Education, Feminism, and Spanish: The Definition of a Library Cuban

Movida’s choice to carve out her own gender identity causes her to “struggle to construct paradigms that exclude while including, to reject while consenting” (Hurtado, 1998, p. 150). The fact that she is phenotypically white, culturally Afro Cuban, linguistically Spanish, and an educational minority defies the border of any fixed paradigm or identity, and places her in a fluid paradigm that is “elastic and transformable” (Torres-Salliant, 2003). Her refusal to fit into a model may problematize people’s prevailing assumptions about identity definition and formation and cause them to see her differently (Torres-Salliant, 2003).

Movida speaks of her identity as a Library Cuban as mobile and unfixed: “We do not have fixed identities, and this isn’t just theory, it is what I live… I don’t have a fixed identity, I am a Library Cuban.” Feminism and education shape her multidimensional definition of herself as a Library Cuban. Movida refers to her life as an anomaly, because a Latina with a doctoral degree in this country is, in her words, inhabiting a “small enclave” of Latina professors. The Cuban portion refers to her undying love and strong tie to her language and country. Movida defines herself as a Library Cuban, or, in other words, an educated Latina feminist true and loyal to her roots. Her embrace of all the dimensions of her identity is truly refreshing and beautiful. She speaks of her life with great zeal, stating that she “wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” and says that living in an “academic community is good, and wonderful.” Her conscious and deliberate acceptance of all parts of herself was truly refreshing and beautiful, and her comfort and confidence welcome and invite the world to experience an incredible Latina feminist and Library Cuban.