There are many things that I have been trying to process over the last couple of weeks. Sorring my feelings with everything going on has been rough and all came to a head this week. Bear with me this is going to be a long thread. Fighting for equity is hard

the amazing #MyDeanIsBetterThanYours @ValerieKinloch once said that her approach of leadership and transformation was centered with love and kindness. I know this sounds very hippy dippy and more coming from someone wanting to break racist structures. but bear with me

The systemic structures that opress us leave invisible scars. The current pandemic, BLM protests, executive orders and fear about the election are making many of us feel suffocated. This is the first place where love and kindness come in

Without love and kindness we center our trauma only and start competing on the opression olympics. Is love and kindness what will push you to educate yourself when you do a micro or macroagression and that is what leads to healing

heteropatriarchal whitness tm (I mean the structure not an individual) counts on us fighting each other and not understand. it counts on us playing devils advocate. it counts on us trying to protect our pride above others trauma

college educated latinx people of light skinned have progressed in this country by giving their backs on their culture and trampling over blackness. They centered their individual survival and not the collective

When we center love we look for healing and some of the trauma can start to heal. But here is where it gets hard. Because one might think that this approach and an approach where we keep the system accountable and call out things are not compatible

It took me many years to understand the fallacy on that belief. I mentioned that I always carry @lipatel words of speaking up so you don’t lose your soul. And the thing I have come to understand is that accountability is a form of love too

Love is what can lead you to educate and hold someone else accountable when they do something hurtful. But love is also what makes you speak up to protect your gente. There are many people that don’t feel like they can speak up

So yes if I perceive that what you do is hurting one of my people I will burn shit down out of love for them. It is very easy to see my #MICER20 tweets as me being personally offended. But let it be clear that if you think that you don’t know me

You are not the one who gets the DMs, tears and convos on backrooms about how your actions hurt your mentees. And I don’t say this to put me on a pedestal of how much people trust me. I say this because the system counts on their silence

Goddess knows I fuck it up more times than I should and I have so much more to learn. But fuck it at least I am trying. I don’t want to become the fave of this, I want to be known for what I do for research

and I wonder how many people in CER know me only as the girl who always asks the race question on talks. but at the end of the day I have a good advisor that has my back and enough funding to not fear my inmediate job security. So the same that I ask

people to use their white privilege for good or their tenure privilege I will use whatever academic privilege I have for those who cannot. For those who are coming behind me on the field.

And whenever I fuck up I hope someone calls me out. And if I give a BS answer I hope someone tells me I am being an asshole.

Leadership and service are two of the most gendered words on will ever find
Women are often associated with service and men with leadership. However, at the heart of my leadership philosophy is the idea that a leader serves rather than looking for glory.

It is only when a leader understands that the endeavor is bigger than themselves, that one is able to truly foster change. A leader understands that one must bring the best out of the people surrounding them while at the same time building community rather than independent actors

The village one builds is the true legacy, and it is said village which will keep the fight even when the leader is long gone. Standing here it is still a little bit shocking to see myself having a seat at the table. Maybe I forced myself on the table

Not long ago I would have been deemed to female, too brown, too foreign to do so. Today I have a seat at the table but there is many more who don’t. I have to believe that is possible to build an academic community that would welcome those who have been kept on the sidelines

I can only hope that whatever I do can help make our field a more welcoming place. And that the bridges I build with others help us reflect and do better

So en conclusión as @ValerieKinloch and @lipatel seek justice, stay true to your soul and use love and kindness to heal the trauma of systemic opressions. From them I learned to be an agitator and a disruptor. and remember caminante no hay puentes, se hacen puentes al andar