La Trenza: Summoning the Ancestors to Dismantle Racism Through Liberated Ethnic Studies

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Deconstructing Dominant Narratives and Centering Ancestral Knowledge Across the PK–20 Spectrum (Table 10)

Abstract

The adoption of Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement, has been met with deliberate and traumatizing efforts to dismantle, deny and censor Liberated Ethnic Studies. This study examines the perspectives and pedagogical practices of Ethnic Studies practioners, all Chicanx, engaged in the battle for Liberated Ethnic Studies. Institutionalizing Ethnic Studies in a neoliberal context has subjected them to lawsuits, public record acts, and censorship. Situated in different geographical spaces and organizations ( Arizona, Texas, and California) these practitioners instinctively tap ancestral/indigenous ways of knowing as personal healing and pedagogical practices. This panel will demonstrate the cyclical nature of pushback against the transformative elements of liberated Ethnic Studies and how it is implemented on the streets and in the classroom.

Authors

• Theresa Montano, California State University - Northridge

• Anita Fernández, Xicanx Institute for Teaching & Organizing (XITO)

• Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, California State University - Northridge

• Sean M. Arce, XITO