Muxerista Activist Consciousness Development Framework

Abstract

The outcome of this study was the Muxerista Activist Consciousness Development Framework as a guiding model for identity and socio-political consciousness development for queer Latinx/a/o college student activists. This framework encompasses the cognitive (knowledge and thoughts), behavioral (engaging in actions), social-political (focus on identities and social structures of power), and corporeal (focus on the physical body) reality of queer Latinx/a/o students. I build on Anzaldúa’s (2002) path of conocimiento and present the five overarching findings of this framework. These include: 1) sites of ruptures and heridas (wounds), 2) dismemberment of the mind/body, 3) claiming a Muxerista Jotería consciousness, 4) healing as a Muxerista praxis, and 5) imagining possibilities…visionary organizing. These generated themes include subthemes that speak to the nuances of each of the collaborator’s narratives and experiences that inform the meaning making process of queer Latinx/a/o students’ identity and socio-political consciousness development. Lastly, this study has implications for queer Latinx/a/o college students and higher education and student affairs practice and research.