Side-Stepping the Colonial Matrix: How Black and Latinx Leaders Imagine and Build Equity

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender Roundtable: Strategic Battles, From Surviving to Thriving in Educational Contexts

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how Black and Latinx school and district leaders navigate and resist the Colonial Matrix of Power (CMP) to advance equity. Grounded in Mignolo’s (2007, 2023) framework of the CMP and Valenzuela’s (2019) concept of sidestepping, we analyze culturally grounded, community-centered leadership practices within systems not built for their inclusion. Drawing from 52 interviews across eight urban districts, findings show that leaders cultivate psychological safety, build relational trust, and integrate equity into professional development, policy, and organizational goals. They strategically pick their battles, reframe compliance structures as tools for justice, and collaborate with scholars and community members. Leaders also embed anti-racist values into hiring and evaluation to transform institutional culture and resist fragmentation.

Author

• Maria Del Carmen Unda, University of Texas at Austin