#LanguageJusticeSyllabus

“The revolution will not be monolingual.”

Language justice is a political orientation, a conceptual framework, and a set of tools and practices we can use in every sphere of our daily lives. On this page you’ll find the #LanguageJusticeSyllabus, a four-week study to introduce you to what language justice is and can be. If you would like a PDF of the syllabus, complete with discussion questions & additional readings, get in touch with me!

Below the syllabus, you can browse a more comprehensive list of language justice readings. This is a living list that is regularly updated, so be sure to check back often!

Get a pdf of the #LANGUAGEJUSTICESYLLABUS

What is Language Justice?

This section is a great place to start if you’re looking to understand the framework and orientation of language justice and how it can be practiced.

How to Build Language Justice | by Antena Aire | Available in English and Spanish

Language Justice: A Toolkit For Organizers | by Right to the City | Available in English

Language Justice Toolkit | by Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE) | Available in English and Spanish

Introductory Language Justice Guide: A Resource for Emerging LJ Interpreters and Community | Hudson Valley Farm Hub | Available in English

What Did They Say? Interpreting for Social Justice | by Roberto Tijerina | Available in English

Interpretation and Translation: Power Tools For Sharing Power In Grassroots Leadership Development | by Alice Johnson for El Centro Hispano | Available in English

Language Justice Resource Garden | by Move to End Violence | Available in English and Spanish

Best Practices for Multilingual Spaces

Here you can find concrete tips and practical strategies for developing multilingual spaces in a variety of contexts.

Checklist for Building Multilingual Space | by Antena Los Ángeles | Available in English

Sample Language Justice (LJ) introductions/affirmations | Created by MEV LJ Movers and LJ Dream Team members | Available in English and Spanish

Considerations for Inclusive Convenings | Contributions by Grace Anderson with PGM ONE (People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors, Nature, and Environment), Keecha Harris with InDEEP Initiative, Danielle Levoit with Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Jessa Madosky with University of Tampa and Society for Conservation Biology North America | Available in English

Language Justice in Virtual Spaces: Living Guide | Available in English

Language Justice Tips for Virtual Events | by Catalina Nieto | Available in English

A Guide for Joining Multiple Language Communities on Zoom | by | Available in English and in Spanish

Language Justice Tips for Virtual Events | by Catalina Nieto | Available in English

Race in/and Translation

These readings focus on questions around race in translation, and the racial experiences of translators, with an emphasis on Black translators and blackness rooted in the U.S.

“Blackness Revisited” | Asymptote Podcast interview with John Keene (10/12/2018) | Available in English

“Creating What One Cannot Find: In Conversation with Deborah Ekoka” | Asymptote interview with Deborah Ekoka (7/3/2019) | Available in English

“International Blackness” | Asymptote Podcast interview with Aaron Coleman (12/14/2018) | Available in English

“‘Somos los del español deficiente’: Crip Chicana/Filipina Pedagogies of Translation” | by Sony Coráñez Bolton | Aster(ix) Journal Presents Kitchen Table Translation (Blue Sketch Press, 2017) | Available in English

“‘Blackness’ in French: On Translation, Haiti, and the Matter of Race | by Kaiama L. Glover | (L’Esprit Créateur, Summer 2019) | Available in English

“Translating Poetry, Translating Blackness” | by Aaron Keene (4/28/2016) | Available in English

“Translating Italy, Translating Blackness” | by Barbara Ofosu-Somuah & Candice Whitney (12/10/2020) | Available in English

“Translation and Black Feminisms” | from Revista Ártemis (7/11/2019) | Available in English

“Publishers Need More Black Translator Friends” | by Aaron Robertson for Words Without Borders (1/21/2021) | Available in English

Black Language

Learn about Black Language (also known as Black English, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and Ebonics) and Black linguistic justice in the U.S.

