Response: Commonalities, Contrasts, Challenges, and Commitments

Stories are powerful. Stories are transformative. Stories reclaim. Stories heal. And they can be helpful in rethinking and redefining discourses and fields of study in insightful, generative, enriching ways. We know this from feminist scholarship—and especially from the writings of women of color and queer women over the past 3 decades (Allison, 1996; Anzaldúa, 1987; hooks, 1990; Mohanty, 1991; Pratt, 1984; Trinh, 1989). Therefore, when we contextualize our stories in self-reflexive, thought-provoking ways, in relation to our discourses, pedagogies, and service-related activities in the academy, we take a step toward not only self-representation but also critical transformation. Dr. Lakeisha D. Meyer does so in her essay, “Triple Threat: Multiple Identities in the Academy.” In this invited “response” to Dr. Meyer’s “call,” I speak to both commonalities and contrasts across her narrative and mine as well as key considerations and commitments in terms of addressing issues of race, gender, culture, socio-economic status, and nation and the related implications for theory, research, and practice in education.