The Struggle for Mexican American Studies in Texas K-12 Public Schools: A Movement for Epistemic Justice through Creation/Resistance

Abstract


 
 
 This article traces how Mexican American Studies (MAS) scholar activists led and supported a statewide movement for MAS in Texas. As a Xicana feminist scholar activist, Saldaña draws from her retrospective memory and personal archive of organizational notes, movement documents, personal testimonies before the State Board of Education, and photos, to document her journey within this epistemic justice movement. In doing so, she narrates the processes of creation/resistance that led to change in a state that has historically excluded Black, Brown, and Indigenous histories from school curricula. As a scholar activist involved in various parts of this movement, Saldaña also examines the various interconnected layers of this movement—from local efforts in San Antonio, where she teaches, to statewide organizing—to chronicle the institutional and grassroots processes that led to this historic victory in Texas.
 
 

¿Qué pasa with American News Media? How Digital-Native Latinx News Serves Community Information Needs Using Messaging Apps

“…Spanish-language media took on the key role of maintaining the native language of Latino communities as discriminatory state laws and practices emerged to ban or punish the use of Spanish in public schools and other areas of public life (Montejano 1987;Saldaña 2013). this became particularly relevant to those who turned into foreigners in their own lands after the annexation of texas and California and, later, to first-generation immigrants from Latin America.…”

Perfect Storm

“…Another layer of administration and structure is the local school boards (Saldaña, 2021). As previously stated, the American education system, at the k-12 level, is highly decentralized.…”