The Silence That Harms Us: Utilizing Autoethnography to Reflect on Experiences Advocating for Racial Justice

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Narratives for Transformation: Racial Justice and Liberation Through Autoethnography (Table 5)

Abstract

This paper utilizes autoethnography by documenting the experiences of a Chicana advocating for, yet experiencing a lack of institutional structural support in a discipline that prides itself in its commitment to social justice. Specifically, this paper details the backlash, silence, and lack of institutional support when discussing the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. The author details feelings of isolation, how we engage in conversations around harm, accountability, and the healing process of these experiences. This urges us to critically analyze what institutional support is necessary for educators to feel supported when they explicitly discuss and disrupt normative, oppressive ideologies and perspectives. Ultimately, this autoethnography serves as an analytic tool for reflexivity, explicitly challenging systems of oppression and encouraging collective societal transformation.

Author

• Jessica I. Ramirez, Portland State University