Braided Identities

At a time when equity, social justice, and identity have never been more critical, Braided Identities challenges us with the question: "How do I define myself, and how does that influence my health and well-being?" Blending essays, poems, and visual art, the authors explore the many issues that affect the health and well-being of rural, remote, and urban communities and individuals across Canada. This collection provides new insights into the mutable, messy, beautiful, and strong identities held by the contributors and how they have resisted perspectives that strive to define, direct, and demean them. The book shows the ways in which lived experience and research can inform one another, and how creativity can illuminate inequities, inspire resilience, and ignite change. Primarily through first-person perspectives, this instructive and elegant book explores systemic inequities and inclusive healthcare in Canada, appealing to socially conscious readers, healthcare workers, policy makers, and activists.

Contributors: Terri Aldred, Christine Anonuevo, Reneltta Arluk, Wala Azimi, Zamina Aziz, Lisa Boivin, Thomsen Boniface D'Hont, Sarah de Leeuw, Norma Dunning, Marion Erickson, Max Ferguson, Margo Greenwood, Corrine Hunt, Audrey Kobayashi, Marc Lafrance, Roseann Larstone, Nicole Marie Lindsay, Sam Loppie, Vanessa Mitchell, Shane Neilson, Omolara Odulaja, Renee Priya Prasad, Salima Punjani, Margaret Robinson, Mark W. Rosenberg, Sana Z. Shahram, Miyawata Dion Stout, Julie Sutherland, Kimberley Thomas, Gilles Tremblay, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang, Ysabelle Vautour, thom vernon, and Wahsonti:io.