Femtoring Trenza: Employing a Plática~Testimonio Approach to Co-create Knowledge and Survive Academia

Abstract

The three of us share how our praxis of plática methodology and our divulging of feminista testimonios allowed us to co-create knowledge and challenge the corrosiveness we have experienced in academic spaces. We center the foundational work of Women of Color scholars who have paved the way to discuss the role of community building and solidarity in higher education. This work weaves testimonios that speak to our lived experiences with femtoring (feminista mentoring) as foundational to our survival and navigation of academia's trenches. Further, we discuss the co-construction of knowledge resulting from our reciprocal femtoring relationships, naming solidarity, accountability, and concrete examples of transformative practice as foundational elements that comprise the trenza [braid] of femtoring. Through pláticas, we name the systemic barriers that have historically marginalized us as scholars whose identities/ways of knowing challenge hegemonic, epistemic, and pedagogical canons. We explicitly discuss how these forms of oppression fragment the mindbodyspirit. Further, we uplift femtoring as a practice of solidarity, accountability, meaning-making, and shared conocimiento [knowledge], allowing us to resist academic violence–staying mindful of our practice as professors and scholars.