Latina M(other)work against racism: living with legal precarity in suburban Atlanta

Abstract

ABSTRACT This piece explores the resistance strategies of Latina mothers grappling with racism and legal precarity in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, a “hostile” new destination with restrictive anti-immigrant measures. It draws on 18 months of ethnographic research to show how women derived a sense of empowerment from becoming involved in their children's schooling. They also turned schools into “counter-spaces” of sanctuary and support for fellow Latinx parents. The author sees this educational activism spanning both domestic and public school spaces as an expression of m(other)work. M(other)work is the gendered labor of care that supports Latinx children and communities as they fight against intersecting forms of exclusion. This labor, stemming from traumatic experiences of border crossing, is at the heart of emerging forms of immigrant activism in new destinations. In conclusion, the author urges educators to abandon traditional deficit framings of immigrant groups in favor of initiatives that support Latina mothers’ educational activism.