Black Language Syllabus | Edited by April Baker-Bell, Carmen Kynard, Kashema Hutchinson, Kaelyn Muiru, and Toya Mary Okonkwo | Available in English

“‘Black english’: How AAVE Developed From Slave Resistance & African Dialects” | Klarity with The Breakdown BET | Available in English

“Language Justice: Grounding in Black English and Black Language” | Hosted by Monica Dennis, ramelcy uribe, and Heidi Maria Lopez, with Ninaj Raoul, M Adams, Aneiry Zapata, Paris Hatcher, and Indira Henard | Available in English and Spanish

“Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan” | by June Jordan | Available in English

“In Praise of Spoken Soul” | by John Russell Rickford and Russell John Rickford | Available in English

“Does African American Vernacular English Have Bad Grammar? // #AAVE // Analyzing Grammatical Errors” | by What’s Good English | Available in English

“The ‘Ebonics’ Controversy” | You’re Wrong About Podcast | Available in English

Expansive Language

These are resources focused on gender inclusive language, non-biased language, plain language, and other writing/editing guides.

Manual De Instrucciones Para Hablar Con E | por María Florencia Alcaraz | Disponible en español

Tú, yo, elle y el lenguaje no binario | por Ártemis López | Disponible en español

Gender Pronoun Stickers | Calcomanías de pronombres | Patricia Torres with MEV | Available in English and Spanish

Bias-Free Language | by American Psychological Association | Available in Englisih

Comunicado lenguaje no binario | por Tradoctas | Disponible en español

Guía práctica de lenguaje inclusivo | por Chrysallis | Disponible en español

Guía de lenguaje inclusivo de género | por Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes, Chile | Disponible en español

Guía práctica de lenguaje inclusivo y con perspectiva de género | por la Universidad de Oviedo | Disponible en español

El lenguaje inclusivo en español | por Sofía Félix Poggi | Disponible en español

Lenguaje inclusivo: un lenguaje para todes | por la Federación Argentina LGBT | Disponible en español

Latinx: The Ungendering of the Spanish Language | Latino USA podcast | Available in English

Tesauro de género: lenguaje con equidad | Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (INMUJERES) | Available in Spanish

10 recomendaciones para el uso no sexista del lenguaje | Textos del caracol, núm. 1 | Available in Spanish

“Nyle DiMarco & Chella Man Teach Us Queer Sign Language” | them. | Available in English and ASL

Resources: Conscious and Inclusive Language | Rabbit with a Red Pen | Available in English

Conscious Style Guide | by Karen Yin | Available in English

Disability Language Style Guide / Manual de redacción del NCDJ | by National Center on Disability and Journalism | Available in English | Disponible en español

Stylebook and Coverage Guide | by the Trans Journalists Association | Available in English

Mary Dash’s Writing Tips | Mary Dash | Available in English

Dictionaries & Glossaries

Social Justice Glossary of Terms | by Just Communities | Available in English/Spanish

Glossary of Interpreting Terms | by Jen Hofer (Antena Los Ángeles) with Cynthia Martínez, Nora Ramírez, and Alena Uliasz from California Rural Legal Assistance |

Spanish Clinical Language and Resource Guide | by Washburn Center for Children | Available in Spanish/English

US Department of Labor | Available in English/Spanish

Books on Translation & Language

Maintaining Your Second Language by Eve Lindemuth Bodeaux

The Elements of Style (4th ed.) by William Strunk and E.B. White

The Entrepreneurial Linguist by Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner

Found in Translation by Nataly Kelly and Jost Zetzsche

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

Finding and Marketing to Translation Agencies by Corinne McKay

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

Note-Taking Manual by Virginia Valencia

Collectives & Projects

This list includes collectives and projects by language workers who practice language justice and related liberatory language practices.

Tecolotl (Houston, TX, USA)

Black Translators Network

Barricade: A Journal of Antifascism and Translation

Art & Music

LJ & Beyond Playlist | by Ada Volkmer | Spotify

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Let’s talk!

If you like what you see and want to support the growth of more popular education tools for language justice, let’s talk!

Lauren Ray