This essay explores the social-psychological processes of racial identity formation. As a result of an analysis of the autobiographies of African American and Latino/a activists, a distinct trajectory in the development of racial identity around three sources of racial knowledge is proposed: (1) kinship networks; (2) hegemonic influences; and (3) direct experience. These findings suggest a fluid, complex process of racial identity formation contrary to assumptions that racial formation is fixed, static and formulaic.
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