Found a Home: Freedom Scie-Cycling

“Women of color face harsh realities in their professional lives as university faculty members. At the same time, even within the walls of [and outside of] these often-pernicious academic environments, women of color can assert their voices, effect change, find allies, and not only survive, but thrive” (Niemann, Y. F. (2012). Lessons from the experiences of women of color working in academia. In Y.F. Niemann, G.G. y Muhs, C.G. González, & A.P. Harris (Eds.), Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia (pp. 446–500). University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgr3k.40., p. 446). I found home outside of the academy, in my extended community and mentors, my biking community, my supportive family and closest friends, and in the depths of my familial and ancestral lineage. I found home on my bike and in community, in freedmom, joy, and nature. In this chapter, I map the journey of re-locating and naming a scie-cycling home—an activity and space that is the present and stands at the crux of past experiences and a re-envisioned future. Finding a home necessitated re-centering a dream, anchoring joy, and forging a commitment to decolonize and strip the metaphorical spikes (Benjamin, 2019) and charting new scie-cycling pathways. This chapter has implications for naming and identifying a home outside of the academy; forging new counter-pathways; honoring cultural, ancestral, and communal identities beyond the academy; and engaging intentional and radical acts of joy that foster dreaming and liberation—freedom scie-cycling.