Education Commons^™

Get In The Cypher And In The Groove, A Call To Action, What’S The Move, Apida For Black Power, Community Organizing, The Future Is Ours, Kirsty Nicole Bocado

The Vermont Connection

Through activism, community organizing, and investigation, I learn the Philippines' true hxstory, disrupting anti-Blackness brought into the country from colonization and researching Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) and Black unity. In college, I was in a freestyle street dancing crew and while immersed in Hip-Hop culture, I taught the elements of Hip-Hop, honoring OGs and pioneers and raising awareness about cultural appropriation. Hip-Hop culture is Black culture and roots of many cultures are from Black people. In high school, I was a musician of four instruments, playing and practizing Jazz music in Jazz band. The Jazz genre and many …

Mic Check? Mic Check! Amplifying Our Voices, Kirsty Nicole Bocado

The Vermont Connection

Content Warning: discrimination, suicidal ideation, violence

When I write about mental illness, I use the terms: disability, identity, and relationship. However, no word captures what mental illness means to me. Mental illness is somehow both a part of me and a separate, intangible entity. Every day is an exhausting struggle to live with and understand it, and during my first year of graduate school, I experienced covert ableism. This harm caused a long and tedious recovery process on top of ongoing unlearning and healing. Through recovery, I adopted the practice of “embracing the whole” of emotions, feelings, symptoms, and triggers. …