Politics of Being Loving, Vulnerable, and Present

Abstract

As feminist faculty we assess our use of testimonios by employing testimonio to share our experiences and Chicana feminist pedagogy praxis, which challenge the structure of the traditional canon and offer alternative classroom practices. As Chicana feminist faculty we appraise the use of testimonios as feminist pedagogy to contest the structure of the conventional canon and fashion and provide alternative classroom practices. We explore how we view our courses as a medium through which students’ lives can be transformed, inspiring them to become active thinkers and active citizens, to participate in the life of the university, and most important, to become agents for social change. As faculty from different disciplines and generations, we examine the use of testimonio in our Chicana/o studies classes by centering the voices and stories of girls, women, and immigrants in a variety of fields, in particular psychology and public health. The stories shared challenge their invisibility, invalidation, and marginalization in academia and in an array of fields. Their testimonios expose brutality, disrupt silencing, and build solidarity among mujeres.