Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil was born in Ayutla Mixe, Oaxaca, in 1981. She is a linguist, a writer, a translator, a researcher, and an activist for linguistic lights. Her work extends in Ayuujk, Spanish, and English. She has dedicated her life to projects that address the needs of speakers of languages at risk of disappearing. Her academic and activism trajectory has pointed out at the violent relationship between the State and “indigenous peoples” (whom she refers to as “stateless nations”), which can be seen in the contrast between State promotion of “official languages”, and the languages of stateless nations. Yásnaya observes that the disappearance of “indigenous languages” is an intentional political effort from the State to homogenize the population, given that it considers linguistic diversity a threat to its power. Assimilation efforts are supported by the narrative of progress by the modern nation-state, which portrays stateless nations as “backwards, incapable”. While Yásnaya roots her analysis of linguistic injustice in the Mexican state’s actions for linguistic annihilation, she notices this pattern on a historical global scale, and considers it a key component of the modern nation-state system, which could only be established through the subjugation of indigenous peoples. Her legacy has marked the understanding of indigenous rights in disciplines as varied as anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, history, and politics. Here is a quote that Yásnaya pronounced when she was a speaker at the Mexican chamber of deputies: “Nuestras lenguas no mueren, las matan. El Estado mexicano las ha borrado. El pensamiento único, la cultura única, el Estado único, con el agua de su nombre, las borra” [Our languages do not die, they are killed. The Mexican State has erased them. The only thought, the only culture, the only State, with the water of its name, erases them].