From Mathematical Exclusion to Mathematical Genius

This chapter foregrounds painful yet transformative stories of exclusion and resistance navigating math classrooms as Chicanas/Latinas. Drawing on CRT and Chicana Feminist Epistemologies, the authors highlight how cultural intuition and familial teachings serve as sites for (re)claiming mathematical wisdom and genius. Story(ing) in this chapter exposes how systemic inequities and harmful stereotypes undermine confidence and access in STEM fields, while acts of resistance and community support heal and empower. The chapter positions mathematical wisdom and genius as a dynamic, creative, and relational practice grounded in ancestral knowledge and cultural ways of knowing, challenging Eurocentric definitions of intellectualism.