How does our academic work lead us to grow, and what kind of journeys does it take to actually grow in this work? In a world with so many (mundane and spectacular) struggles for social justice, why do academic theories matter? Throughout our graduate education within a U.S. imperial higher education institution, we have realized that we cannot help but make decolonizing struggles a part of our academic journey. Imperial knowledge production historically and currently violate and commit violence on our relations – beings that we love, we care for and we are ourselves. In this piece, we share our journey of exploring what it means to be academics in solidarity with decolonial struggles everywhere.