The language of de- and anti- colonization are often used by settler-colonial institutions to create optics of radical action without meaningful change or compromise in structure or power. Those who intend to make authentic actions toward defying colonial structures are tasked with addressing this paradox. For Mikayla and colleagues behind the Exploring Marginalized Voices framework, authentic actions start by defying power relationships in research, reference, and instruction practices. This emancipatory research framework was developed to introduce students to research practices that decenter academic publications to introduce balance to scholarly conversations by bringing voices of marginalized and excluded communities in from the margins. The framework provides students with strategic searching techniques to locate marginalized voices on the open web, tools they need to evaluate sources, and methods they can use to incorporate them into their work inside and outside of academia.