I seek refuge in the languages of
Truth.
I seek refuge in the languages of
Truth.
This reflection emerged after presenting at the Sacramento State Multicultural Conference, from a moment that unsettled me in the best way. As I strive to create a Writing to Liberate classroom, a student’s response challenged how I understand neutrality, resistance, and what it means to act in the face of injustice. In this post, I sit with that tension, weaving my own story with his, and reflecting on bell hooks’ call for mutual transformation. What does it mean to teach without imposing? To hold space for complexity? To practice solidarity in ways that account for risk, survival, and lived reality? Resources related to this work are available at the end of the post.
Where Crickets Sing, and No One Listens reflects on quiet leadership, invisibility, and what it means to remain grounded in spaces that do not always listen or where words are abundant, but action is scarce. I wrote this while walking near the slough. At one point, I took my earbuds out, pausing MGK to take in the landscape: a murky slough, California cattails, and beautiful oak trees. I took a photo in that moment as a reminder that not all who wander are lost.
Thank you for engaging with curiosity and care,
Fairuze Ahmed Ramirez (a.k.a. Rosie)
What I learned from my student, Robert Brown, is that literacy—when rooted in lived experience—becomes an act of care. In this student portfolio spotlight, Robert Brown’s writing reminds me that literacy is not something we master, but something we stay in conversation with. Across an eight-week semester, his work traces literacy as lived practice—through humor, humility, and careful listening. From a classroom moment shaped by AAVE to a solidarity-based research project on depression among Black men, Robert’s writing resists abstraction and extraction, asking instead how writing can function as care. Together, these pieces document not just academic growth, but a return to learning with intention. Access Robert Brown's Creations, here and scroll down to Student Fall 2025 Portfolio Spotlight: Robert Brown Literacy Rooted in Lived Experience and Care
Welcome. I am an Adjunct Professor of English Composition and English as a Second Language at Cosumnes River College, and the English Composition Faculty Coordinator for the Sacramento State EOP Summer Bridge Programs.
This teacher–scholar blog serves as both a teaching portfolio and a reflective space. It documents how I use open educational resources (OER), open pedagogy, and culturally responsive teaching to support anti-racist, inclusive, and student-centered learning in college literacy classrooms.
Grounded in interdisciplinary and humanizing pedagogies, the site brings together teaching materials, critical reflections, collaborative projects, and public-facing scholarship. Much of this work is shaped by scholars I understand as critics of the academy—thinkers who resist rigid disciplines and challenge dominant ways of knowing and being.
I see this blog as part of my teaching praxis: a living archive that holds me accountable to move beyond theory and toward practice. It is a space where I make my pedagogical commitments visible, revise my methods over time, and invite others to think critically about language, power, and how institutions produce “knowledge” and “truth.”
The work shared here does not offer final answers. Instead, it offers invitations—to reflect, to teach, and to resist with care.
How to Cite This Blog?
General APA format:
Last Name, First Initial. (n.d.). Title of the blog post [Blog post]. Personal teacher–scholar blog. URL
Example
Ahmed Ramirez, F. (n.d.). Why I Write [Blog post]. Personal teacher–scholar blog. https://sites.google.com/view/far-rosie-teachingportfolio/