Our Collective Work to Story(ing) Numbers

This chapter introduces the book’s central commitment to story(ing) —a methodology grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Chicana Feminist Theory. Drawing on personal and community narratives, the authors situate storytelling as a tool for disrupting dominant narratives about mathematical ability and knowledge production. The chapter emphasizes the reclamation of mathematical wisdom and genius, particularly among Communities of Color, framing these as embodied, cultural, and intergenerational practices. Through vignettes and theoretical discussion, the authors argue that story(ing) —an intentional act of narrative sense-making—imparts data and numbers with life, enabling a critical interrogation of how statistical strategies can be transformed to reflect the lived realities and wisdom of marginalized communities.