Pillar 1: Racial & Immigrant Justice
Racial and Immigrant Justice Statement
The Puente Project strives to be anti-racist and culturally sustaining as we serve the diverse communities of California and beyond. We stand with Black and Indigenous students and educators as we commit to addressing anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity within our Latinx communities and beyond. The Puente Project welcomes students of all races, ethnicities, cultures, and nationalities with the recognition that centering Black and Indigenous experiences makes liberation for all possible. We assert that everyone has a right to feel seen and that all educational professionals have a duty to provide this welcoming atmosphere. We stand with immigrants and refugees, recognizing our responsibility to safeguard the dignity and rights of our communities. Our priorities include advocacy, fostering cross-cultural communication, and storytelling in service of community care and resilience. In practice, this means prioritizing collectivism and interdependence, affirming the value of cultural ways of knowing and being, supporting connection with ancestral lineages of wisdom and healing, and advocating for rights to safety and services in our campus communities and beyond.
Questions to Consider
+ Recommendations
How do you represent students’ ethnic and cultural identities in the curriculum?
Clearly Incorporate Black and Indigenous authored texts and media into the classroom.
Bring Black and Indigenous speakers and presenters to events.
Provide resources for students to understand the history & context of anti-Blackness and racism, including in communities of color.
Ensure that representation includes intersectional experiences.
Provide opportunities for students to explore knowledge making practices authentic to their cultural backgrounds.
How can we affirm our undocumented students and ensure they have the resources they need to feel safe on campus and in our communities?
Have conversations about the language your classroom & community uses about undocumented people. Model and use affirming language.
Talk about campus and community resources for undocumented students.
Include readings and media authored by undocumented people.
Research and discuss specific hardships experienced by undocumented folks in your region.
Advocate for campus and community resources for undocumented students & their families.
How do you facilitate space for students to discuss justice issues?
Invite students to tailor assignments to issues that matter to them and impact their communities. Each community has its own set of environmental, economic, educational, policing, and other issues that relate to justice, which students can be supported to explore.
Offer students the opportunity to learn about, research, and share out about notable scholars, artists, scientists, politicians, and other leaders from marginalized communities. Don’t limit these activities to designated months, but weave them into the curriculum and rhythm of class year-round.
Emphasize and model community wellness practices in the classroom.
Invite guest speakers and model being a learner alongside your students.
Participate in trainings to prepare you to support students (and yourself) during difficult conversations and around sensitive topics.
How do you welcome students to co-designing curriculum and express agency in their learning?
Build in flexibility to the calendar and syllabus. Encourage students to bring in topics, texts, and ideas which relate to your courses/events.
Instead of reading the syllabus to students, allow them to annotate the syllabus together either in person or on-line. Be responsive to their questions and ideas, even if significant changes cannot be made until the next term.
Offer students multiple ways of demonstrating learning. Consider multimodal versions of existing assignments. Can one essay instead be a photo essay with an artist statement? Video? Play? Poetry? Music? Dance? Invite students to show you what they learned in ways that are authentic to them, at least once each term. Engage them in dialogue about their learning from a position of curiosity and enthusiasm.
Additional Resources
Getting Started
Crenshaw, Kimberlé, "The Urgency of Intersectionality" [video + transcript]
Columbia University "Anti-Racist Pedagogy First Steps"
Immigrants Rising, "Supporting Students in CA"
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, For Educators: support talking about race and anti-racism.
Yosso, Tara. "Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth" Race, Ethnicity, Education
Extend Your Knowledge
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. On Intersectionality: Essential Writings
Immigrants Rising Resources
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0”
Malaklou, Shadee. “The Revolution Will not Be Humanized”
National Equity Project, Resources for Educators
Rendon, L.I. Validating culturally diverse students: Toward a new model of learning and student development. (1994).
Taylor, Keeanga-Yamattha. How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective
Deep Dive
Hoodrats to Headwraps Podcast, "What is Brown?: The Fear and Future of a Black Planet feat. Alan Pelaez(@Migrantscribble)"
Ruiz, Iris and Sonia Arellano. "La Cultura Nos Cura: Reclaiming Decolonial Epistemologies through Medical History and Quilting as Method."
Spillers, Hortense. “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe”
Taylor, Keeanga-Yamattha. Race for Profit