In Black-Native Autobiographical Acts: Navigating the Minefields of Authenticity, Sarita Cannon tackles vexed questions about hybrid identities, in particular, Black-Native subjectivities that have their own complex historical, geographical, and political histories. She examines a variety of verbal-visual-aural autobiographical forms from the early 20th century to today, looking for how African-Indian Americans navigate fraught stories of racial, ethnic, and cultural authenticity. Historically and culturally informed, nuanced, and brilliant, Cannon’s insights into and close readings (of Long Lance, WPA Black-Indian Slave narratives, Jimi Hendrix, Black-Indian photography, and a Black-Indian Miss Navajo) contribute a vital intersectional perspective to Autobiography Studies and Ethnic Studies.
— Hertha D. Sweet Wong, University of California, Berkeley
Black-Native Autobiographical Acts: Navigating the Minefields of Authenticity lies at the intersection of Native American and African American Studies and provides an urgent contribution to the field of mixed-race studies, one that invites critical engagement beyond a Black-white racial binary. In this arresting, interdisciplinary study, Dr. Sarita Cannon draws upon performance studies, cultural studies, and critical race approaches to examine Black-Native subjects’ autobiographical self-representation strategies. Cannon’s analysis extends the contours of traditional autobiography beyond the print text and positions Black-Native subjects’ subversive acts as self-inscription and self-definition. This book is an invaluable resource for understanding Black-Native subjectivities, while also mapping the complexities of racial identity formation.
— Carlyn Ferrari, Seattle University