by Nelia Olivencia, Ph.D., Chair

The 1964 Civil Rights Act created the pathway to Chicana and Chicano Studies and ethnic studies programs where they established a presence in academia and the community. In 2016, we are confronting the dilution and/or elimination of many of these hard fought programs; we are confronting a change in the opposite direction, away from the exciting and hopeful years of the late 1960s and early 1970s where Chicana and Chicano Studies programs became the beacons of hope for Chicana and Chicanos in the community and in academia.

In such a context, now is the time to celebrate NACCS, and its role in the continued growth of Chicana and Chicano Studies to create and support a leadership that will confront the vast changes in our society where Anglo Americans are becoming the minority.

Since 1972, The National Association for Chicana and Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) has been in the forefront of establishing, maintaining, and expanding programs to reflect our concerns and grow our own leadership. We have done an admirable job with Chicana and Chicano Studies programs expanding to universities all over the United States. This momentum needs to continue.

Last year NACCS’ theme Chicana/o In/Civilities: Contestation y Lucha addressed the need to confront in/civilities and as a result, we dialogued and coalesced together as one for common goals and objectives.   We reflected upon the instruments used to gain civil rights, examined their validity in the present and maintained the ideal that the fight for equality is a worthy endeavor.

And we must always continue this struggle, this fight. The challenges in places such as Arizona or the discourse of hate being fueled at the national level greatly affect our communities. We are being inundated with behavior and attitudes that challenge our fundamental democratic belief that “all are created equal.” Instead, the national conversation points to creating racial, class, ethnic, and religious warfare that challenges the very essence of what it is to be a U.S. citizen.

However, there are spotlights across the country. The state of California and Tejas are working on establishing ethnic studies and Chicana and Chicano Studies in the K-12. where a recent Stanford University study showed that “researchers found that students not only made gains in attendance and grades, they also increased the number of course credits they earned to graduate.” Here in my home state of Wisconsin, our community stopped anti-immigrant bills AB450 and SB533. Victories are always victories.

Thus, the legacy of the civil rights movement continues to reverberate. Of course challenges always remain. For us, NACCS is an organization that over the years has been able to transcend its differences for the better good of all. We will continue to develop our leadership, support our communities, and fight for educational rights. As Carlos R. Guerrero, Past-Chair of NACCS has stated “… we have come a long way. Our path has been full of peaks, valleys, joy and resistance.” No doubt that we have lots of work ahead.

Stephanie Alvarez is an associate professor of Mexican American studies at university of Texas – Rio Grande valley and faculty affiliate in literature and cultural studies. She is passionate about providing students with a culturally and linguistically affirming education and opportunities to connect their education with their lived experiences, and recover their experiences and stories and those of their familias and communities. She uses literature, art, music and comedy as tools to guide students through the process of recovery which often happens through testimonio, oral history and digital story-telling. her research is grounded in the same concepts.  In addition, this year, Dr. Alvarez was selected to receive the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education (Teaching Institutions) Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE).

Nancy “Rusty” Barcelo has served as Northern New Mexico College’s president since July 2010. She is known nationally for her work in academics and diversity. She brings a national reputation and a 30-year career in higher education at the university level to Northern, as the College continues a transition to a high-quality four-year institution offering baccalaureate degrees in 14 disciplines, and a graduate-level program in the advanced planning stage.Dr. Barceló’s teaching experience is extensive; she has served as an affiliate faculty, affiliate assistant professor, adjunct faculty, and adjunct assistant professor. She is also currently a full professor. Prior to her appointment as President of Northern, she served as Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota. She has written for numerous publications, including Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas and a forthcoming chapter in a book by Sylvia Hurtado on diversity and institutional transformation in universities. She is recognized nationally for her excellent professional presentations. She has received many awards, including the NACCS 2012 Scholar award (National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies), and the New Mexico Hispano Round Table “Walk the Talk” award.

