The event is dedicated to examining and sustaining conversation about what it means to Democratize Racial Justice. After years of Mellon-funded work, we want to bring together DRJ collaborators – educators, community leaders, artists, scholars, writers, singers, and more – to share perspectives, projects, and final products. The gathering will be anchored by testimonios of work accomplished, conversations about sustaining social justice efforts in these times and showcasing the amazing products created since DRJ started in January 2021.
Join the DRJ to reflect on our fellow experiences!
October 18, 2024
9:00 AM - 7:30 PM
9:00 AM - 7:30 PM
October 19, 2024
9:00 AM - 2:30 PM
La Villita Room, Durango Building
UTSA Downtown Campus
501 W César E Chávez Blvd, San Antonio TX 78207
UTSA Downtown Campus
501 W César E Chávez Blvd, San Antonio TX 78207
Imagining Together Schedule
Friday, October 18
| 9:00 - 9:30 am |
Welcome and Introduction Alejandra Elenes, Kirsten Gardner, T. Jackie Cuevas |
| 9:30 - 11:00 am |
People’s Academy: Escuelita, Refusing to Forget, and Workers on the Rise Sonya M. Alemán, Carolina Arango-Vargas, Teri Castillo, Jerry González, John Morán González, Kayla Miranda, Luissana Santibanez, Michael Valdez, José G. Villagrán |
| 11:00 - 11:15 am | Coffee Break |
| 11:15 - 12:00 pm |
The Ethnic Studies Educators' Academy: Promoting Collective Imagining and Resistance Pedagogies in Texas Lilliana P. Saldaña, Gloria Vasquez Gonzales |
| 12:15 - 1:15 pm |
Inside DRJ: Collaborative Transformation Justine Cantu, Daniele Dixon, Gabriella V. Sanchez |
| 1:30 - 2:30 pm |
Birthing Justice: Healing Through Story Telling Yaneé Hardeman, Amanda Onochie, Laura Rios Ramirez, Brenda Sendejo |
| 2:30 - 3:15 pm |
Autohistoria-teoría as a Creative Process for Social Justice; Anel I. Flores’ Art, Micro-Memoir, Graphic Memoir and Novel Anel I. Flores |
| 3:15 - 3:30 pm | Break |
| 3:30 - 4:15 pm |
San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) – San Antonio Greenbook Pesha K. Mabrie, Dakotah Brown |
| 4:15 - 4:30 pm |
Poetry & Songs of Love & Revolución by jen Yáñez-Alaniz & Joaquin Muerte a collaborative performance Jennifer Yañez-Alaniz, Joaquin Muerte |
| 4:30 - 4:45 pm |
Reflections on a Black Women’s Retreat Joycelyn Moody |
| 4:45 - 5:15 pm |
Lechuza Guide to the Lone Star State: Live Music Demo & Plática Marisela Barrera, Joe Reyes, odie |
| 5:15 - 5:45 pm |
Spraying the Language of Activism Andrea Vocab Sanderson, Johnny Major Rivers III, Gloria Beatriz “Triz” Rodriguez |
| 6:00 - 7:30 pm | Dinner |
- Lunch Session: Display of Teaching Guides/Copies
- Internship Poster Presentations
- Arabella Chavez, Andrea Izaguirre, Abril Garcia-Linn, Alexandra Medina, Zac Price
Saturday, October 19
| 9:00 - 9:15 am |
Welcome and Introduction Alejandra Elenes, Kirsten Gardner, T. Jackie Cuevas |
| 9:15 - 9:45 am |
From Violence to Honeyland Bárbara Renaud Gonzalez, David Zamora Casas |
| 9:45 - 10:15 am |
Mellon Teaching Fellows Roundtable Discussion and Q&A “Radical Reimaginings: Decolonizing Education for a Sustainable Future” Olga A. Estrada, Madelyn Duffey, Pesha K. Mabrie, Jerry Romero Jr. |
| 10:15 - 10:30 am | Coffee Break
|
| 10:30 - 10:45 am |
VIDA en La Laguna Andrei Rentería |
| 10:45 - 11:45 am |
Diatribas Punk: New Works by Amalia Ortiz and Las Hijas de la Madre Amalia Ortiz y Las Hijas de la Madre |
| 11:45 - 12:45 pm |
Moving Together: Choreographing Our Liberation Tanesha Payne |
| 12:45 - 1:00 pm |
Internship Poster Presentation: Video Abril Garcia-Linn |
| 1:00 - 2:30 pm |
Lunch, Closing Remarks, Conversation, and Envisioning the Future |
- Internship Poster Presentations
- Arabella Chavez, Andrea Izaguirre, Abril Garcia-Linn, Alexandra Medina, Zac Price
Jen Yáñez-Alaniz is a poetactivist, community organizer, a third-year PhD Fellow at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Culture Literacy and Language Program, and a Mexican American Studies Graduate Certificate Student. Her work focuses on cultural preservation and decolonial praxis. Exploring themes of sensuality, surrogacy, and consumption, Jen blends creative and academic expression using Gloria Anzaldúa’s autohistoria-teoría to honor embodied experiences that are often confined within linguistic boundaries. With over a decade of genealogical research tracing her ChicanaMestiza identity, Jennifer integrates ancestral knowledge into her work, emphasizing ethical knowledge representation in academia. As co-founder of Welcome: A Poetry Declaration, she fosters dialogues that challenge systemic inequalities in language use, representation, and cultural narratives through poetic translingualism. Her scholarly interests encompass ChicanaMestiza researcher positionality and language justice. Jennifer’s literary contributions include "Matrilineal Poetics: Toward an Understanding of Corporeality and Identity," featured in Latinas in Hollywood Herstories. She has published widely in journals and anthologies, including an extensive critical biography of Carmen Tafolla in Chicana Portraits: Critical Biographies of Twelve Chicana Writers (University of Arizona Press), and her poetry chapbook Surrogate Eater (Alabrava Press) was launched in 2023.
