Scholars of Color- Destina Bermejo
What is Scholars of Color?
It is a platform in which scholars of color are purposefully celebrated. It’s a space where scholars of color are showcased front and center. It is a digital space where we feel empowered and resilient. Let us get to know each other. Let us cheer each other on AND show the world what we have to offer.
Let us now welcome Destina Bermejo to the Scholars of Color space!
Name: Destina Bermejo
Gender Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
What do you currently do for work and/or school?: Graduated from the University of Arizona with my M.A. in Latin American Studies. Starting my Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Merced in August 2021.
Without positions or titles, how would you describe yourself?: Ambitious, Involved, Engaged, Critical, Determined, Sensitive, Empathetic, Resilient, Extrovert, Listener, Hopeful, Creative, Healing, Collaborative
What are you passionate about?: Human rights and social injustices is the best way to group together what I am passionate about. I struggled as an undergraduate student to narrow down what I wanted to major in because I care about a lot of things and it was hard to narrow down a passion. Eventually, I customized my major where I had more freelance to choose classes I liked that fit my interests. What really caught my attention the most was (im)migration, particularly around Latin America and the Caribbean, especially since my Pa and step-Dad are immigrants from Mexico and I am a second generation Mexican-American. I began to really dig deeper into issues around (im)migration within the Latinx community and as I recognized the privileges I have being a U.S. citizen that I want to see what I can do to uplift the community without intruding on these spaces where Undocumented folx are working on this hands on. I've seen the racism, sexism, homophobia, colorism, anti-Blackness, anti-Indigenous issues in my own communities and the toxicity of machismo culture. I see even being Mexican-American that often times, folx that could be Central American, South American, Afro-Latinx, Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, they are often excluded and I want to change these mindsets. We are not the only ones that exist in Latin America and Latinx does not equal Mexican.
Why is the representation of scholars of color important to you?: It means everything to me when I see people who look like me and share similar interests. It reminds me that these were spaces that were not created for us to begin with so to just exist in it is a form of resistance and pushing back on that. We belong there just as much as the next person and our work is valid whether it publishes or not and it should not define how important our work is. Scholars of color that I've met with before make me feel welcomed and valued as a person because they understand the issues even in academia and how much harder it is for us. We bring to the table new perspectives, cultural relevancy, and authenticity with what we work on because we have that other layer of being not only a person of color, but as a scholar. Including intersectionality in academia is also liberating, especially for me being a scholar of color and a woman. Representation is a reminder for future scholars of color who might be feeling that imposter syndrome and incapable of filling up these spaces that they are valid and they matter, too. I personally find academia to be elitist and exclusive to a certain group of people and with more scholars of color in these spaces, we can make it accessible and dismantle that system. Education as a whole, however we learn and engage, is a right, not a privilege and we need more people to continue challenging it because I don't want my work or what I publish to be signify what I know.
If people are interested in getting connected to you, how can they?: I am available on social media platforms and email. I can be reached by email: desbermejo@hotmail.com, Facebook: Destina Bermejo, LinkedIn: Destina Bermejo and Instagram: desbermejo
Anything else you would like us to know?: I love traveling to new places and meeting people unexpectedly or through networking at events. I love mentoring students and volunteering because with all the negativity I see and read about in my field, this reminds me that there are people out there who are looking at me as someone that is trying to make a difference while I remind them that they are just as capable as achieving their goals and dreams in anything they want to do. I conducted three solo research projects as an undergraduate and presented it at local and federal conferences. I know how to do research but now I want to move it away from its colonial roots and make it something where everyone is able to read what I am saying and know what I am talking about without those jargon words a lot of professionals include in their work. I hope to be a community organizer and earn my PhD in Sociology once I finish my Masters. I love astrology so my sun sign is a Scorpio, meaning I am also a water sign.
Thank you Destina for sharing space with us!
Stay tuned everyone for more Scholars of Color profiles. Interested in being showcased yourself? Please email the Scholars of Color team at scholarsofcolor@reclaimingyourhappiness.com and we will get back to you shortly.
