Growing up in the Postcolony
A decolonial coming-of-age memoir set in Manila 1957–1972, tracing one American child’s formation inside a Filipino world she loved but could never fully claim.
Manila Days is set against an increasing – and discomfiting – awareness of what it means to be an American missionary girl in the post-colonial Philippines, 1957-1972. Eunice and Dick Poethig were labor-focused Presbyterian “fraternal workers” serving with the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP).
Poetic, wounded, funny, Kerry relays her quirky worldview and deep need to belong. So when Jesus whispers, “if it’s not magic, don’t believe,” it’s permission to blend tree spirits, dreams, Narnia portals, and class struggle. And what does “Blue Seal” mean to a mixed-up band of nationalist “fraternal kids” rejecting American counterparts—the military brats, the business burgis, the evangelicals? And who were we when the anti-imperialist protests exploded? Were we allies, the enemy, or both?
This memoir explores how a child reads the world — a sensorium of human and non human interchange, American and Filipino entanglement, confused belonging, family memory, and the lifelong work of understanding what it means to inherit — participate in — a colonial history.
This story lays down a banig—mat—for its sequel, Exile Dreams that travels from U of Chicago to Union Seminary and queer theology; from teaching refugees to Marcos’ demise at People’s Power, ending where this story begins.
About the Author
Kerry Poethig grew up in Manila as the daughter of progressive Presbyterian missionaries whose work immersed them in Filipino life and movements for social change. She came of age during the rise of radical student activism in the years leading to martial law.
As a feminist scholar-activist, her work explores feminism, faith, empire, and citizenship. She served on the leadership team of the People’s Forum on Peace for Life. She returned to those formative years to write Manila Days.
Dr. Poethig is Professor Emerita of Global Studies at California State University Monterey Bay. She has an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary. She has returned to investigating overlapping spiritual worlds.
She lives in California with her spouse, Victoria Rue.
