“One foot in the door of Canadian culture, another in your own”: Second-Generation Latinx Testimonios of Identity and Belonging

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of second-generation Latinx people in Canada, specifically their stories of identity and belonging. Canada's settler-colonial context and multicultural presentation permeate diverse communities' daily lives. Subject to racialization and acculturation, individuals and their communities develop complex, hybrid, and multiple identities as they navigate across contexts. Yet, despite the suppression of cultures and worldviews by dominant narratives, individual and collective knowledge persists. To disrupt dominant deficit-based narratives and amplify Latinx voices, this paper employs Latina/o/x Critical Theory (LatCrit) and testimonio to cultivate storytelling, counternarratives, and critical dialogue. As a liberatory methodology, testimonios reveal the embodied and intergenerational knowledge of Latinx communities and the mechanisms through which they resist oppressive structures. To facilitate this process of knowledge sharing, this study seeks to document the testimonios of five Latinx individuals and their lived experiences. To address the underrepresentation of Latinx experiences in Canadian research, this paper provides methodological insights for transformative social work research that prioritizes community voices and social justice, moving beyond traditional colonial paradigms.