In this article, the authors reflect on the methodological tools they used to recover hidden perspectives within two desegregation cases, "Karla Galarza v. The Board of Education of Washington D.C.", 1947 and "Debbie and Doreen Soria, et al. v. Oxnard School Board of Trustees," 1974. Placing these two narratives in conversation…

This essay recounts the efforts by various groups throughout Texas with a special emphasis on the Rio Grande Valley to implement Mexican American Studies at the turn of the twenty-first century. We offer a historical timeline of events that demonstrates how the Mexican American Studies course came into existence. We also detail the way in which…

The historical mistreatment of Xicanx (pronounced CHEE or SHE-canx) communities is rooted in nativism and white supremacist ideology that is inextricably linked to the conquest of the Americas and the creation of the United States. The subsequent multiple demonizing forces and ideology emanating from these origins have resulted in quantifiable…

This essay utilizes critical race theory composite counterstorytelling to tell a story about Alberto, a first-generation Xicano doctoral student who is presenting his dissertation research proposal to his qualitative research class. Through Alberto's character, I discuss my complicated process of designing and conducting a research study.…

Mexican American educational history has become a vibrant field of study since the late 1980s. In the last seven years, however, it is notable that this research has inspired community-based efforts to preserve and publicly commemorate challenges to unequal education. In this commentary, we discuss the archival recovery of the "Francisco…

The author's reflexive account of what led to the construction of research grounded in Chicana Feminist Epistemology (CFE) and a new CFE approach coined "Mestiza Methodology" is presented. At the core of the methodology is the assertion that research processes must be decolonized in the image of Chicana relationships and sense-making to…

In conducting qualitative research, scholars often grapple with positionality. Researcher positionality refers to how various social identities (i.e. gender, race, class, ethnicity, ability, geographical location) influence research methods. It examines the impact of researchers' social identities on their understanding of the research design,…

I explore my journey of creating my digital testimonios and how this intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and aesthetic process has aided in my healing journey. Throughout this process I illuminate the emotional labor that goes into creating these tools of healing by sharing personal experiences of trauma. Through my experiences, I demonstrate that…

As a mother, daughter, and educator in Compton, California, the author writes a letter as an episolary offering/love letter for adjunct professors. The author offers these brief words as an act of gratitude, as an act of daily survival, and as an act of abundant defiance against the elimination of Women of Color (WoC) adjunct professors, writers,…

Mexican American Studies (MAS) courses have been criticized for many years. Legislation in Arizona and Texas have attempted to ban the content. This article pushes back on this attempt of oppression and offers MAS teachers a framework to apply when teaching the content. Using a timeline to depict the years of attempts for Mexican American Studies…

Researchers have reported the funds of knowledge (FK) pedagogical approach effective in engaging minority students in learning. However, there are a lack of studies connecting FK to introductory college physics or physical science classes. By using examples from regional Mexican-American lived experiences at an Hispanic-serving institution located…

This essay contributes to the growing literature on Mexican American Studies in K-12 within the broader field of Ethnic Studies. While most of the literature on the movement for Ethnic Studies within Texas and across the nation mainly focuses on the impact of Ethnic Studies courses on students' academic success, this essay highlights a…

In the teaching of social studies, the use of funds of knowledge is beneficial for children to understand different experiences and perspectives. Families use funds of knowledge to teach their children what is important and valuable in their culture. In the case of Latino families, being bilingual is part of their history while for other families…

The authors describe a culturally sustaining bilingual family engagement project that draws upon Latinx families' experiential and cultural wealth and integrates that knowledge within the literacy curriculum of a bilingual fourth grade classroom. Through the use of monthly writing prompts, Project "Recuerdo," engages families in sharing…

Identity and agency are key to understanding student learning within classroom contexts. Utilizing figured worlds and local contentious practices as analytical frameworks, identity and agency are theorized as cultural practices that occur as part of the learning process in schools. Specifically, this article discusses self-authorship and the…