Intersectional Grief and Historical Reckoning

Sor Juana's silencing, the loss of her library, the suppression of her work, and the erasure of her legacy represent tangible forms of historical violence. Intersectional practice requires honoring that grief—not as defeat, but as truth-telling. This concept affirms that oppression causes real loss: relationships broken by forced choice, intellectual potential unrealized, lives shortened or diminished. Rather than performing gratitude for "what we were allowed," intersectional grief insists on naming what was stolen. Sor Juana's own tears and words of lament become examples of this necessary grieving. In practice, this means creating space to mourn what systems have taken from you, your communities, and your ancestors, while maintaining the vision that different futures are possible. Grief and resistance are not opposites—grief fuels transformative work.