Redefining Realness: A Salon in honor of Janet Mock

A conversation with Janet Mock, Brittney Cooper, Che Gossett, Tourmaline, CeCe McDonald, and Mey Valdivia Rude

This year’s salon focused on a 
new memoir by writer Janet Mock, Redefining Realness: My Path 
to Womanhood, Identity, Love &
 So Much More, which relates the author’s experience as a young 
trans woman of color working
 in mainstream media. In this discussion, scholars, activists, and writers whose work is engaged in the history of media and literary representations of women of color in the U.S., the importance of storytelling in social movements, trans women’s activism, and the role of community and personal relationships in establishing resilience to hostile environments, offer their responses to Mock’s book.

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