In the fall of 2003, I started my doctoral program in Higher Education at the University of Arizona. After spending 5 years as in Student Activities at a private university in Dallas, I wanted to focus on earning my doctorate so that I could become a Dean of Students or Vice President for Student Affairs.
I started at the UA as a graduate assistant in the Leadership office and met my dear sistah-scholar, Dra. Judy Marquez Kiyama, who had just moved back to Tucson from a stint in New Jersey. She was working full-time in leadership and started the doctoral program a year later.
Much of academia is toxic. But Judy and I created a space filled with love and respect. We supported each other, even during our job search process when everyone thought that our friendship would fall apart. We are SO not about that scarcity mindset, ya’ll! We refused to engage in that negativity. Uplifting each other aided our success as doctoral students, as mujeres, and as academics.
Spanning 20 years of friendship, Judy and I have endured much, celebrated even more, and become family. I’m honored that she served as my first guest on the podcast and you’ll learn why as you listen to her journey from a mining town in Arizona to life after tenure as a faculty member.
When I first started the podcast, I wanted to ensure that we centered art and creativity. Poetry has always been a beautiful form of expression to me and thus our Poet-in-Residence and in Resistencia was introduced as a segment on the podcast.
There was no one more qualified to curate poetry for us than my dear friend, Sarah Gonzales!
I met Sarah in Tucson when she was working with the YWCA Racial Justice Program. Sarah moved on to serve as Co-Director of Spoken Futures, Inc., which facilitated social justice projects among young people through spoken word.
What I appreciate most about Sarita is her uncanny ability to address social justice through humor and grace. Now she is in Detroit, continuing her work on social justice. She leaves a great legacy in Tucson and beyond.
I am grateful that Sarita curated poetry for the podcast for 2 seasons!
In this episode, Sarita reads a poem from Chrystos entitled “Meditation for Gloria Anzaldua”.
