Rhetorical Functions of Letter Writing: Dialogic Collaboration, Affirmation, and Catharsis in Dolores Huerta's Letters

Get to know me, homey: exploring critical, relational and racial literacy possibilities in co-excavative letter writing

“…We are particularly interested in epistolary exchanges that have taken place to identify and disrupt white supremacy (Baldwin, 1963; Coates, 2015) and to theorize, understand and combat racism and improve writing skills (Taylor, 2019). For instance, epistolary exchanges occurred between Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez; these letters allowed Huerta to better understand her role in the United Farm Workers (UFW) and make sense of the constraining ideologies of class, race, gender and ethnicity (Sowards, 2012). These letters allowed Huerta to define and affirm her role within the UFW by marking her achievements and sacrifices for the union.…”

“…These letters allowed Huerta to define and affirm her role within the UFW by marking her achievements and sacrifices for the union. Sowards’ (2012) work highlights how the rhetorical functions of Huerta’s letter-writing contributed to her “identity consciousness, enabling her to build an identity that emphasized social justice issues related to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and gender” (p. 295). Like Sowards’ detailing of Huerta’s and Chavez’s epistolary exchange displays, our work displays how the rhetorical functions of our epistolary exchange indicate difference but communicate within and across that difference.…”