Clarissa Rojas Durazo grew up in the border cities Mexicali, Baja California and Calexico, California. Her family has roots in Sonora and the border cities Nogales and Douglas, Arizona, as well as Guadalajara, Jalisco. Her scholarship and activism explore the interrelatedness of myriad manifestations of violence and the possibilities for the transformation of violence.Clarissa co-founded INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence and co-edited The Color of Violence, re-released by Duke this year. She also co-edited “Heteropatriarchal Institutional Violence and the Future of Chican@ Studies,” in Chicana/Latina Studies and a special issue of Social Justice Journal, “Community Accountability: Emerging Movements to Transform Violence.” Her article, “Morphing War into Magic: The Story of the Border Fence Mural, a Community Art Project in Calexico/Mexicali,” appears in Aztlán’s special issue on the 25^thanniversary of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera. Her poem, “My Love is not Perfect” appears in Sinister Wisdom’s award-winning collection Latina Lesbian. She is a long-term community organizer who teaches toward decolonial and abolitionist futures in Chican@ Studies at UC Davis. Clarissa is an internationally published poet who believes in caracoles and trusts the creative spirit.

“Chicana Activism: Tools for Restorative and Transformative Justice.”

Across time and space, Chicanas have intervened and strenghtened freedom struggles by disrupting sexism, heteropatriarchy, and heteropatriarchal violence. Chicanas not only advocate for women’s rights, but also ensure that Chicana/o liberation means freedom for all members of the community. To that end, Chicanas continue to devise critical methods for addressing historical trauma and working to heal ourselves and our communities in multiple spaces. The 2016 NACCS Chicana Caucus Plenary underscores macro and micro perspectives of the many ways in which Chicanas facilitate transformative justice and provide vital tools for personal and collective restoration.

Panelists:

Elisa Facio, Eastern Washington University

“Undocu-Queer Women’s Efforts in Eradicating Hetero-patriarchal Violence in Washington state.”

Elisa Facio is Director of the Chicana/Chicano Education Program and Professor of Chicana/Chicano Studies at Eastern Washington University. In addition, she is the Executive Director of the Race and Culture Studies major and minor. Elisa’s areas of teaching and research include Chicana Feminist Thought, Indigena Chicana spiritualities, transnational issues related to gender, race, and sexuality in Cuba, and age, aging and generations. Elisa received her B.A. with honors in sociology from Santa Clara University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Elisa’s academic work is published in anthologies, academic journals, encyclopedias, and her book on older Chicana/Mexican women titled Understanding Older Chicanas: Sociological and Policy Perspectives was published by SAGE (1996). She co-edited anthology with Dr. Irene Lara, Fleshing the Spirit, Spiriting the Flesh was published by the University of Arizona Press (2014). And, she is also a contributing author to the collection.

Martha Raquel Gonzales,California State University, San Marcos

“Holding each other Accountable: Confronting Violence in Community Settings.”

 Martha Raquel Gonzales, born and raised in Los Angeles, balances her life and time between holding a joint position as an Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and Liberal Studies at California State University, San Marcos and as member of Mujeres de Maiz (MdM). Her current research interests include Xicana feminisms, women’s spirituality, and critical education, which are anchored in her involvement with MdM. She has worked with MdM over the years to transform spaces by hosting the Annual Live Art Shows, creating ephemeral ambiences, assisting with zine editing, and currently co-editing MdM’s book project Mujeres de Maiz: A 20 Year Retrospective.

Co-Panelists:

Audrey Silvestre, UCLA, Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
Nadia Zepeda, UCLA, Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies

“Chicana Feminist Praxis: Tactics to Transform Heteropatriarchal Universities Through Community Accountability.”

Audrey Silvestre is a queer feminist from Los Angeles, California. Her research interest includes thinking about the production of gender, racial and sexual assemblages through immigration discourse/movements in relation to the prison industrial complex. Audrey is part of the editorial collective at The Feminist Wire and currently is devoting her time and passion towards the revitalization of Third Woman Press. She is a member of the MALCS Ad-Hoc Committee on Heteropatriarchal Institutional Violence that addresses violence within the university and Chicanx Studies. She a first-year doctoral student at the Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCLA.

Nadia Zepeda is a queer Chicana feminist born and raised in Santa Ana, CA.  Her primary focus in study looks at queer feminist of color collective formations. Currently, she is doing oral histories about Chicana spiritual practices and healing collectives. Nadia is a member of the MALCS Ad Hoc Committee on Institutional Violence that addresses issues on institutional violence in the Chicanx Studies and the university. She is currently a doctoral student in the Cesar E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCLA.