Chapter 8: Testimonio for Living and Learning In Academia: Caring for Mind, Body, and Soul

Testimonio is described by Delgado-Bernal, Burciaga, and Flores (2012) as a methodological strategy often employed by women of color to disrupt majoritarian narratives and create a sense of solidarity among individuals who might share similar experiences of marginalization, isolation, and oppression. In relation to academia, creating such solidarity is especially important, as it can serve as a source of affirmation and legitimization for women of color who remain highly underrepresented as producers of knowledge within academe (Sotello Viernes Turner, González, & Wong, 2011).

In this way, testimonio requires the simultaneous opening of hearts and minds. While a narrator offers a listener a peek into the inner, often hidden contours of her life, she must take a position of vulnerability. The listener, on the other hand, must humbly open herself up to learn, see, feel, and recognize this shared experience as knowledge. To be vulnerable and to be humble can be difficult; it can push us to unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and maybe painful places, but over the next few minutes, we ask you to listen to our stories, to imagine yourself in these experiences, and to consider how our experience/knowledge is connected to larger matters of in/equities that persist inside the institution of higher education.