-
When Your Professor is Racist
Hello! It’s been a minute and really this entire week I have been watching and reading about the attacks in Virginia. It has made me more guarded and angry. And I really don’t know what the solution will be, but I guess we can only take it one day at time or whatever. Anyway, the best way for me to refocus this energy is to connect with this community and I want to talk about ignorance in the classroom, which seems like it will be especially prevalent now. We’ve discussed reacting to ignorant comments by classmates before, but we haven’t discussed what happens when your instructor holds ideas that put your…
-
Don’t Believe the Hype: Navigating Negative Emotions as a First Gen Student
I often mention how many Latinas going into the law are family leaders. Maybe you were the one that interpreted for your parents, or your siblings look to you for guidance/advice on big decisions, or maybe you’ve blazed an educational path for the rest of your family as a first gen student. This type of trailblazing status is a prominent feature in many Latina lawyers (and leaders) in our community. It is a powerful label—to be the trailblazer, the first—it paints an image of a driven, focused person. It’s a worthy title for so many of us. But it is also a difficult one. Being first can mean frustration, isolation,…
-
Three Years and Three Big Lessons
I can’t believe it’s been three years since I went live with his site! When I first started Latinas Uprising, I had no clue what type of community I would find—I just knew that surely there were others that experienced the legal profession in the same manner as me. In time, I have met so many amazing women. Women who are focused, driven, passionate, and outspoken—I’m always so impressed and motivated by the accomplishments of this community! So, with that in mind, I wanted to share three things I’ve learned in the past three years: One. Latinas are amazing. Is this obvious? Maybe. In general, I know amazing Latinas who…
-
There’s No Such Thing As Reverse Racism
Today, I woke up to the news that this administration is planning to investigate colleges that discriminate against White people. Specifically, they are planning to attack affirmative action programs. As an advocate for increased access to education in the Latinx community, campaigns like this make me want to scream. Anyone who is genuine about education and increased access knows that AA programs do not harm people in power. In fact, and please repeat this until you can’t say it anymore, white women have benefited the most from affirmative action. Affirmative action programs and policies gave me a spot in schools and situations where I likely would have been overlooked in…
-
Summer Series: Fighting Against a Carceral State
Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Cynthia, a rising 2L at Stanford, who is spending her summer in the South defending those facing capital punishment: “It implies that you are not a citizen of a democracy but the subject of a carceral state, just waiting to be cataloged.” – Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissenting in…
-
Breaking Barriers: FAFSA and Proving You’re Low-Income
April is Financial Literacy Month and I want to talk about financial aid for school. For the most part, I depended on FAFSA to help pay for college and law school. I was super thankful to have access to grants, scholarships, and loans but it wasn’t easy to navigate the financial aid system with little help. While I’m years removed from filing for FAFSA, I do recall the feelings of anxiety—would this year’s package give me enough to cover everything? How will my mom help pay the family portion? How much will I need to earn this summer? Can I find another campus job? I’ll be honest that I hella…
-
Grow Your Circle: The Benefits of Being an Active Alumna
A common theme I hear from attorneys of color is the disconnect they feel from their law school. It’s a disconnect I have often felt. While the school never feels purposefully unwelcoming, it’s always very obvious that this is a space that’s not necessarily for us. For most of us, it’s all about getting our JD and bouncing. And because we never felt like that space was for us, we often don’t take the time to come back, in meaningful ways, to make sure the students after us have a better experience. I get why–you have a real job, real friends, family, responsibilities that take priority. Duh. But I fear…
-
Sidebar: Love and Mental Riots
So…I feel like my life is marked in pre & post-election. Like the bombardment of bad news, stupefying news, racist policies, behaviors, etc. etc. is enough to drive someone crazy. I feel like I’m constantly seething. To find a balance, I keep distracting myself (like everyone should) because I just can’t be “on” and available to react to all the stupidity coming from this administration all the time. But in the inside, I’m super angry. And because I’m also super petty, I’m relishing in a ton of schadenfreude because you know that’s healthy… But anyway, let’s keep this positive! A few weeks ago, I received my results from 23andMe! I…
-
Is There Anything I Can Do? On White Allies & Their Duty to Act
Because of this site, I keep updated on stats regarding Latinx lawyers and lawyers of color in general. We, Latina lawyers, keep staying at 1.3% of the profession–it’s a neat little trivia fact I like to pull out when I can. The other day I mentioned this to a White colleague who was shocked at the low rate of Latina lawyers. And then she genuinely asked what could she do to improve diversity in the legal field. I talk a lot (a lot) about what our community can do, about what we can do as individuals, not because I think the onus is on us, but because no one is…
-
MLK Day: On Resistance
I wish this MLK Day could be more festive. A real celebration of progress and accomplishments, but we are facing a bleak time. I remember attending an event in September about DACA and a panelist kept wanting to talk about this doomsday scenario and everyone–everyone–the other panelists, the audience, we kept laughing it off because it was just never going to happen. And now, groups are scrambling to prepare for the worst: raids, loss of basic rights, the mental, economic, and emotional toil of losing access to healthcare, and just the ever-encompassing fear of all the things that could happen. I am fearful of what this administration will mean to…