[New Abolitionist scholar Dylan Rodriguez notes that racial apartheid and genocide are the continual condition of the academy; nevertheless he writes: radical intellectuals’ inhabitation of existing institutional sites opposes structures of domination — even if, for most colonized peoples, “the academy is never home.”] how do we make ourselves a/t…

hay(na)ku: stolen 1. stolen rosaries, totems of white power stolen children weep in cages, bereft broken spirits, families generations scattered, lost amerikkka’s past unfolding in real time afrikan lenape californio hawaiian filipino boricua endless list of colonized, broken people is this what makes amerikka great? 2. “Morning star, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted…

On the debut of Ruby Ibarra’s “Nothing On Us: Pinays Rising Behind the Scenes” May 20, 2018 Yesterday, I sat in the Roxie Theater, weeping, almost unable to breathe, desperately seeking tissues, both of my kids asking, “Mom, are you okay?!” And I thought to myself: why is this so…

“I’m sorry, but they…actually made me feel…sick.” Racist mom of CSU prospective student on college tour, 5/2018 Hey lady Do I make you nervous Does my brown skin, my surname signal other? Do I make you sick? Even with “Associate Professor” in front of my name my PhD, MA, BA…

a poem for the 2018 Diversity Studies Faculty Exhibition 1. the smell of fried rice for breakfast my parents at the kitchen table drinking coffee, laughing and talking smack 2. your warm hand in mine the kids asleep next to me the t.v. flickering and a cat barfs on the dining room floor 3. black and brown, all around — where my voice is heard where my work matters where i don’t have to explain where there’s solidarity in struggle and solace in support where difference is valued where community and social justice aren’t just buzzwords where ideas come thick and fast where folks have your back where students get the Word where ancestors celebrate our communion