About Me
About Me
Embedded Files
My name is Toni Keniston, and I am an undergraduate Honors student at Grand Rapids Community College pursuing a degree in Sociology. As the daughter of a Filipino immigrant and a descendant of America's earliest settlers I feel deeply drawn to history, culture, and social justice. I returned to school after a twenty-year gap to enrich my education and contribute to the conversations happening by Filipino scholars across the diaspora.
Outside the classroom, I am an artist, illustrator, photographer, writer, and community activist. My muses are the untold stories of society's outliers that seem to weave themselves into everything I do. I proudly own and steward two acres of protected wetlands just outside Grand Rapids with my family and pack of critters we lovingly call the Ironwood Swampstead.
Academic Focus
Academic Focus
My academic focus during my undergraduate is driven by the sociology of colonialism, cultural identity, and decolonial thought.
As a first-generation Filipino-American, I center much of my research on the Philippines: examining how centuries of Spanish and American colonial rule disrupted indigenous knowledge systems, spiritual practices, and collective identity, and how those disruptions continue to surface in contemporary Filipino life.
My research framework is organized around three interlocking commitments: decolonize, deconstruct, dismantle. These pillars ground my academic work. The commitments to restore, recover, and reimagine are my response to a colonial and oppresive system, and are the anchors of my creative work as an artist.
Hobbies, Interests, & Skills
Hobbies, Interests, & Skills
Creative Practice Illustration, collage, fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, photography, graphic design
Scholarship & Inquiry Pre-colonial Philippine history and spirituality, decolonial theory, animist and pagan philosophy, world religions, sociology of culture, pop culture, and contemporary media criticism
Technical Skills Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Lightroom), Canva, Wix, Google Suite, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), email marketing platforms, social media management
Organizational & Community Skills Scheduling and bookkeeping, event planning, newsletter creation, community mentorship, social activism
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