Querida BER SIG Comunidad,
The 2027 91涩漫 conference theme is聽Transcending Borders and Boundaries in Education Research: Toward a Beloved Global Community.聽On a recent trip to Ensenada, Mexico, I was thinking about how borders are socially, culturally, and linguistically formed under the paradigms of nation-state constructs and the impact they have on how we create lives on both sides of the borders.聽
I would argue that we also create identities based on geographical, colonizing boundaries and ideologies. I have gone into the interior of Mexico twice in my life. The first time was 30 years ago when I spent 1 week in Guadalajara, where my maternal grandmother is from. The second time was this month, also for a week, but in Ensenada. I went as a faculty member of the California State University system to promote international programming.聽
We were a culturally and linguistically diverse group with different gendered identities. I was the only Chicana. As I spent the week hearing interdisciplinary presentations from both CSU professors and Mexican university professors, I found myself feeling like I wasn鈥檛聽visiting聽Mexico (as someone who was born and raised in the U.S.), but that I was finally聽home. I had the opportunity to learn about a range of topics from agriculture, film, and bilingualism to marine life studies鈥攐n both sides of the border. All the professors shared a demographic in common in our studies and in our work as professors鈥擬exican students who live in the U.S. or Mexico and/or are transfronterizo students who straddle both worlds on a daily basis.聽
I share these moments with you all because one way or another the work we do is connected to our everyday lives and the lives of the students and communities we work with. As we prepare for the 2027 91涩漫 conference and make our way to Canada (many of us with the privilege of crossing international borders), I invite you to consider how we, as a bi/multilingual community, go beyond the parameters of the scholarship we engage in at our designated institutions. We are called to continue the urgent and timely work of dismantling what a border is and means right now. Immigrant communities are being hunted in the U.S., and it is our responsibility to create space(s) to respond to the dangerous narrative in loving, yet firm, ways.聽
Upon leaving Ensenada, on my last day, I met the owner of a local cafe which used the word Ixcaanda to describe their endeavors to produce and share their coffee. The owner was from Oaxaca and expressed his gratitude to me for buying coffee there all week. He shared what the Mayan symbol representing Ixcaanda means鈥攅speranza, sue帽os y ensue帽os/hope, dreams, and daydreaming. I also learned that Ixcaanda is a Zapotec word from Oaxaca meaning聽"your house" or "welcome to my home"鈥攁 sort of "mi casa es su casa/my home is your home. " I realized that all the familiar smells, sounds, and phrases I heard in Mexico were always聽home聽for me and with me on the other side of the border. I grew up with all of them in the U.S., and I believe for many students from immigrant backgrounds whose families come from other(ed) countries that they too grapple with the tension of what it means to be聽蹿谤辞尘听the borderlands, literally and figuratively.聽
As you submit proposals to the Bilingual Education Research SIG, I ask that you critically consider the role you play in creating and holding space for immigrant and migrant communities whose voices need to be heard no matter the discipline you come from. I encourage you to consider interdisciplinary collaborations and mentorship opportunities with graduate students where we seek to be allies for one another while questioning authority. As a multilingual community, I invite you to share your esperanza, sue帽os y ensue帽os/hope, dreams and daydreaming about the kind of world we want with the promise to put it into action.聽
In solidarity,聽
Suzanne Garc铆a
BER SIG Chair聽