“The Work of Justice-Making” by Xochitl Alvizo
“…I write in order to think – ver, pensar, actuar. With my hand on the plow, what is the action I am today called to make?” These are the concluding remarks from STH alumna Xochitl Alvizo in a 2015 blog post entitled “The Work of Justice-Making,” published on feminismandreligion.com. With many around the world today considering how best to embody resistance to a world choosing fear-filled responses, Dr. Alvizo’s words remain a source of connection and challenge.Dr. Alvizo received her PhD. in Practical Theology from the School of Theology in 2015. She is currently Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the area of Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Gender (LGBT), Sex, and Sexuality at California State University, Northridge. She is also a co-founder and co-weaver of the blog feminismandreligion.com.
“I’m supposed to be writing my dissertation. Hand on the plow, no looking back. I have even left town for the whole month of December in order to minimize the everyday distractions that are part of my life in Boston and increase my focus on writing. I’ve set up shop in my friends’ living room, surrounded by multiple windows, perfect natural lighting, and festive Christmas decorations. But, two days in, and I have yet to get into my dissertation writing groove.
So I am writing this blog post instead in an effort to work my way back to the dissertation. I read somewhere that writing is thinking – which is why dissertations, and every other kind of writing project, often change direction along the way. If writing is thinking, then, I’m hoping that writing this post will help me think my way back to the dissertation, because at the moment, all I can of think is, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Please follow this link for the complete blog post.