This counterstorytelling study involved examining how Practitioners of Color (POC) enact "carino" and embed restorative literacies or cultural and community practices in community college integrated reading and writing (IRW) classrooms to create a safe counterspace for Students of Color (SOC). The significance of this research is to illuminate the lived experiences of POC in Texas who teach SOC how to push against systemic racism and the deficit narratives surrounding SOC and developmental education (DE). The problem addressed in this study is that SOC in postsecondary classrooms can feel invalid and distressed if they do not see their cultural, communal, or ancestral histories represented in the curriculum and thus could lose motivation and retention to stay in college. Through open-ended interviews, POC who self-identified that they teach cultural and community practices shared counternarratives on why and how they diversify the curriculum and encourage students to critique oppressive systems. The findings can be summed up as four themes: (a) systematic oppression: historical trauma, underserved experiences, and marginalization; (b) why enact "carino;" (c) the evidence of "carino" in restorative literacy in pedagogy; and (d) the power of restorative literacy in curriculum. An implication from these findings is practitioner should consider students' ethic or racial identities when developing their instruction so SOC can see themselves and their lived experiences reflected in the classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]