EP 9: Queer Girls in Class

Join us as we explore the challenges and experiences as we navigate graduate school and work at PWI's. Our conversation then takes a turn towards holistic healing as we uncover the world of herbs and their potential role in trauma recovery from our selected reading. Note: This episode was recorded in May of 2023

In this episode, we discuss White Cubana a short essay in Flies, Cockroaches, & Poets, a Chicanx Writers and Artists Association Publication. We talk about the difference between ‘safe’ and ‘brave’ spaces, and we had a lot to say! To continue the conversation follow us on IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]

Join us as we give some life updates and discuss our experiences in predominately white institutions as graduate students of color and delve into the text Queer Girls in Class: Who Do I Have to Forgive to Move on From This Place? by Kristie Soares. Do you relate to any of our experiences? Let us know on our IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email at nopalabraspodcast.com

Join us as we discuss the Student’s Guide to Radical Healing created by UNLV’s Care Center, and share our own experiences with coping and healing. What are some of your coping strategies? And what are your forms of healing? Continue the conversation on our IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected] here

In this episode, we discuss Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. Juliet is a young Puerto Rican lesbian who lives in the Bronx and moves to Portland for an internship with her favorite author and authority on all things feminism, Harlowe. We had a lot of things to say about this book (spoilers), from the pain and heartache to the growth and rebirth of Juliet, and you know we had a lot to say about Harlowe. Remember to continue the conversation with us on IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]

What is 'rascuachi'? In this episode, we discuss three poems written by Eddy Francisco Alvarez Jr. featured in UTSA's Bilingual Review. What did you think of the poems, and did you share some of our thoughts and feelings? Let us know your thoughts on our IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]     

Join us for our fifth episode, with our first-ever guest creator, Janelle Delgadillo. We discuss her poem, Vinagre de Piña, and touch on themes such as change, authenticity, and growth. Jenelle hopes that by reading her poem “they [readers] just find some cathartic relief wherever they are in their life.” To continue the conversation, follow us on IG @nopalapras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]

Do you have a wild tongue? Join us as we discuss chapter five of Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. We discuss issues of language and its ties to identity, and how language has been weaponized to uphold whiteness. Let us know your thoughts on our IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]

In our third episode, we discuss Alexis Pauline Gumbs’s essay “The Sweetness of Salt'' from Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown. We discuss collectivism and community, the act of ‘sistering’, and how we can form radical relationships. To continue the conversation, follow our IG @nopalabras.pod and/or email us at [email protected]

For this episode, we discuss Ariana Brown’s poem “Dear White Girls In my Spanish Class”. We discuss issues of language: hierarchies, properness, spanish/spanglish and thinking through our wild tongues. (“Borderlands/La Nueva Frontera” by Gloria Anzaldua was a book mentioned) Remember to continue the conversation on IG @nopalabras.pod and email us at [email protected]