Sabrina Alicea 5/24/22 Sabrina Alicea 5/24/22

A Word About ‘Educated Latina’

I want to take a moment to talk about something near and dear to my heart and to explain the reason why it must come to an end.

Because I believe the reasoning deserves an intentionally set space to share it.

Over four years ago to date, I began my entrepreneurial journey with a plain black tee shirt screen printed with the words ‘Educated Latina’ across the front in bright white old english font. I designed this tee to go along with interview features I was doing of Latinas and their education and career journey. At the time, the title was so impactful to me because it signified a group of women who were able to carve out a space for themselves in an education and career world that didn't always support and believe in Latinas. I worked to interview women of all career and educational experience, both formal and informal, because I believed in the power of representation. The font itself was a signifier of that representation paying homage to a strong tradition of graffiti culture along with the font used in diplomas and certificates across the U.S. The juxtaposition of this font as ‘street’ and ‘academic’ was powerful as I navigated an education journey that was, for all intents and purposes, disconnected from that of my parents and family. At the time, I knew very few Latinas who had what they would consider ‘careers.’ Many had jobs, all the Latinas I knew were hard workers…but a career was something completely different.

My mom in the original ‘Educated Latina’ tee with White Old English Font. She shares her education story and what the term ‘Educated Latina’ means to her here on my blog from 2017

I knew that there was lack of representation from my demographic in the career world, but as an educator and community member, I knew that it wasn’t about capability. I began to observe and understand this mixture of societal, familial and other implications of reality that held many Latinas back. I also knew that due to the above, there was and is, a multitude of women who harbored internalized and potentially subconscious notions of their own capabilities and desires that keep them from ultimately achieving their lives' work. The title ‘Educated Latina,’ to me, showed that we COULD do hard things. That we COULD advance in careers. It was a way to signal to a world and society that often subjected us to positions of service without ever asking us our input, ideas, hopes and dreams within or beyond that service, that we could be and do more. The title was empowering. From the CEO to the elotera, the college student and the entrepreneur with a GED, I envisioned every Latina walking into her power and demanding that the world acknowledge she is smart and powerful and capable of anything and everything she wants to do.

At a certain point, I began to see ways that my perception differed from others. Groups of Latinas would come to my booth at pop up events and one would say to the other ‘you need to get this! You’re an educated Latina!’ differentiating between themselves as one with a degree and one without. Of course every time I tried to counter with ‘we’re all Educated Latinas! That's the point!’ Some would say, ‘yea you're right!’ while others just smiled politely or completely laughed it off.

“‘I tried to counter with ‘we’re all Educated Latinas! That’s the point!’ Some would say, ‘yea you’re right!’ while others just smiled politely or completely laughed it off. ”

Over the years, that never sat well with me. I'm all about empowering not disempowering. I'm all about building up, not breaking down. The term, to me, had the potential to become as vacantly symbolic as teachers posting their colleges in the classroom of failing students. What good is that pennant to me when you and I have vastly different life experiences and outcomes? Sure the term was a way to make a statement towards white supremacy standards, but did it really? And at what cost to my own community?

Lately I've also been seeing some younger folks sharing their complete disdain for the term. I can understand their perspective. Many claim the term implies an ‘uneducated Latina.’ They claim it’s classist, elitist, seperatist and divisive. Some of these folks go on to claim the term ‘Latina’ and ‘Latinidad' is ‘dead.’ They posit that there should be no grouping amongst us due to a multitude of reasons including Anti Blackness, colonization, and more.

To me, these opinions are an even more progressive stance aligned with the foundation identified in the way most millennials feel about the term ‘Hispanic.’ When asked, many might say, why would we use a term that gives power to the colonizer? A nuanced perspective acknowledges that the term once served a greater purpose. ‘Hispanic’ was used to describe and unite a group of people from marginalized communities that, at the very least, shared a common language and similar struggle in the United States. There was no conversation at the societal level around colonialism and disenfranchisement at that time. And if it was present, it certainly was not in the way it is now.

And so I see it with the term Educated Latina. Many of us used this term to unite ourselves. To acknowledge our struggle, separation and differences from the rest of the career world. I saw it as a personal opportunity to act from a place of empowerment and to embrace all who identify as Latina into the fold. Of course I can’t survey every human who has ever worn the shirt but I would bet that anyone who donned the title did so out of admiration and pride for themselves, never with the goal of putting down other women in our group.

But such is the reality of this language, parallel to the reality of capitalism. When there is a winner, there is often a ‘loser.’ It was never my intention but when some saw the title, they saw themselves as the latter. As an educator, feminist, and most importantly, a women who believes in the power of community knowledge, I cannot in good faith continue to create something that has the potential to make folks feel this way.

Despite this, I still acknowledge and appreciate the power that the term once had for me. I believe it DID ultimately do more good than harm. I believe it DID empower women to believe in themselves, to acknowledge their journey, to put a hand out and support others. But I also believe that we can continue to do that without the potential to alienate others.

This nuance is something I have shared in many private conversations over the years as I grappled with my love and appreciation of the term while acknowledging the complexity. As someone who uses my voice to speak on the field of education, I believe this was an important perspective to give intentional space for.

