Revolutionary Social Drama: Decolonial Pedagogical Processes

Abstract

Jimenez and I remain close friends and comadres. We speak on the phone regularly, see each other less, but continue to debate and contemplate our ongoing social dramas, whose conditions—most of them, at least—have not been of our own making. Shortly after a new principal was hired in 2009, Jimenez was abruptly removed from many of her parent-organizing functions. Padres Unidos/Parents United was dismantled and the parents were told that they could apply for official organizational status through the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA). Jimenez continued to serve on various governance committees (e.g.,Title I) and she advised the women and men who approached her to settle any grievances with the school while she maintained her job as a supervision aide. She intuitively felt, however, that the new school administration had deliberately stripped her of authority. “Ese boboso es peor que el primero. Eran buenos amigos, todo aqui se conoce. Seguro le dijeron que yo causo problemas/That moron is worse than the first principal. They were good friends, everything here is known. I’m sure they told him (new principal) that I cause problems.” Jimenez survived various rounds of budget cuts in the Los Angeles school district and remained on the official payroll of mother workers until July 2011.