“Life was brought back into my body”: a Critical Race Feminista analysis of racial microaffirmations

ABSTRACT This qualitative study utilized a Critical Race Feminista approach to explore the experiences of graduate Students of Color with racial microaffirmations. Racial microaffirmations are the subtle verbal and nonverbal strategies People of Color engage that affirm each other’s dignity, integrity, and shared humanity. These moments of shared cultural intimacy allow People of Color to feel acknowledged, respected, and valued in a society that constantly and perpetually seeks to dehumanize them. A Critical Race Feminista approach is grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Chicana feminist theoretical foundations. These theories guide the overall research design, and specifically, the methodological process. Four group pláticas were conducted with 30 students who also participated in the co-construction of knowledge during data analysis. This analysis revealed how racial microaffirmations can be embodied experiences, as sensory forms of knowledge that connect us to shared cultural intimacies and can serve as strategies for healing from racial traumas.