2017 MALCS (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social) Summer Institute Hidden Sonoma: Laboring Bodies and Silenced Voices July 19 – 22, 2017 • Rohnert Park, California MALCSistas! On behalf of the Executive and Coordinating Committees of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) I extend a most sincere bienvenida to all of you to the 2017 MALCS Summer Institute at Sonoma State University. Thank you for hosting us in the ancestral home of the Coastal Miwok, Pomo and Wintun peoples. As outgoing Chair of MALCS (2016-2017) I want to acknowledge the tremendous job and extend my gratitude for the labor of the MALCSistas here at Sonoma State University. Gracias de corazón to the site committee Co-Chairs, Drs. Patricia Kim-Rajal and Mariana G. Martinez and their entire team. Muchas gracias. The theme for this year’s Institute, “Hidden Sonoma: Laboring Bodies and Silenced Voices,” indeed situates our labor, our histories, our realities and our experiences intertwined with our legacies of resistance as we face the struggles of these times. As we mujeres gather here in Sonoma, we recognize the country, our communities, our homes, and specifically our bodies are enduring constant trauma, pain, suffering, and loss. The Latina Feminist Group (2001) states it best when describing how our bodies endure these aggressions—this onslaught of assaultive speech and action has a lasting impact on us. We routinely withstand the “ravages of institutionalized racism, by the patriarchal structures that accord privilege on the basis of gender and class, and by the sexism and heterosexism that forbid love and silence desire” (p. 263). This is an intergenerational trauma we are continuing to name, bear and resist. More recently we face not only the actions of Islamophobic, racist, transphobic, and xenophobic perpetrators, but also the impunity with which they commit such atrocities. Backed by the system, these culprits persist in inflicting distress and loss in our communities without consequence. The Latina Feminist Group (2001) write about how the body “re/members” the “agravios, the assaults” (p. 263)—our bodies chronicle what they endured; they are marked by a history of raced-gendered violence, persecution, and subjugation and yet “our bodies give testimony, our bodies awaken” (p. 263) and we begin to heal. We are resilient peoples who defy, challenge, speak back and denounce oppression and marginality and we also take action because we are about letras y cambio social— now more than ever. We hope this year’s Institute will serve all attendees to re/center ourselves, to learn, to engage, to imagine and envision, to coalesce. As the Program Committee reviewed over 120 proposals—we were motivated and inspired. Indeed, we were recharged and encouraged to continue en la lucha. The proposals emphasized the commitment that MALCSistas across the country have for the organization, and they showed the urgency of sharing/telling to heal—desahogarse. Themes for the Institute include: Mujerista Theories, Resistance, and Consciousness; Identity and Poetic Justice; and La Familia, Masculinity and White Supremacy. Panels include: Abriendo Caminos/Opening Pathways; Machas & Tombois: Reflections on Chicanx Butchness and Resistance; and Voice and Resistencia: Feminista Praxis as Profesoras in the Academy. From July 19-23, we will gather and bring with us the ailments of our communities because we are the; “Privileged listeners, [and] we learn firsthand about the aches and pains, fears and hopes, illnesses and remedies, health care, home care, and barrio care” (Chabram-Dernersesian, 2008, p. 4) from our gente. Despite all the barriers that have been constructed to keep us in place, we have and will continue to resist, subvert, challenge, and transform because we are Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social! Sinceramente y en solidaridad, Judith Flores Carmona Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social, Chair (2016-2017) 2017 MALC Summer Institute 2017 MALCS Summer Institute 2 2 Sonoma State University Office of the President 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, CA 94928 Dear 2017 MALCS Summer Institute Participants, Welcome to Sonoma State University! We are delighted and honored to host this important conference on our campus. Mujeres Actives en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) plays an important role in opening up intellectually vibrant conversations and support networks for Chicana/Latina and Native American women in academia. Historically in our society, too often the voices of women of color have been undervalued or not heard at all. The MALCS Summer Institute provides fertile ground for sharing ideas and building community through lectures, workshops, seminars and informal interactions in a supportive environment with other Chicana/Latina and Indigenous women scholars and activists. Through such revitalizing work, together we can build bridges to a better future – one in which the contributions and