Lenguage justice in the Hudson Valley

Three members of the collective, Verónica Martínez Cruz, Liliana Sierra, and Cristóbal Guerra, have studied or are currently studying in the Bard BAC program (which offers full-tuition scholarships to adult residents of the Hudson Valley). What does language justice mean to them? Is inclusive language part of language justice? Is there work in this field? They discussed these and more topics in a recent roundtable on my show La Voz con Mariel Fiori on Radio Kingston.

Liliana Sierra arrived in the Hudson Valley during the pandemic, with previous experience working at the Caracol Interpreters Cooperative, which operated from 2010 to 2020 with eight worker-owners and several independent collaborators with high demand in New York City. For Sierra, who is now studying ethnomusicology at Bard College, language justice “means giving relevance and importance to languages or words, to concepts that generally do not occupy auditory or visual space, including sign language. Language justice seeks to decolonize through language, because we live in a society that has been organized within the Western concepts of colonizing languages—English, Spanish even. Depending on the context, these languages are dominant languages that have overshadowed others that are no longer heard as much. Language justice seeks to make these languages heard more, and not just the languages, but also their wisdoms, their worldviews, their understandings of the world.” After all, a language is also the way we think about the world.

Cristóbal Guerra, who met Sierra as an independent collaborator with the Caracol Cooperative and is now studying film at Bard, strongly agrees with this definition and adds that, at the end of the day, language is a tool. “It can be used for good or for bad, right? And depending on the context, it has certain powers that create disadvantages and advantages. Our role when we come into a space as practitioners is to draw attention to these inequities that already exist within language itself. It’s also something that continues to transform and grow. As interpreters, we enter spaces and talk about the importance of creating a place at the table for people who do not speak the dominant language,” Guerra explains.

When interpreters talk about a dominant language, it does not mean that language is better or worse than others. Verónica Martínez Cruz, who recently graduated from Bard with a degree in human rights and Latin American studies, clarifies: “It’s the language most spoken in a given space. For example, here you go to a school board meeting or to college. Everything is in English (unless you take a Spanish class).”

The American Bar Association (ABA) states that “all language communities” should receive “systematic and fair treatment, as well as respect for their fundamental language rights: human and civil rights, such as the right to preserve non-dominant languages, to access essential services without language barriers, and to live free from language discrimination in education, the workplace, civic participation, and in all other contexts.” Everyone has the right to communicate, understand, and be understood in the language they prefer and feel most articulate and empowered in. In this way, the ABA “rejects the notion of language supremacy, recognizes that language can be a tool of oppression, as well as an important element in exercising autonomy and advancing racial and social justice.”

So, what is inclusive language? Martínez Cruz sees it as creating multilingual spaces “where everyone has the opportunity to participate, regardless of what language they speak.” She adds that now “inclusive language has been widely used in terms of gender, respecting how people refer to themselves. Sometimes it is very difficult for some people to do so. But it is about the respect of saying: I don’t understand it, but I respect it.”

The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) defines that “inclusive language recognizes diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities.” So far, the UN and the RAE agree. The issue becomes more complex when new ways of expressing gender in Spanish emerge, using the morpheme “e” as a neutral term to avoid grammatical binarism (masculine/feminine) and to make non-binary identities visible. For example, elle instead of él/ella, or les niñes instead of los niños/las niñas.

Although it is a complicated task to change every adjective in Spanish this way, Sierra considers it “fun, kind of playful or experimental to a certain point. Because languages are constantly changing, evolving; new words are added to the dictionary every day. Inclusive language is an area with much potential, with great possibilities to help us question not only how gender is handled in a language but also what the language forces us to pay attention to—or not. If we start questioning a little: why have we been taught that nosotros is the standard masculine plural, or the neutral form? How neutral is that? And if we question that, suddenly a window of ideas opens. It’s important to create that flexibility.”

Inclusive language is therefore also part of language justice. Guerra reasons that “there are many different layers in how one communicates. Again, it’s a constantly changing tool, and the intention is to be as inclusive as possible. And that has to do with many things. Sometimes it’s not helpful to complicate the situation with the process. Language is created organically among us; it is something that is worked on, and there should be openness to do so because not everyone identifies as male or female. The reality is that language must adapt to that.”

In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which states that “public services must guarantee equitable access to people with disabilities, including sign language interpreters.” In 2000, an Executive Order by President Clinton instructed federal agencies or those receiving federal funds to “improve access to services for people with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).” As of July 2025, this EO is under review.

In New York State, a law was passed in 2011, expanded in 2021, on Language Access, which mandates that “state agencies providing services to the public must provide written and oral translation in the 12 most spoken languages by Limited English Proficiency (LEP) communities in the state.” One of these 12 languages is Spanish. “Oral translation” refers to interpretation.

Therefore, creating multilingual spaces, where there is no dominant language and everyone can express themselves in the language in which they feel most comfortable, is supported by federal and state law and is also a source of income. Martínez Cruz notes that “there is also a high demand. Interpreters are always needed,” but she emphasizes that “it is important not just to do the work, but also to educate the people doing it by telling them: you have rights, you should be paid for this work, and, if possible, you should receive training.” For organizations seeking interpreters, she encourages them to “be aware that they must include that service within their annual budgets,” that is, allocate funds to hire translation and interpretation services.

Resources

New York State Office of Language Access: https://languageaccess.ny.gov
Directory of Language Justice Collectives: https://circularprojects.org
ATA, American Translators Association: https://www.atanet.org/career-education
Testimonials and Tools for Practitioners: https://langjust.com/resources
Interpretation Equipment Loans (for simultaneous interpretation): https://hvfarmhub.org/language-at-the-farm-hub/