Speaking from the Heart: Herstories of Chicana, Latina, and Amerindian Women

At the heart of Speaking from the Heart: Herstories of Chicana, Latina, and Amerindian Women are cultural narratives, trajectories toward decolonization offered by Chicana, Latina, and Amerindian women.

The series of cultural narratives contained in the 2nd edition of Speaking from the Heart: Herstories of Chicana, Latina, and Amerindian Women interrogate the universal history commonly taught in schools and society and focus on the cultural knowledge used to resist and negotiate the deep effects of cultural colonization in everyday life. These accounts of experiential knowledge and epistemology chronicle a sense of belonging and web of relationships which provide snapshots of a larger and more inclusive cultural narrative. We call these Herstories. The series of narratives and discussion questions in this collection are intended to facilitate the deconstruction of the master narrative and promote critical thinking.

Readers of Speaking from the Heart are invited to:

• engage in a critical examination of what one has previously learned about the self and culture(s).
• unveil states of submersion within a reality that has been constructed by others in power.
• develop the capacity to understand the essence of subjectivity and the capacity to reexamine one’s positionality in the world.
• critically reflect on their own narrative. This book can be of use in Mexican American, Chicana/o, Latino Studies, Ethnic Studies, Education, Women Studies, and English courses. 

Contributors include Jennie Luna, Maria Mejorado, Michelle Maher, Julie Figueroa, Angie Chabram, Cindy Cruz, Rebecca Rosa, Sofia Villenas, Margarita I. Berta-Avila, Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner, Ruth Trinidad-Galván, and Marcela Juaregui.