Creation-Resistance in our Struggle for a Just and Equitable Multiracial/Multiethnic Democracy in an Epoch of Institutional Unraveling, by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Creation-Resistance in our Struggle for a Just and Equitable Multiracial/Multiethnic Democracy in an Epoch of Institutional Unraveling

by 

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

August 20, 2025

Those of us at the Texas legislature in 2023 in the fight for diversity, equity and inclusion in
Texas and for the multiracial/multiethnic democracy we deserve. Photo credit: Lana Husband

We are living through a time of profound crisis—what I call the Epoch of Institutional Unraveling. Our most essential public institutions—schools, colleges, libraries, courts—are under relentless attack. Built, however imperfectly, to serve the public good, they are now being hollowed out, defunded, politicized, and transformed into tools of exclusion rather than engines of opportunity.

This is no accident. It is the culmination of a decades-long project rooted in neoliberalism, racial capitalism, and white grievance politics. From anti-DEI laws to book bans, from the gutting of voting rights to the criminalization of dissent, authoritarian tendencies are taking root beneath the banner of patriotism and “parental rights.” 

In Texas, the brazen mid-decade redistricting coup d'état sheds light on this agenda with particular clarity. By attempting to rig political maps for partisan gain, state leaders have not only angered the public but also energized progressives and the growing majority who care deeply about democracy. Such maneuvers expose the raw fear driving these efforts: fear of a multiracial democracy, fear of truth, fear of us.

This fear manifests as epistemic control. As the late Michel Foucault (1980) reminds us, knowledge is not merely discovered—it is produced, legitimized, and controlled by those in power. In Texas, Senate Bill 17, targeting DEI in higher education, and Senate Bill 12 that extends similar epistemic regulation into K–12 schools are of great concern.

These laws are not only anti-DEI; they are anti-knowledge. They sanction a return to sanitized, monocultural narratives that erase the histories, contributions, and struggles of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, women, and LGBTQ+ communities.

What is so incredibly ironic is that today, knowledge is not merely expanding—it is multiplying at an unprecedented pace. Buckminster Fuller once described a “knowledge-doubling curve,” and by 2013 IBM projected that in some fields, human knowledge could double in a matter of hours. Yet this acceleration raises urgent questions: Who has access to this knowledge? Who controls its production and dissemination? And whose ways of knowing are excluded or erased in the process?After all, as ethnographers remind us, every way of seeing is also, inevitably, a way of not seeing.

The sheer velocity of information growth does not equate to justice, truth, or liberation—unless we intervene in how knowledge is made, valued, and shared.

Figure 1: Buckminster Fuller’s Knowledge Doubling Curve, with post-1982 addition by IBM Source: https://www.learningguild.com/articles/marc-my-words-the-coming-knowledge-tsunami?utm_source

And this erasure is not limited to policy. It reverberates through our collective cultural memory—what is remembered, celebrated, or forgotten. When Ethnic Studies programs are targeted, when books are banned, when educators are censured for telling the truth, we are witnessing a deliberate effort to reshape memory itself. 

The perverse goal is not only to suppress dissenting viewpoints but to render whole histories unintelligible to future generations. In such a landscape, ignorance becomes not a void, but a construct—built, reinforced, and weaponized in the service of maintaining the status quo.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In this moment, we must see clearly: this is not just a dismantling of institutions—it is a dismantling of hope. Of imagination. Of the very idea that another world is possible. So that’s why we must respond not only with resistance, but with creation—with what my dear friend and colleague, the late Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodríguez, called "creation-resistance." That is, the simultaneous act of pushing back and building forward—of saying no to oppression while creating spaces of healing, learning, and collective liberation. It's a new Zeitgeist for our era and for this time.

May we never stop doing what we all do to build a better world.

We see this in Ethnic Studies classrooms that center ancestral knowledge. In community schools like Academia Cuauhtli, where young children reclaim their language and their dignity. In our organizing spaces, our coalitions, and our testimonios before the legislature, these are all acts of creation-resistance. They arise not just from critique, but from a deep and abiding love—for our communities, our cultures, our children, and our future.

The mid-decade redistricting stunt in Texas is a prime example of why creation-resistance is so necessary. Though intended to silence and sideline, it has had the opposite effect: communities are mobilizing, coalitions are expanding, and ordinary people are stepping into leadership roles with renewed urgency. 

From courtroom challenges to grassroots voter education drives, from art that speaks truth to power to neighborhood canvassing, Texans are responding not just with outrage but with imagination. 

We are re-drawing our own maps. These are not only maps of resistance, but also simultaneously maps of respectful relations that provide a sense of care and belonging. We insist that democracy not get stolen in the dead of night. In this way, the very tactics meant to unravel democracy are fueling its reinvention—proving that resistance, when paired with creation, can transform even acts of suppression into catalysts for collective power.

I know many of you feel disillusioned by a political system that seems broken and unresponsive. But I learned early in life that when things get political, we must become more political. Channel your frustration into action: join an organization, a church, a mosque, or synagogue. Find community, find solidarity, and remember that change has always come from those who refused to sit on the sidelines.

That is how we change the course of history. Your voice, your vision, and your vote matter—not just in presidential elections but at school board meetings, city councils, and yes, even as candidates yourselves. Our ancestors endured genocide, slavery, colonization, and Jim Crow—and Juan Crow—so that we could rise in moments like this. Let us not shrink. Let us be disciplined, organized, and loving—because love is a political act. To love is to act, to fight for a world that honors the dignity of all.

References

Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon Books.

IBM. (2013). The digital universe study: Knowledge doubling every 12 hours. IBM Research. https://www.industrytap.com/knowledge-doubling-every-12-months-soon-to-be-every-12-hours/3950

Angela Valenzuela, Photo Credit: Sebas
Santana, July, 2025