I am honored to share this written space with Dr. Cynthia Olivo at Fullerton College in honor of Women’s History Month and the celebration of the International Day of Women. It is the first time Fullerton College has had a woman president since its founding in 1913. Globally, women make up the lion’s share of laborers. Traditionally, women are the kin keepers in our communities and are responsible for care work and education for our families: spouses, partners, children, elders, friends, and loved ones. Women are keeping up social relationships through calendars, medical appointments, and caring for our homes. At this moment in time, women now represent the majority of the college-educated workforce in the United States. And yet, too often, our labor is not valued or recognized. In the last few years, we have seen victories, with women gaining seats of power. Of late, our rights as women have been challenged in many arenas, particularly regarding public health and wellness. What would happen if women’s agency were celebrated in all its possibilities and iterations?
The American Indian and Arab American feminist author Paula Gunn Allen once asked, “Who is your mother?” She also wrote that “the root of oppression is the loss of memory.” I have been privileged to grow up in a family where women and girls are loved, supported, cherished, and encouraged to pursue our dreams. I have one mom, two grandmas, five aunts, and countless aunties, my mom’s friends. My mom is a mother, grandmother, aunt, and teacher. She is the one who taught me the importance of literacy and creativity in all its iterations, that it is crucial to read, write, speak, and act with care, to observe situations with clarity, and to react to injustice with solutions. To this day, I learn from my mom; she leads the kin keeping in our family network, keeping us all connected. My grandma (dad’s mom) was one of a handful of women to earn an MD (during the 1947 Partition War) and provided free medical care to underserved women of Mumbai. She was one of the only women on staff at Mumbai’s National Hospital (now called Hinduja Hospital) and established its OBGYN department in 1954. She was on staff at GT Hospital and served as faculty for Bombay University in their MBBS/MD programs. She always taught us, her grandchildren, and especially her granddaughters three things: 1. We must have intimate, accurate knowledge of our bodies and take good care of our health and wellness, 2. Do no harm but take no nonsense from anyone, and 3. Speak up when witnessing harm to others.
To my past, present, and future students: I want you to trust that you have made the right decision to enroll at Fullerton College. I want you to trust yourselves and the learning process. Learning takes time. Allow yourselves the permission to grow, change, and learn. Strive for progress, not perfection. Too often, women are pitted against each other; hegemony and unfair social and aesthetic standards pit us against each other as competition rather than as collectives of sisterhoods. I hope you feel empowered enough to look within yourselves when you make mistakes and to hold yourselves accountable. I hope that you are brave and show up in public spaces to advocate for folks who have been harmed, share data-driven and fact-based, accurate information, invest time in corrective measures, and do everything with deep care and intention.
I want you to feel empowered to contact your instructors when you need support. Please read, write, create, and speak as much as possible with each other. I would love for you to immerse yourselves in every site of knowledge possible so that you can ask questions when needed, create solutions to the problems that impact yourselves and your communities, have meaningful relationships with each other, and make informed decisions for yourselves and with your loved ones. I see changes in political efficacy, investment in nuanced language, and students doing great work. If you need me, I will do my best to support you.
In community,
Dr. Kar