Literacy as Resistance and Self-Definition

Sor Juana learned to read and write in an era when education was restricted by gender and class, and when indigenous languages were being systematically erased. Her literacy was transgressive: it was an act of self-assertion and resistance against the systems that tried to contain and limit her. For colonized peoples, enslaved peoples, and marginalized communities, literacy in one's own language has always been revolutionary. The ability to read your own literature, to write your own story, to document your own knowledge in your own language—these are not neutral acts. They are claims to humanity, to intellectual capacity, to the right to represent yourself and your community. In our current moment, when some languages are privileged in schools and others are pushed to the margins, maintaining literacy in your first language remains an act of resistance. It says: my language matters, my knowledge matters, my way of thinking deserves to be written down and remembered.