Realizing blacknpinay: Negotiating Notions of Authenticity in Janet Stickmons Crushing Soft Rubies

Abstract

Despite racism, challenges from family and communities, and oppression within schooling, Janet Stickmons memoir Crushing Soft Rubies exposes how she navigates and ultimately finds home in a world that does not always work in her favor as a mixed Black and Filipina woman; however, it also shows how she realizes her agency in the process. In using her counternarrative as a tool for engaging critical dialogue about identity, power, and authenticity, her text is valuable in these negotiations that help one to be at home in ones identities