11/30/2016
Dear MALCSistas,
¿Cómo esta tu corazón?
A dear friend of mine always asks this question, “how is your heart?” I find it pertinent to ask this given the turbulent times we are enduring.
With much turmoil, uncertainty, pain, and many struggles our communities are fighting and facing; mi corazón esta triste but also hopeful. We stand in solidarity with our familia in Standing Rock! We are with you—we will continue to persevere for Cambio Social/Social Change. Let’s all please take action! Go to our Facebook page to read and share informational links about this important matter and other injustices our gente is experiencing. I write this brief note to remind ourselves that we have each other. En la lucha, siempre. We are Mujeres Activas!
I also write to inform you that due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances, Eastern Washington University will not be hosting the Summer Institute in 2017! Please know that as soon as I was informed about this news—my first reaction was to reach out to several MALCSistas, from east to west. I am still in communication with an institution and will hopefully have an answer before heading to the National Women’s Studies Association conference. I/we will keep you updated.
Please take care MALCSistas. Cuida tu corazón.
Judith Flores Carmona
MALCS Chair
Are you a current member of MALCS?
This is the time to renew your MALCS membership! Membership benefits include a subscription to Chicana/Latina Studies, inclusion in our members’ listserv, discounted rates to the Summer Institute, and the knowledge that you are joining an organization that supports Chicana, Latina, Afro-Latina, Native American and Indigenous activists and scholars in higher education and community leadership. For more information about joining MALCS, please visit our Membership Page.
Current MALCS Bylaws (amended August 2014)
1991 Mission statement
Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS, Women Active in Letters and Social Change) is an organization of Chicanas/ Latinas and Native American women working in academia and in community settings with a common goal: to work toward the support, education and dissemination of Chicana/ Latina and Native American women’s issues. Chicanas/Latinas and Native American women from a variety of institutions gather at this yearly Summer Institute to network, share information, offer support and re-energize. The MALCS Summer Institute is one of the few places Chicanas/Latinas and Native American women can come together without the influence of male and/or Euro-American consciousness or opinion. While some charge that this is separatist, the MALCS reply is not one of apology. This is our space. The dynamics of this Chicana/Latina and Native American woman space is worth guarding, even in the face of criticism from those we respect and work with in our home institutions. Adopted at Laredo, Texas, 1991
June 1983 MALCS Declaración
We are the daughters of Chicano working class families involved in higher education. We were raised in labor camps and barrios, where sharing our resources was the basis of survival. Our values, our strength derive from where we came. Our history is the story of the working class people–their struggles, commitments, strengths, and the Chicano/Mexicano experience in the United States. We are particularly concerned with the conditions women face at work, in and out of the home. We continue our mothers’ struggle for economic and social justice. The scarcity of Chicanas in institutions of higher education requires that we join together to identify our common problems, to support each other and to define collective solutions. Our purpose is to fight the race, class, and gender oppression we have experienced in the universities. Further, we reject the separation of academic scholarship and community involvement. Our research strives to bridge the gap between intellectual work and active commitment to our communities. We draw upon a tradition of political struggle. We see ourselves developing strategies for social change–a change emanating from our communities. We declare the commitment to seek social, economic, and political change throughout our work and collective action. We welcome Chicanas who share these goals and invite them to join us. Adopted June 1983
