Access to Education
There is a meme going around that shows two versions of Latinos: one is a group of college grads and the others are protesters. The image reads that the graduates’ actions (of going to school) speaks louder than the protesters. The idea being that we should keep our heads down, do the work, and our success will speak for itself. It’s an admirable thought, but it’s wrong. It’s wrong because it ignores our history. U.S. Latinx history proves that we achieve justice only when we fight for our rights. And Latino access to quality education is specifically tied to community protests where community members agitated, disrupted, and demanded civil rights…
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Every Word is Your Word
This Friday as things were winding down I saw a post from a young Latina in college who was being questioned by her professor for writing too well. He accused her of plagiarism (a heavy claim) and specifically doubted that the language she was using was “hers” because he didn’t think she was capable of using the word “hence” in a correct manner. …. The student was rightfully hurt by this situation. And sadly, reading this account didn’t surprise me because many of us have these experiences. Instructors who question our abilities and right to be present in a way that cuts deep; that in turn make us question our…
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Tolerating Racism: The Heavy Burden Placed on Students of Color
A while ago, I had planned to write some posts about things the Latinx community had at stake this election season. Then P-Gate happened and I was like well, that seems unnecessary now. But I think I overlooked the seeds this election season has planted. Mainly it has become seemingly acceptable for certain people to openly proclaim their racist and sexist ideology. Before we had dog whistles and even the Klan had the common sense to keep their identities secret. But now, it’s all out in the open and there are so many that foam at the mouth, encouraging others to spew their hate in an attempt to get “their”…
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The Vital First Steps to Take to Find Your Mentor
We’ve discussed before how awkward networking can be when you’re new to the profession. We’re told so often to “network!” during school, but it can be a foreign concept. Actually, to me it always felt icky that we’re going to these events to “make contacts,” which is often code for “what can this person do for me?” See? Gross. Instead, when I flipped this concept to make networking feel more reasonable for me, I found that I really enjoyed it. It can still be a little nerve-wracking to go to an event, unsure if I’ll know anyone, but it’s very rare when I go to something and feel like the…
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Uprooting The Seeds of Domestic Violence
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and it’s an important topic for me because I work daily with survivors of domestic violence. That’s the general reason why this matters to me, but another big reason why advocating for survivors of DV matters to me is because I also experienced & observed inter-family violence in the home as a child by my former step-father. One thing about me is that when I want to understand why something is happening, I like over-do it and research it to death. These life circumstances were no different, and by the time I was in middle school, I would seek out books about DV in…
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Radical Women: This Bridge Called My Back
I have wanted to review This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color forever and figured this review would be a great way to end Latinx History Month with a bang! For those that may not know, TBCMB is a collection of essays, letters, and poems of various women of color and it is edited Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua. Composed in the early 80s, the writers are considered Third World Feminists. They are women of color, feminists, fighting against the oppression of poverty, racism, sexism, and xenophobia. It’s a really incredible collection of voices that resonated with me even though the pieces were written before I…
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Latinas at Work: Working Hard for Half the Recognition
There was a recent a study conducted on Latinas in the corporate world. The study found that Latinas are more likely to feel like they have to work harder than colleagues to be taken seriously. There is a fear of being seen as “too Latina” and a great effort to downplay our otherness at work. When I read this I was like, aha! I very much attempted to assimilate my looks into a more mainstream “look” when I was in law school. I still don’t wear hoop earrings for fear of how they’re perceived. L We’ve hit on these topics before, but it’s a recent student that shows how Latinas,…
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De-Stressing & Self-Care in the times of Social Media
I consider myself super lucky in that when I started working as a full-time attorney there was a more open philosophy re: vicarious trauma and attorneys. While there’s still an old-school though that nothing we do should impact us emotionally, the truth is that many of us that work in various areas of the law are exposed to ugly human behavior-there’s no question that can impact our own mental health. That’s reality. Then we add the atrocious, urgent, and infuriating state of our country in regards to how people of color are treated and it results in feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety, etc. It’s not a great headspace to be…
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Breaking Barriers: Racism in College
Starting college can be a real trip if you’re not used to being in mostly White spaces. If you’re lucky to attend a diverse college where you don’t feel isolated, that’s fantastic (fr fr) but most of us attend incredibly homogenous schools where your awareness that there are few students of color is super acute. This situation can create feelings of loneliness, a sense that you don’t belong, and in turn, can make you believe you aren’t capable of succeeding in that environment because there are few like you. It can feel overwhelming. And at the time, you may not understand exactly, why it is your feel that way you…