This collection centers Central American women's voices within the growing narrative of the Central American diaspora. It provides a tapestry of testimonios-from grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters-who explore what it means to be Central American women in the United States. Through the practice of testimonio, contributors create intergenerational dialogues between mothers and daughters, engage with Indigenous oral traditions, and reflect on the violent histories of war in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The volume is organized around five themes: political histories, migration, gender and sexuality, navigating institutions, and healing. Within each theme contributors tackle a range of issues, including Central American political histories, healing, grief, Indigenous knowledge, memory, trauma, post-traumatic growth, organizing, creativity, and agency. This anthology spans genres such as poetry, essay, and visual art to present diverse perspectives, including Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, queer, and working-class voices. An intervention that centers gendered experiences and challenges oppressive structures, this volume celebrates the solidarity, cultural memory, and healing found within transnational ties.
Karina Alma is an assistant professor in the Chicano/a and Central American Studies Department at University of California, Los Angeles. She is a published poet and a co-editor of U.S. Central Americans: Reconstructing Memories, Struggles, and Communities of Resistance. Ester E. Hernandez is a professor of anthropology at California State University Los Angeles. She is co-editor of the anthology U.S. Central Americans: Reconstructing Memories, Struggles, and Communities of Resistance.
"This beautiful volume invites current and future generations to learn from, wrestle with, and add their own experiences to these and other histories of struggle. I wish I had this book as I was making my way through academia and am glad it's available for us now."-Gilda L. Ochoa, author of Academic Profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and the Achievement Gap "This collection represents an important intervention that resituates and centers Central American women's lives within a growing body of scholarship on the Central American diaspora. It provides a bountiful tapestry of voices-of grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters-navigating what it means to be Central American women in the United States and to carry such rich but often unspoken legacies. In reading their heartfelt sorrows and triumphs, we are able to reflect on our shared humanity and find points of connection to join in resistance against intersectional forms of oppression together."-Georgina Guzman, co-editor of Campus Service Workers Supporting First-Generation Students: Informal Mentorship and Culturally Relevant Support as Key to Student Retention and Success "Central American Women in Diaspora offers a moving, intimate series of testimonio accounts of gendered life in the diaspora-on the Central American isthmus, up north in the United States, and in the imaginary between linking families and memories. Whether in Latinx studies classes, seminars on memory and identity, or in public book groups, readers who enter this book's world will feel welcomed into a defiant and loving space."-Ellen Moodie, author of El Salvador in the Aftermath of Peace: Crime, Uncertainty, and the Transition to Democracy