voices of the next generation of Chicana/Latina and Native American women leaders will be both respected and celebrated. I want to acknowledge our student club MALCS de SSU chapter leadership for taking the initiative to co-host this national institute at Sonoma State. By bringing together hundreds of women of color on our campus, MALCS de SSU is an inspiration and a source of academic and interpersonal nourishment in the community. I am proud to have you here and I send everyone my wishes for a wonderful and successful conference. With warm regards, Judy K. Sakaki President, Sonoma State University 2017 MALC Summer Institute 2017 MALCS Summer Institute 3 3 Dear MALCSistas, On behalf of the site committee, welcome to Sonoma county. World-famous for its wine industry, the hills of Sonoma have also been a site for political injustice, colonial violence, and economic subjugation. Originally home to the coastal Miwok, Pomo and Wintun peoples, the land we stand on became the site of Russian and Mexican settlements in the early 19th century--including the northernmost of California’s 21 missions--and, later, of the Bear Flag revolt. Today several business associations spend quite a bit of money to ensure that most people associate Sonoma with panoramic vistas of ripening vineyards, beautiful blue skies, bountiful, exquisitely prepared food, and delicious wine. It is true that we are blessed with all of those things. It is also true that those things are not within reach for a sizable number of the people whose work underwrites the mythology of natural abundance more commonly associated with the region. Sonoma County has the largest Latino population in the North Bay region. From 2000 to 2010, the Latino population in Sonoma County saw a nearly 50% increase, rising from 84,093 to 120,430 individuals. In 2013 that number grew to 128,211, which is 26% of the overall Sonoma County population. In the 2015 -2016 school year, 45% of K-12 students in Sonoma County were Latino. In the 2014 – 2015 school year, 12.7% of Latino students dropped out between grades 9 and 12. Aggregate household income for Latinos in Sonoma County is $2billion, accounting for an estimated $307 million in disposable income, 33% of the labor force in Sonoma County is Latino. In the service industry, 85% of the workforce is Latino. The number of Latino-owned firms has also increased rapidly in Sonoma County. In 2012, there were 5,024 Latino-owned firms in Sonoma County. Nationally, the growth of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. is outstripping that of companies in general. Between 2012 and 2015, the number of Hispanic- owned businesses has grown at an annual rate of 7.5%, 15 times faster than the 0.5% growth rate for all companies. The theme of this year’s institute, “Hidden Sonoma: Laboring Bodies, Silenced Voices” was chosen to remember and honor Latinas, and others, whose invisible and underpaid labor in the agriculture and service industries underwrites pastoral fantasies that obscure inequality. We also wanted to recognize the luchadoras among us, Latinas who have refused to abide injustice and ill-treatment, for themselves or their communities. For example, Amelia Ceja, who worked alongside her family in the fields even while in college and now serves as the President of Ceja Vineyards. Amelia has been committed and an impassioned advocate for the value and fair treatment of farm workers, following in the footsteps of her father’s work with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers labor union in the early 1970s, being awarded the Dolores Huerta Farmworker Justice Award for her successful advocacy for Worker Protection Standard on pesticides. Her story, sadly is still very little known among other Latina women in the community. Our other speaker, Leticia Valentin Romero, an organizer in the community for over 20 years. Organizing around social and labor issue, and most recently around parent advocacy for educational equity in rural areas and migrant families. Her work is also personal, as she is the first mujer to become a jefa in a local danza azteca group. We know that our work cannot be done without the support and involvement of our mujeres, we value all of the work but most importantly we value their humanity. MALCSistas, welcome! We know the work that has been done and what is still ahead, so please take the time to be excited, share ideas, conocimiento, network, support one another, and we welcome your support as we, SSU, transition into our new designated HSI status. ¡Bienvenidxs a Sonoma! Mariana G. Martinez, Ph.D. Patricia Kim-Rajal, Ph.D. Co-Chair, 2017 MALCS Summer Institute Co-Chair, 2017 MALCS Summer Institute 2017 MALC Summer Institute 2017 MALCS Summer Institute 4 4 MALCS SI 2017⎹ Hidden Sonoma: Laboring Bodies and Silenced Voices “The revolution begins at home” ~ Cherrie Moraga ¡Bienvenidxs! It is with great pleasure to have this year’s Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) Summer Institute 2017 at Sonoma State University (SSU).