Stephanie Francis-Ecoffey
At the time this piece was written, Stephanie was a second-year graduate student at the California Institute of Integral Studies pursuing her master’s in Counseling Psychology with a focus in Somatic Psychology. She received her undergraduate degree in Africana Studies with a Psychology minor from Bowling Green State University. Stephanie writes from the perspective of her biracial identity with particular interest in her embodied experience and is interested in exploring the impacts of navigating two or more racial identities in America. Specifically as it relates to the family and other systems, belonging, and one’s sense of self.
Black and white: Biracial in America, Reflections On My Embodied Experience
"This piece is a vulnerable, highly emotional self-exploration. In it, I share the lasting impacts of experiencing racial prejudice within my own family, my relationship to self-loathing intertwined with my longing for connection and the desire to see myself reflected. I navigate racial identity and consider the question, who chooses group membership or defines blackness? In this chapter, I take an honest look inside at the ways I've internalized racist and oppressive ideas about who I am and what I'm capable of. I explore pieces of my lineage, the ways I define myself, and begin to consider how I may impact change."
-Stephanie Francis-Ecoffey