My Biography
What first sparked your interest in anthropology?
I was in community-college, fighting homelessness, escaping gang violence and poverty. My first anthropology courses provided a safe environment and caring approaches to my critical self-awareness. The LAUSD school-to-prison pipeline failed me. But anthropology needed me. I was introduced to cultural knowledges and a global community of wisdom and care.
What did you intend to do as a career after pursuing an education in anthropology?
Becoming a linguistic anthropologist with training in heritage reclamation, craft economies, migration, verbal art, and hemispheric alliances is a career choice that allows me to feed multiple birds with one hand. I will keep supporting individuals reclaim their cultural memory, gendered identities, oral histories, languages, and economic power.
How do you utilize anthropological skills in your current position?
I draw on fields such ethnic studies, anthropology, Indigenous studies, linguistics, and anthropology to teach my students about the healing power of the arts, purposeful migration strategies, decolonization, prison abolitionism, and strategies for reintegrating de-carcerated and diasporic/de-indigenized individuals into their families and communities.
Why did you become a AAA member and how has it enhanced your professional development?
I joined as graduate student in 2017. Since then, I use my unique identity as a first generation, inner-city, Mexican-American Indian, two-spirit artist-activist who works with Kichwa speaking market artisans in Ecuador to advocate for more applied and interdisciplinary research. Hemispheric and global approaches to Indigeneity is the way.
What tips do you have for the next generation of student anthropologists?
Never give up on yourself. Meditate, exercise, rest, and explore creative hobbies. Invest in your mental and physical health. Doing so will make you appreciate your academic labor and rewards. Seek out a diverse cohort of mentors and colleagues. Speak your truth and honor the voices of those we “study.”
"Never give up on yourself. Meditate, exercise, rest, and explore creative hobbies. Invest in your mental and physical health. Doing so will make you appreciate your academic labor and rewards. Seek out a diverse cohort of mentors and colleagues. Speak your truth and honor the voices of those we "study.""