Book Description

Two identities struggle to coexist in Ronnie Gladden’s body, brain, and soul. On the outside, they are Black and male. Inside, a repressed White female identity begs for release and is ready to break the status quo. Grappling with double-binary thinking, an abusive father, and childhood trauma, they imprison their inner self to stay safe from the world. But now the time has finally come to set every part of themselves free. An identity management resource and self-help memoir for teens and young adults, White Girl Within shares award-winning educator Ronnie Gladden’s powerful true story of challenging complex intersectional identity while liberating their collective self from oppressive cultural shackles. Through creative letters, stirring life experiences, enlightening social critique, and an interactive resource section, uncover how to embrace the diversity inside of you and the diversity living outside of us all. Get ready to discover How true identity transcends race, gender, and sexuality—and provides the freedom to live the life you choose. A heartfelt, honest perspective of child and adolescent trauma, relationship issues, and even the racial history that shape nuanced identities. How transgender and transracial (or “transgracial”) identities can coexist within an individual. The power of pop culture and arts immersion to buffer complex interactions involving intersectional identities. How to begin your own letter-writing campaign and foster a more authentic self-expression. You are more than a color, a gender, and an intersection. Free your repressed truth and rebirth your radical, authentic self with White Girl Within.