The pursuit of a doctoral degree can be an isolating endeavor, particularly for students of color. Moten and Harney (2004) discuss contradictions within the academy as a place of neither refuge nor enlightenment. However, experiences within the Undercommons (to be in but not of the academy) can foster practices of resistance and solidarity-building. As doctoral students/candidates/graduates of color at a large public institute, collectively we have taught at several different campuses, primarily serving working-class students of color. Organizing within our institution for change has often resulted in burnout and little institutional accountability because of the racism inherent within and the epistemological violence of the neoliberal academy.

Despite this, we have found unity in our collective struggle and spearheaded a movement centering care and collaboration, vulnerability, relationality, and refusal. This organizing lives in ongoing collaborative working groups, writing retreats, interdisciplinary coalition-building, mentoring, and mutual commitments to supporting one another from our multiple positions throughout the doctoral journey. Our experiences have allowed us to create strategies for combating racial onslaughts, micro/macroaggressions, and divide-and-conquer tactics. We carry these commitments into each of our distinct communities, diminishing the gap between academia and activism, and challenging systems designed to oppress communities of color.

In this roundtable, participants will explore their educational journeys and reflect upon resistance and care within and outside of academia. We will utilize praxes developed in our own processes of self-reflexivity, accountability, and pedagogy to guide a collective discussion on fostering and sustaining solidarities. Collaborative activities may include free writes, artistic creation, healing practices, and collective mapping. Our work draws upon the knowledge of the women and femme of color activist-scholars who have come before us -- hooks (1994); Anzaldua (1987); Lugones (1992) -- to strengthen movements for justice, while building collective approaches to actualize activist imaginaries.