Eden Knight A03 Week 8

Eden Knight

A03

Week 8

W.P.’s poem ‘She Shall Not Be Moved’ highlighted the juxtaposition she felt in her workplace. The treatment W.P. received should not be tolerated at all. The constant emotional abuse she received was heartbreaking to read. W.P. receives the backlash from the trial she described in ‘The Cost of Speaking’. It is awful to see the pain she is put through by colleagues that work closely to with her. Their lack of understanding of her experience just drives more pain, fear, and health problems. Yet, W.P. tolerates it to see the success of her students. The author’s passion for teaching and improving students’ lives cannot be moved. This fire is the motivation W.P. needs to get through the inexcusable torment from colleagues. Her resilience jumps off the page. I aspire to have W.P.’s drive and resilience.

Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales’s ‘Mothering Is Liberation: Giving Birth to Alagaan Pedagogy’ is a deeply insightful piece on the “choice” between children and a career. Generations of the women in my family tackled this choice and were forced into choosing children. My PoPo (Cantonese for grandmother), the oldest of seven, was forced into motherhood when her mother died when she was just fourteen. She often speaks about how she aspired to be a nurse but had to stop going to school to care for her six younger siblings. Not only the prospect of a career stolen but a childhood too. Tintiangoco-Cubales offers an approach that allows her to be the “motherscholar” she aimed for. Her resilience to continue and her ability to share responsibility ensured her motherscholar success.

Like W.P, Genevie Erin O’Brien portrayed her resilience in ‘Resistance is not Futile’. O’Brien showed the sacrifice she has made to pursue her passion for teaching and artistry. Her contribution to creating the “Starfleet” had insurmountable positive influences on O’Brien and all the “Stars” involved. It is a method of empowering and encouraging “Stars” to endure the common microaggressions, racially induced stress, and problems they face as a minority in the workplace. It is a method to build resilience and boost morale.

All three portray an immense amount of resilience. Resilience is built from challenging experiences, would someone who is not a minority have the same level of resilience as these three authors?

Image: Nearly half of US female scientists leave full-time science after first child (2019) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00611-1

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2019). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.