ABSTRACT
Kandace Creel Falcón’s essay interrogates the Xicana feminist concept of comadrazgo as a lens for understanding the risks and opportunities of embodying a queer woman of color activist stance in predominantly white educational spaces. She reflects on her mentor-student relationships as both a model and a source of motivation for contesting institutional power structures. Kandace tells a story in which she, an untenured Director of the Women and Gender Studies program, developed a faculty training workshop on sexual violence after witnessing weak administrative responses following two incidents of sexual assault on campus. Despite being viewed as confrontational and aggressive, and despite consistent admonitions from administration, Kandace continues to organize campus protests and to advocate for students who feel unseen and unsupported by the institution. She describes how the kinship between Xicanas in the academy helps “to sustain one another so as to enable us to keep our rebel spirits strong within the realm of oppressive academic institutions.” These relationships give her the courage to challenge the status quo while honoring those who came before her and paving the way for others.
