Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity

Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, & Identity, by activists Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi, is a nonfiction book published in 2019 in the genre of social justice education. It provides interviews with about 100 people of all races, ages, and backgrounds from across the United States; these interviewees share personal stories about race and other intersectional aspects of identity. The book aims to improve readers’ racial literacy by illustrating people’s diverse experiences with identity.

Each chapter has an introduction detailing experiences or events from the authors’ journey across the country, followed by stories in interviewees’ own words, combined with brief footnotes detailing research, historical facts, statistics, quotes, and definitions related to race, racism, and identity. The book emphasizes themes of Acknowledging Systemic Inequities and Privilege, Identity Is Intersectional, Combating Racism and Discrimination as Revolution, and Stories, Language, and Conversations About Race and Identity.

This study guide uses the 2019 TarcherPerigree hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source material reproduces “the n-word” and other racial slurs, as well as offensive terms related to ability. It also contains discussion of slavery, lynching, sexual assault, and suicide. The authors capitalize both “Black” and “White” when referring to race, and this guide preserves their stylization for direct quotations. This guide also preserves the language chosen by the interviewees to refer to their race and other identity markers in direct quotations.

Plot Summary

Tell Me Who You Are provides snapshots of interviewees’ lives, work, and ideas to center them in the discussion of race, racism, and identity. The bulk of the book consists of these interviews (along with photos of interviewees), organized by theme. The book is aimed at general adult audiences, particularly teachers and students.

The Introduction describes what led the authors to write the book, beginning with a realization about their limited formal education about race and a class discussion following the death of Eric Garner. They then began interviewing people for their racial literacy organization CHOOSE, which shared the stories of people from New Jersey and New York online. They wrote a racial literacy textbook, The Classroom Index, that included these stories but then recognized the need to survey people across the US.

A section after the Introduction outlines “A Brief History of Whiteness” (8-9), the definition of race, and the four dimensions of racism. Chapters 1 and 2 illustrate how race and racism impact all areas of life, from the school one attends to one’s childhood experiences, home life, broader community, activism, and even one’s views of other people of color. Chapter 3 addresses intersectionality and how race interacts with other aspects of identity, such as sex, ability, age, orientation, refugee or immigrant status, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and class.

Chapter 4 demonstrates the importance of sharing personal stories in truly understanding other people, including friends and family. Interviewees describe their experiences of being undocumented, transgender, or adopted, of having interracial friendships, and of living in poverty. Chapter 5 emphasizes the role of language when discussing race and identity. Interviewees relate negative experiences with language, their awareness of language, the importance of names and pronouns, the impact of derogatory terms like “the n-word,” and “race” as a constructed term.

Chapter 6 considers divisions within races and communities, including colorism and violence in the Black community; discrimination against bi and gay people in the Black and Latino communities; the discrimination experienced by multiracial people, division in the Jewish, transgender, and Micronesian communities; and divisions in specific cities.

Chapter 7 aims to reconceptualize diversity as normal. Interviewees explain how they see their lives as normal and discuss how “different” can be normal and identity can be a source of pride.

Chapter 8 makes the distinction between diversity and equality versus equity. The authors define “equity,” and interviewees discuss their experiences and views on equity in relation to race, gender, poverty, and representation.

Chapter 9 and 10 address healing and change. Chapter 9 emphasizes personal and community change based on healing from racism. Chapter 10 addresses racial and intersectional literacy work and uses interviewees’ stories to illustrate action in areas like acknowledging and understanding race, parenting, nonprofit work, education, and representation. It also outlines how to use a Racial-Literacy Lens to become antiracist. The Epilogue outlines 10 action steps for talking about race.