Flesh of Words: Confrontation, Navigation, and Integrity in the English Classroom

This article offers a quasi-testimonio of my experiences with education and creating an introductory multiethnic literature college course. Engaging Critical Race Theory and Latina Feminisms, specifically scholars such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Gloria Anzaldúa and Aurora Levins Morales, it argues that curriculum construction is never apolitical and therefore requires a demystification of historical contexts as well as challenges to settler colonial legacies. This article offers a case-study of how I design assignments, select readings, and work with students as they are introduced to different literatures and communities. It also offers models for self-reflection and ways to cultivate classes that engage the written word as holding the flesh of resistance.