Lydia R. Otero was a faculty member in the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona from 2003 to 2020. They specialized in Public and Oral History, Latinx Urbanization and Placemaking in Latinx Communities. In 2011, their book La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwestern City (2010) won a Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association. In 2019, Otero released In the Shadows of the Freeway: Growing Up Brown & Queer which combines personal memoir and the historical archive. It was selected a 2021 Southwest Book of the Year by the Pima County Library. Otero's newest book, L.A. Interchanges: A Brown & Queer Memoir is scheduled for release on July 31, 2023. They are also featured in the 2023 PBS documentary, Unidad: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos. More information at https://www.lydiaotero.com/