Pedagogical Border Crossings: Testimonio y Reflexiones of a Mexicana Academic

• In Event: Family in/as Fieldwork: Challenges and Possibilities of Researching (With) One's Own Family

Abstract

I am an assistant professor at New Mexico State University; however, the path to getting to this position has been about crossing borders, about learning in and from the borderlands. The borderlands that my body has had to cross, physically and figuratively, have left many heridas abiertas (open wounds) but have also provided me with knowledge. This acute awareness, what Anzaldúa (1987) terms facultad, and the use of these tools are what I term pedagogical border crossings. These familial, communal, and cultural knowledges made it possible for me to become a professor and to continually reflect upon what it means to be a Mexicana academic. The pain and struggles, what my body has endured, are constant reminders of the collisions that happen between el primer y tercer mundo and how these experiences leave open wounds. The inextricable relationship between Mexico and the US is deepened as Mexicanos like me are forced to come to el norte, whether by choice or brought by parents. At almost eleven years old my life changed—I crossed, with the help of a coyote, into Los Angeles, California. Macro/institutional change and systems of oppression with anti-immigrant laws such as Proposition 187 alerted me to the vulnerabilities of being undocumented in the educational system. Xenophobic spaces and actions have influenced and shaped my epistemologies and my awareness/conocimiento about navigating anti-immigrant spaces. At the micro level, through mentorship and serendipitous opportunities, this conocimiento was affirmed and informs my teaching and research.

Author

• Judith Flores Carmona, New Mexico State University