"I wish I could put my arms around all these powerful Latinas and thank them for their important, generative, and valuable work. I wish to thank them for bringing this volume into the world."—Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés, University of Central Florida
"These Latina scholar testimonies describe riveting journeys both in their personal and academic lives: tales of perseverance. This book will be a gift to my daughters ... and my son. Adelante, Latinx."—Alfredo Celedón Luján, President, National Council of Teachers of English
"These authors have collectively responded to multiple, intersecting issues facing Latina educators, students, and activists with brilliance, nuance, care/love, and rigor. They have accomplished the task of highlighting the often unseen, overlooked, and undervalued labor and intellectual legacies of Latinas in education."—Gabriel Raquel Rios, University of Colorado, Boulder
"Currently, there is not enough published in mainstream university presses and academic journals which engages these kinds of Latina perspectives, especially in their varied forms, something this volume accomplishes in no uncertain terms."—Jaime Armin Mejia, Texas State University
Description
Latina Leadership focuses on the narratives, scholarly lives, pedagogies, and educational activism of established and emerging Latina leaders in K-16 educational environments. As the first edited collection foregrounding the voices of Latina educators who talk back to, with, and for themselves and the student communities with whom they work, this volume highlights the ways in which these leaders shape educational practices. Contributors illustrate, through their grounded stories, how they navigate institutionalized oppression while sustaining themselves and their communities both in and outside of the academy. The collection also outlines the many identities embedded within the term “Latina,” showcasing how Latina scholars grapple with various experiences while seeking to remain accountable to each other and to their families and communities. This book serves as a model and a source of support for emerging Latina leaders who can learn from the stories shared in this volume.
About the Author
Laura Gonzales is assistant professor of digital writing and cultural rhetorics in the Department of English at the University of Florida. She is the author of Sites of Translation: What Multilinguals Can Teach Us about Digital Writing and Rhetoric.
Michelle Hall Kells is a professor of Rhetoric and Writing in the Department of English at the University of New Mexico where she teaches courses in civil rights rhetoric, environmental justice, and language equality education. Her most recent book is Vicente Ximenes, LBJ’s Great Society, and Mexican American Civil Rights Rhetoric.
March 2022