(b. 1952) grew up in East Los Angeles near the San Gabriel Mission. A writer, playwright and activist, she has published such key works as Loving in the War Years, The Last Generation, A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousnessand Native Country of the Heart. She has also written and directed theater, including New Fire and The Mathematics of Love. In 1981, she co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press with Audre Lorde and Barbara Smith. With Celia Herrera, she founded the Las Maestras Center at the University of California. In 2024 she celebrated her retirement.

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