while @victoriadreyes & I were postdocs at @UMichNCID & working on our books (which have since come out!), we talked often about how deeply we related to @Lin_Manuel& #39;s lyrics in #Hamilton https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt=""> as writers of color. Here& #39;s some lines that fueled us. Others feel free to join in! 1/

"I& #39;m past patiently waiting I& #39;m passionately smashing every expectation" was utterly liberating. There& #39;s always a battle between "respectability" & writing with the passion & depth that I know will piss people off. I write about immigration. I don& #39;t have time to tread lightly. 2/

"write like you are running out of time." frankly, we write like this BECAUSE WE ARE. POC die years before their white counterparts, & there& #39;s so few of us in the academy that the pressure to make every single moment matter is both invigorating and debilitating. 3/

"every action& #39;s an act of creation" was also liberating to hear. Career-wise, I would be better off with published articles. But it was not the form that Guadalupe& #39;s story needed to be told. Feeling free to take risks-- to careen down a path not explored--was invigorating. 4/

"If there& #39;s a reason I& #39;m still alive
When so many have died
Then I& #39;m willin& #39; to—"
Ugh... that line unfinished... I think this is the ultimate tension for many of us. I LEFT my community to get an education with faith that it& #39;s for the better. But is it? And how will I know? 5/

Ok we have these two to take care of so I’ll be back and forth to this thread all day! 6/