Storying Son Jarocho Fandango: A Culturally Decolonizing Pedagogy in Ethnic Studies

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Advocating for a Better Tomorrow: Excavating Decolonial Futures for Youth of Color (Table 13)

Abstract

Learning son jarocho--an African diasporic and Mexican musical genre born of the colonial experience near the Gulf of Mexico-- at a public university was leveraged as a tool for dismantling racism towards co-liberation. Drawing from Black feminist theories and Indigenous methodologies, this community-based participatory action research included members of the Son Xinachtli (seed) Collective, comprised of Ethnic Studies and Education faculty and students. How might the institutionalization of son jarocho impact student voice and community engagement for co-liberation? Using critical auto/ethnographic and storywork analysis to examine three years of son jarocho implementation, findings indicate that planting fandango culture embodies connections to the land and radical love as a source of healing and responsibility.

Authors

• Cueponcaxochitl D. Moreno Sandoval, California State University - Stanislaus

• Lirio Patton, Arizona State University

• Julissa Ruiz Ramirez, YOALI

• Gregorio G. Rocha-Tabera, The Merced Community Arts Council

• Jennifer Campos Lopez, San Jose State University

• Maria Gabriel, California State University - Stanislaus

• Brandon Montano, California State University - Stanislaus