Why BIPOC Only Spaces?
BBIPOC (Black, Brown, Indigenous & People of Color) ONLY
Listen to our podcast at https://soundcloud.com/cui-martinez/episode-9-why-bipoc-only-spaces For a lot of us, learning an original language of Abya Yala (North, Central & South Americas) is not just a hobby or something fun, it is about learning about ourselves and our ancestors while contributing to Indigenous Language Revitalization. A language is the heart of every culture. Also, People of Color and mixed ethnicities need spaces in which we can be together that are free from the accepted stereotypes and marginalization that permeate every other space that we are in such as the workplace and academic spaces.
Guest speaking and teaching engagements at campuses, cultural centers, museums, galleries and public spaces in-person or online are open for everyone.
We have been teaching online and in-person since February 2018 at various educational spaces. However, since March 2020, it has only been via Zoom. Over these years, our learning circles had to deal with disrespectful white folks, behavior that is prevalent in academic spaces. This came to the decision for our classes to switch to BBIPOC ONLY.
Reasons (Even Though We Do Not Have To Explain) -Inserting themselves in our live Zoom classes even though they clearly know it's BBIPOC ONLY -When asked why they were in our space to learn Nahuatl, their reason was because they "love all cultures." They finished off by saying they were going to travel to China next month. -Inserting themselves into our space in order to get access to indigenous knowledge to write a book and profit from it. -Inserting themselves into our space in order to eventually insert themselves into a native community in the Huasteca. They are still there and now they see themselves as part of that community while wearing their traditional clothing. -Obviously drinking beer and asking us why we were cancelling classes on them. -Making fun of pronunciation. This was a constant thing both in-person and on Zoom. -Talking about pitching a show to HBO about us. -Making us stop teaching because they could not find parking. -Disrupting class: yelling that they were feeling overwhelmed because they could not keep up with the lesson. -Leaving their belongings and never coming back -Being mad, yelling, and taking up so much space in regards to the us colonial capitol "take over" on January 6, 2021. -Requesting to be given resources after being told our classes are BBIPOC ONLY.