kristinberry

Having Janet Stickmon come to class the other day was a great experience and pesonalized Crushing Soft Rubies even more. After listening to her speak, it was easier to like her book...I can't really explain it logically, but now her writing style is easier to enjoy. Unrelated to the book, it was entertaining to hear her stories in class and I can see why she enjoys teaching so much.
The last half of the book was good, especially because Stickmon tied in everything regarding her understandings of race, race relations and the need to constantly evaluate oneself to understand oneself. Also, I enjoyed the descriptions of her wedding.
Going back to her visit to the class, it was interesting to hear her talk about her own conceptions of race, rather than just read about it. The idea of being stuck between two worlds was brought up again while she discussed visiting the two sides of her family, and not really feeling like she belonged. However, it took the engineering conference to make her finally realize not only that groups reflecting similar culture are important, but also she is equally black and Filipino. Regarding her previous thoughts on student groups based on culture/ethnicity, I think her message is very important to other students of color. Even though her message about joining these types of groups was not very clear, it was in the undertones of her work.