The Genealogy of Resistance as Inheritance

Sor Juana lived in the 17th century, yet her defiance resonates across centuries for anyone who has fought to think, create, and exist authentically. In intersectional practice, genealogy of resistance is the practice of claiming ancestors—historical and spiritual—as present companions and teachers. When a Black woman reads Assata Shakur, when an Indigenous person learns tribal history, when a queer person discovers Audre Lorde, they are not studying the past; they are inheriting strategy, receiving permission, building courage for present struggle. Sor Juana becomes a co-conspirator across time. This genealogical practice resists the isolation that systems impose—telling each generation they are starting fresh, facing oppression for the first time, with no models. Intersectional work includes actively constructing lineages of resistance, naming ancestors, and entering conversation with those who fought before us toward the world we are building.