I'm going to keep this entry brief because it's Thanksgiving weekend and there are a few more things that I was hoping to do before I have to go to work on Monday.
At the beginning of November I went to Washington's Faculty and Staff of Color Conference held in Vancouver, WA. My presence, and the presence of other lighter skinned folks, both those who identify as White and those who identify as people of color, irked some of the participants. This highlighted some of the stress I feel when claiming that label. While I feel that it is most beneficial for people of color to unite in compassion and join efforts to work toward justice and equity and the dismantling of systems of oppression, and include like-minded White people, I understand the frustration.
It was a heavy conference. It's not particularly something I'm ready to process on the internet in a blog post. Give me some time to reflect, edit, and re-purpose my thoughts. Isn't that part of the glory of being a writer?
To tide you over, check out Issue 7 of Gold Man Review. In it, I touch on some of my thoughts related to my place in Higher Education as a mestiza chicana morena woman who can pass, sometimes.
One thing that is timely and that I do want to get out online and to others, whoever might read it, is more information about the crisis in Puerto Rico. Our final keynote speaker was scholar activist Rosa Clemente. Rosa has family in Puerto Rico and has taken it upon herself to document the suffering and bring aid to those in Puerto Rico trying to survive and rebuild in the aftermath of the hurricanes. To learn more and donate, visit her webpage PR on the Map.