The revolution will be multilingual!
During the weekend of July 23, 2016, I attended the Interpreting for Multilingual Justice Workshop organized by the Boston Interpreters Collective and facilitated by Roberto Cesar Tijerina, formerly of Highlander Research and Education Center. Since then, I have joined BIC as an interpreter/translator as a way to continue growing my knowledge and skills and building the other worlds that are possible around multilingual justice.
Grounded in popular education, where a group builds knowledge based on experience, we shared and analyzed stories, played and deconstructed games, and role-played with a focus on interpreting best practices.
A main take-away was that interpreters are “equal signs.” We do not add, subtract or edit. We interpret in first-person so that people keep their advocacy and self-determination. Another was that the role of interpreter is sacred and not to be combined with any other roles: we can (and should) be advocates, but separate from being interpreters.
This workshop added another layer to my organizing – my work must uphold multilingual justice.
Loreto Paz Ansaldo 