“Despite this, I still acknowledge and appreciate the power that the term once had for me. I believe it DID ultimately do more good than harm. I believe it DID empower women to believe in themselves, to acknowledge their journey, to put a hand out and support others. But I also believe that we can continue to do that without the potential to alienate others. ”

Furthermore, I believe this context is important to make my next point. I will be retiring the ‘Educated Latina’ merch from my shop line. Once the inventory that I have is gone, it's gone. I knew this day would eventually come and I could have just continued to sell the items and never share this perspective, but I believe it's a conversation worth having. Because nuanced perspective means there is no space to shame or belittle those, myself included, who appreciate the title and the level of empowerment it brought. But nuanced perspective also needs to leave space for growth and evolving of language, for acknowledging potential separation, and ways we can grow as a group, should you choose to align yourself within it.

I do believe that just like the screen printed letters on the shirt, we will eventually watch the term fade as our society continues to shift and evolve. We can thank it for the journey it took us on, we can thank it for the friends we made, the connections we felt, and the path it accompanied us on, then we can let it rest.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and supporting the dream.

-Sabrina

Sabrina Alicea 1/24/22 Sabrina Alicea 1/24/22

The journey…continued

Sabrina on screen at her Harvard Graduation

So here I am….again. Sitting down at this Mac Book putting out words on the internet to convey my thoughts. Only this time it’s a new Mac Book and my life and career have twisted and turned so much…Even I can’t keep up.

But I’m here and I’m grateful.

See, back in 2015 I started having little ‘breakthroughs’ otherwise known as ‘realizing stuff’ as Kylie Jenner would say. I was unhappy in a lot of ways. I felt misaligned on my career and entire life and I was COLD. Like literally cold. I was exhausted from the Chicago winter and the only place I ever felt good was the Core Power Yoga C2 room.

So I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend and broke up with Chicago.

I took a loooong round about journey to L.A. to give the sunny weather a shot. I can’t even share in one post all the things I learned in LA but I can summarize it like this….. I hated LA. The weather was nice but the people were awful. And maybe it was simply the places and spaces I was spending time in (Beverly Hills for work) but I just couldn’t see myself there long term. If I can be honest, I’d say that I never felt more Midwestern and more Puerto Rican until I moved to LA.

Eventually, I started grad school out there. I had been nannying (because some nanny’s make more money in LA than teachers) and my brain was feeling so under worked and so under stimulated. My boss sent me on a trip to Lakeshore learning to buy some educational toys for his kids and I felt like I was finally home. No joke, it was like speaking my native tongue again after spending too much time in a foreign land.

Which is was brought me to grad school. But again, those high standards of mine are rarely satisfied…especially when it comes to education. So I sat down and started reviewing programs that would be a better fit for me. I was looking at schools where I could attend classes full time as opposed to an evening program. I was looking for community and leadership opportunities. I was looking for a place where folks actually acknowledged race and social inequalities in addition to literacy. I scrolled and scrolled on the internet until I found the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Yes. THE Harvard.

When I told my mom I was applying, she looked at me and said, “ay Sabrina, whatever“ and walked away because she was fully aware of my tendency to do the absolute most. And still, she was my biggest supporter during that time. She edited every essay, read over each draft of my resume, gave me tips and tricks and even told me to calm down and take a shower when one of my letters of recommendation was delayed. And she was my biggest cheerleader when I got in.

Fast forward to now, January of 2022. I graduated from Harvard with a Masters Degree in Education specializing in Language and Literacy with a Reading Specialist License from the state of Massachusetts. I was awarded the honor of Class Marshall recognizing my high level of involvement with clubs and organizations on campus. Yes I did the most but it was at HARVARD. Every penny of tuition money (and the student loan interest!!!!) was made worth while.

I started a job back in Chicago teaching 7th grade reading, writing and social studies to some of the most amazing 7th graders in the entire city. I loved my job, I loved my career, and I loved waking up every single day feeling like I was bringing Harvard access and knowledge to my community of Humboldt Park. I continued with my shop, Shop La Maestra, doing pop ups in the city and selling ‘Educated Latina’ merch. I started volunteering for the Puerto Rican festival and made so many friends and connections in my community. I felt like I finally found every little thing that was missing to make my life feel full.

But as time goes by, things shift and the optimism starts to wane. The pandemic hit and I was at my limit with the institution of schooling. This might sound like the laziest thing in the world but I started to realize that I wanted to be home and hang out with my dog more than I wanted to go to work. I started growing in community projects that were more fulfilling that processing on track/off track data that seemed to be very little help. My entire educational career, since the 2012 teaching strike my first year in the classroom, has been extremely volatile between strikes and furlough days and strikes again PLUS the pandemic. I was exhausted and tired and losing my spark. In the words of Samantha Jones, I loved my students but I loved me more.

So I quit.

And now I’m on the next leg of my journey. I still love education and learning and reading and social studies and working with students. I still spend time in classrooms doing all the fun educational things. But I’ve decided to choose me and discover what freedom can look like. Who know’s what the next step will be. All I know is that it includes this website, this blog and following my joy.

If you’ve made it this far in my story, you’re probably interested in the things I have to say. Thanks for that. It means the world to feel like you’re being heard, which isn’t often the case as a classroom teacher. So I’m going to continue to use this space to talk about all things education and life. Like for one thing, I can’t wait to formalize my thoughts on the unpaid labor of student teaching and how the education system is built on the backs of women. I’ve got a whollllleeee lot to say on that. But for now, I'll end this post saying thank you for reading and caring <3 It means a lot that you’re here.