Healing through Ancestral Knowledge and Letters to Our Children: Mothering Infants during a Global Pandemic

• Main Authors: Miriam G. Valdovinos, Noralis Rodríguez-Coss, Rupal Parekh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Genealogy
• Subjects: motherscholar; Women of Color; ancestral knowledge; testimonios; global pandemic; healing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/4/4/119

The struggle for work–life balance amongst women in academia who are both mothers and scholars continues to be apparent during a global pandemic highlighting the systemic fissures and social inequalities ingrained in our society, including systems of higher learning. Women of color professors on the tenure track are vulnerable to the intersecting ways capitalism, sexism, and racism exacerbate the challenges faced by motherscholars, making it imperative to explore these nuances. While motherscholars may share advice about navigating family leave policies or strategizing scholarship goals, no one could have prepared us for our motherscholar roles during a pandemic. We were, in some ways, unprepared for giving birth with a heightened level of social isolation and feelings of loneliness, while racial unrest and loud exigencies to protect the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) persist. Through three testimonios, we explore how ancestral/indigenous knowledge provides us with ways to persist, transform, and heal during these moments. We share letters written to each of our babies to encapsulate our praxis with ancestral knowledge on mothering. We reflect on matriarchal elders, constricted movement in our daily routines, and ongoing worries and hopes. We theorize this knowledge to offer solidarity with a motherscholar epistemology.