We had already accomplished so much. Five full cohorts of Indigenous and Latine graduate students were supported through this work. They were doing powerful, community-based, solutions-oriented research founded in identity. And they were doing it together, in relationship, with guidance, care, and optimism. Losing our grant is heartbreaking.

There’s grief in all of it. Not just in the loss of funding, but in the loss of what could have been. The future we were building. The community we were growing. The possibility of continuing to support students and communities in ways that felt transformative and meaningful and full of possibility. Everyday I am reminded of the substantial loss, and the pain it has caused to those I hold dear.

But here’s the thing: We are not done and we are not going anywhere – with or without permission.

First and foremost, we found other ways to support the students who were affected, as they are our top priority. Everyone landed somewhere. This was a significant challenge and I’m proud of what we were able to do as a team. I’ve also been imagining and strategizing ways to reframe this work so that it may be able to get alternative funding within the current landscape of NSF priorities. It might mean shifting some language, adjusting some approaches, but the heart of what we do stays the same.

Lastly, I am doubling down on relational work that is liberatory and grounded in healing-forward resistance. If anything, this loss has strengthened my resolve to combat injustice, colonialism, oppression, and harm. I am committed to grassroots and community-embedded work, in partnership with organizers, activists, , and kind of work that builds slowly, in trust, and that keeps growing long after the funding cycle ends.

We’re still here. And our work is still going.

It may look different moving forward, but the purpose is the same. We are here to support each other. To tell the truth. To imagine better futures. To keep showing up. And that will never stop.