With Her Machete in Her Hand: Reading Chicana Lesbians

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments This book is the result of my partnership with Luz Calvo. I thank her for her collegiality, her love, her questioning of my logic and my language but never my capability or integrity. Her arms stretch me, her food nourishes me, her rooms shelter me, and she inspires every poem. I want to thank my parents, Eleanor Marina Rueda Esquibel and José/Joseph Alfonso Esquibel. My mother, the artist, taught me the importance of the image, and my father, the storyteller, taught me the value of oral tradition. I also dedicate my work to the memory of Librada Tafoya Esquibel and Guadalupe Sanavia Rueda, amazing women from México de aquí y de allá who were proud of this oddest of granddaughters . I am profoundly grateful to the authors who shared generously their time, their work, and their words, through interviews, public lectures, and even an unpublished manuscript. Specifically, I would like to thank Emma Pérez for early manuscripts of Gulf Dreams (1994), 1848 (2000), and Blood Memory, or, Forgetting the Alamo (2003) and our many conversations , both face-to-face and online; Terri de la Peña for an interview in San Francisco the weekend of the L.A. uprising as well as for some home truths as the book went to press; Cherríe Moraga, her personal assistant, Erin Raber, and her publisher, West End Press, for directing me to a copy of Watsonville before its 2002 publication. Cherríe Moraga has also been most generous in discussing her work in public forums such as “Transformations of Queer Ethnicities: A Conversation with Norma Alarcón and Cherríe Moraga” (1996). Sheila Ortiz Taylor spent a glorious summer day sharing memories, writing experiences, and twenty years of being “discovered” by young scholars. While I do not discuss her new novel, Xtranjera (the third Arden Benbow novel) x With Her Machete in Her Hand in this book, it has nevertheless profoundly affected my work. Karleen Pendleton Jiménez shared “Not Everyone Turns Pink under the Sun.” In early 2004 I shared chapter 5 with Gloria Anzaldúa, and I am grateful for her thoughts and feedback. During the dissertation stage, I received exceptional attention and feedbackonarigorouswritingschedulefromTeresadeLauretis,who“demands always a little more than my art can provide.” Donna Haraway and James Clifford believed in my project and gave consistent support and feedback. All along the way, editorial assistance was provided by Luz Calvo and Nancy San Martín. Marie Deer coached me for two summers, kept me on deadlines, and gave me a place to store my worries so I could concentrate on writing. Heo Min Sook, the best research assistant ever, has worked tirelessly on research, permissions, and bibliographies. Pete Cruz and Carter Q. Serrett opened their home to me wholeheartedly for two years. They played (and made) magic, when I couldn’t write, wouldn’t write, and would rather do anything in the world other than write. For their love and support, I thank Nancy San Martin and Julie Marsh, Joanie Mayer, and also my sister, Christine Esquibel Wright, my nephews, Steven Vega, Cisco Vega, and Chip Wright, and my niece, María “Libradita” Wright. The members and alumnae of the Research Cluster for the Study of Women of Color in Collaboration and Conflict have provided collegiality , mentoring, creative and critical opportunities, writing groups, communidad, and lifelines. Special thanks to Keta Miranda, Michelle Habell-Pallán, Luz Calvo, Deborah R. Vargas, Maylei Blackwell, and Nancy San Martín and to our faculty sponsor, Angela Y. Davis. I have received encouragement and support from my colleagues in Women’s Studies at the Ohio State University—especially Ruby Tapia and Rebecca Wanzo—and constant help from the staff: Ada Draughon, Linda O’Brien, and Melinda Bogarty. My students, who now range from California to Texas to Iowa to Ohio, have drawn me out in independent studies, seminars, and many conversations. Former students have become colleagues, and I wish to thank Irene Mata, Adela Licona, Hector Carbajal, Gina Díaz, Mieka Valdez, and the members of Women’s Studies 620 in winter 2003: Beth, Deborah, Heather, Kristen, Lakesia, Megan, Melanie, Min, Susanne, and Yi. During my graduate student years, my research was funded by a qualifying essay grant from the History of Consciousness Department at Acknowledgments xi the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Chicana Studies Dissertation Fellowship from the University of California, Santa...