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