In the book Fight the Tower: A Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia, written by Dr. Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde, the author addresses her difficult experiences fighting for tenure at a prestigious university due to discrimination and racism as well as solutions and strategies to tackle issues like these. After reading the book, I was really encouraged and inspired by Dr. Valverde’s success of winning a tenure position at the university. Although I personally have never experienced her difficulties, being a “person of color” living in the US, I could still relate with her stories on the issues of racism and injustice towards certain ethnic groups in the US.
There is one main point and solution in the book that I would like to address to those who may be in a difficult position of being a minority or have experienced experiences similar to that of Dr. Valverde’s: Voice out your concerns and tell your story! In the book, Valverde mentions that “our strongest weapon against the violent assaults in academia is our voice” (Valverde, 2013). This couldn’t be any more true. Whenever we are in a situation where we are oppressed by others, the worst thing to do is to hide our concerns and let bullies continue to oppress you, because those who throw punches do not understand the pain that the victims feel unless the victims fight back. Oftentimes when you voice out your concerns, you’ll find that you’re not alone and could cause more people to join your side to support and fight with you. Therefore, never be ashamed to voice out your concerns because change does happen collectively.
Valverde, K. C. (2013). Fight the Tower: Asian American Women Scholar’s Resistance and Renewal in the Academy. Rutgers University Press.
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