Letter-Writing as a Chicana/Latina Resistance Tool: Employing a Critical Race Feminista Epistolary Methodology

• In Event: Illuminating Truth From the Margins: Using Critical Race Methodologies to Conduct Humanizing Research

Abstract

Objectives: Few qualitative studies in the field of education incorporate epistolary writing as central to the research methodology. However, Critical Race scholars in education have begun to address this gap by positioning letter-writing methodologies as tools that challenge oppressive written representations of Communities of Color (Cisneros, 2018; Solórzano, 2013). In line with Critical Race traditions that nurture textual spaces for creative resistance, and heeding Gloria Anzaldúa’s (2012) call to cultivate “new theories with new theorizing methods,” this paper engages two questions: (1) What constitutes a Critical Race Feminista Epistolary Methodology (CRFEM) in education research? and (2) How does a CRFEM extend the discourse on Critical Race methodologies? Findings reveal this methodological intervention affords Chicanas/Latinas an opportunity to exert a literary presence as they name experiences of exclusion, write back to systems and individuals that perpetual educational disenfranchisement, and write themselves into history.

Theoretical Framework: This research couples Chicana/Latina Feminist Theories (CLFT) with Critical Race Theories (CRT) to form a Critical Race Feminista Praxis (CRFP; Delgado Bernal, Perez Huber, Malagón, 2018). Theoretical and methodological tools emergent from a CRFP invite discussions and analysis about the intersections of racism and sexism (among other forms of oppressions) and their impact on the educational life experiences of Chicana/Latina women.

Methodology: The study’s qualitative design employs a Critical Race Feminista Epistolary Methodology (Escobedo, 2021; Escobedo & Camargo Gonzalez, 2022) and pláticas (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2017). I position the CRFEM as a writing tool that Chicanas/Latina leverage to communicate their resistance against the historical legacies and contemporary manifestations of racist and gendered oppression. By constructing handwritten and digital letters addressed to institutional agents, relatives, future generations, and the self, Chicana/Latina epistolarians interrogate and ascribe meaning to their racialized and gendered life experiences in a textual format.

Findings: The CRFEM unsettles dominant forms of data collection and analysis in qualitative research by (1) building on the rich history of praxis-driven Critical Race scholarship and (2) nurturing a textual space of empowerment for Chicana/Latina researchers and collaborators alike. Specifically, this methodological intervention affords Chicanas/Latinas an opportunity to exert a literary presence as they name experiences of exclusion, write back to systems and individuals that perpetual educational disenfranchisement, and write themselves into history. By engaging a reflexive and action-oriented letter writing praxis, Chicanas/Latinas disrupt systems which uphold racist, sexist, classist, and other intersectional mechanisms of discrimination.

Scholarly Significance: This research responds to the AERA 2023 call for highlighting scholarship that combats social injustices in the pursuit of truth telling and employs research methodologies to empower communities historically marginalized in educational settings. In moving the Critical Race and Education cannons forward, this paper urges researchers to humanize the research process and disrupt traditional modes of data analysis in the name of racial justice.

Author

• Cindy R. Escobedo, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author