8: Challenges and Aspirations Within Gender and Race

While honoring the Brown Leaders of the Sun in this book, we focused on Latinas/os dedicated to the improvement of Latina/ o communities. This chapter focuses on the testimonios of two Latina principals, with special attention to the research related to gender and race presented in earlier chapters. The significance of the principals’ testimonios relates to the value of specific contributions of Latinas as nurturing future generations. It is based on personal experiences, which exemplify how these influence the development of a professional identity. Different from leaders who need to be prepared academically to serve children of color, this book’s research and experiences of Latina/ o principals show that they bring similar experiences to those of Latina/ o children and enrich their leadership to potentially prepare the future of a large majority of children of color. Even though growing up in the same area of Texas, they bring the diversity of experiences, socioeconomic backgrounds, and upbringing among Latinas.