Letter writing as a Chicana/Latina healing tool: the affordances of a Critical Race Feminista Epistolary Praxis

Abstract

Heeding Gloria Anzaldúa’s (2012) call to cultivate, “new theories with new theorizing methods,” this article articulates the contours of a Critical Race Feminista Epistolary Praxis (CRFEP). CRFEP, a writing-based methodological intervention nestled within anti-racist and social justice traditions, fosters opportunities for Women of Color to communicate their resistance against the historical legacies and contemporary manifestations of racialized and gendered oppression. The author addresses the following questions: (1) What constitutes a CRFEP in education research? And (2) What does the empirical application of a CRFEP look like in scholarship that centers the educational life experiences of Chicana/Latina mothers and daughters? The author contends, a CRFEP uplifts a textual platform for Chicanas/Latinas to exert a literary presence and it facilitates a transformative process of healing and transformation for Women of Color epistolarians. Indeed, the CRFEP humanizes the research process and disrupts traditional modes of data collection and analysis in education research.