Ep 6: ‘This Bridge Called My Back' with Janet Muro Vera

In this episode, Colin sits down with his former student/mentee, current colleague, fellow Richmond-CA-raised-May-Gemini, BDay twin of his first-born child, someone he considers family, and whom he lovingly refers to as his “Young Mentor.” Janet Muro Vera, M.Ed discusses the anthology, "This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color" (1981), edited by 3rd Wave Feminist Scholars, Cherie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, and the powerful roles it has played in her life as a Chicana, Zacatecana, Mexican American, and Woman of Color Educator, from the Bay Area. Though he an elder millennial and she an elder Gen Z’er, Colin would argue that in the last decade, they–in different and similar ways–”grew up together,” in their careers as Educators. They dedicate this episode to their beloved former student, Kelin "KJ" Sissoko (2005-2025), whose life was tragically taken on January 10th of this year, whose May 22nd birthday was shared with Janet and Colin's first-born daughter, and whose funeral service they attended the same week this was recorded.

Janet Muro Vera is an SF-born, Richmond-raised Chicana. As the first in her family to pursue higher education, Janet earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a Minor in Health Education from San Francisco State University. During her time at SF State, she studied abroad at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia, where she advanced her studies in Adolescent and Developmental Psychology. After returning home, she worked as an after-school educator at her former high school, where she discovered a love for education and decided to pursue a career in teaching. Coincidentally, her teacher residency program paired her with her former English teacher, Mr. Colin Ehara, who became her lifelong mentor and chosen family. Shortly after, she earned a Master's in Education from the University of the Pacific. Since then, she has served in various roles, including English/ELD Teacher, Lead Teacher, Interim Dean of Students, Advisor, and her personal favorite, Psychology Teacher. Janet created and implemented her school's first A-G-approved Psychology course, combining her two greatest passions: education and psychology. During her summers, she teaches Middle school Psychology through SummerSpringboard at UC Berkeley. Janet is a proud Zacatecana, the daughter of immigrant parents, and the sister of three brothers whom she affectionately calls both her greatest challenges and her biggest blessings. A fun fact about her: she had the unique experience of being her younger brother Sergio’s high school teacher, a role she considers one of the most memorable and rewarding moments of her life. Outside the classroom, you’ll often find her browsing the Google Flights Explore tab, planning her next adventure. She has a deep passion for travel, learning through experiences, and connecting with new people.

The Paper Plane is a podcast created and hosted by Colin Masashi Ehara, where he interviews people he is blessed and honored to share community with, and asks them about a book(s) that have had a transformational impact on their lives. In a society where literacy rates are steadily declining and a growing number of podcasts hosted by cishet men, un/consciously champion expressions of masculinity that come at the expense of women, femmes, and LGBTQIA2S+ (especially BIPOC) folx, this space aims to operate as a counter-narrative.

The Paper Plane is a space that intends to highlight the dire importance of relationships, community, dialogue, perpetual learning, honest expression as art, art as honest expression, and freedom for literacy and literacy for freedom. It speaks to planes of existence attached to the act of reading, but also as a metaphor for the “flights” we take as we sit in what Ta-Nehisi Coates calls “a one way interface” as readers, and how these “journeys” shape us...