Cultivating Comadrerismo for Collective Liberation

Abstract

In this paper, we draw from our positionality, respective roles on campus, and experience with developing the UndocuScholars Research Methods class. We argue that despite learning to navigate during a pandemic and dealing with the coexistence of grief and joy, transformation in the academy is possible when seeds are planted through building community, vulnerability, and the creation of an equitable and student-centered curriculum. At the same time, transformation in the academy occurs among faculty and staff through the development of comadrerismo, which is a bond that extends beyond collegiality, as it seeks to foster a sisterhood that honors, supports, and validates people’s journeys, roles, and goals in life. In the end, we all benefit from the harvest by reimagining spaces as locations where we can experience healing, transformation, and eventually, collective liberation. It is within our line of work that we can envision, change, and benefit from altering the institutional practices that move us to radically shift from individualistic to communal joy.