“What’s beautiful about my neighborhood? The crackheads on the street, the dope dealers on the corner, CJ in front of the BP selling cigarettes two-for-a-dollar?” It was a Wednesday night. Bible study was wrapping up, and I stared as the kids around me burst into laughter at Jaelan’s description of the neighborhood. Statements like this haven’t been uncommon during my time living and serving in Chicago, and I so desperately wanted to unpack his weighty response in the moment. Why were those the first things that came to mind about the place he lived? How has he been impacted from witnessing those things before even beginning his teenage years? Does he ever see himself leaving West Garfield? Hearing this from a child was a sobering reminder …show more content…
Multicultural proficiency is an individual or an intuition’s ability to interact, communicate, and relate to people groups that they do not belong to. Culturally, my upbringing has been very different than that of the students who I work with. The issues that impact them are far more institutional than the ones that impacted me growing up in South Carolina. While I was blatantly being called the n-word, they are subject to a system that thrives from them and their families remaining in poverty. Seeing the direct effects of generational poverty, lack of educational resources, and limited interaction with cultures aside from their own, among other issues, has furthered my understanding of social justice. The desire for equal opportunities fuels my ambitions to be a school counselor. Despite all of our differences as people in America, what we all have in common is the fact that schooling of some sort is a requirement. Working as a school counselor will provide me with the opportunity to be an ally to students, while on the frontlines to combating issues that adversely impact
In the midst of the tragic news of sonny’s being arrested the narrator is filled with so many emotions. But at the first thought of being arrested for heroin ones first thought is where does he live? Or what kind of people is he with? James Baldwin uses a great amount of detail when describing the scene of “Downtown Harlem” or “Enemy’s from opposite street corners in Downtown Harlem”. The author uses this great detail to add this important image to the reader to truly have the image of Harlem and all of the bad that comes from
Being a first-generation Canadian and when Canada is as diverse as it is, I never got the opportunity to truly connect with my own religion. I realized early on that having that knowledge of diversity provides a competitive advantage in the business environment, as communication and connections are easily built. To accomplish this, I decided to join the International Languages Program in grade 6; however, even with the four years I spent in the program, I never truly built the connection that I had so desired. It was not until grade 12 when I had that opportunity, as David Suzuki Secondary School (D.S.S.S.) introduced its first ever Sikh Student Association (S.S.A.), a collection of numerous Sikhs throughout D.S.S.S. Upon joining this club,
At the beginning of this assignment, I choose inner city culture because I was under the impression that I knew at least a little about it. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and my parents have often worked in the inner city, and so I have heard many stories. However, completing this project has shown me how little I know about other cultures, and how important it is to research before meeting a client. To begin, I have often been told that violence and poverty in the inner city are partially caused by bad parenting and drugs. While those can be a cause of problems in the inner city, just like they can be anywhere, none of my research identified those aspects as ultimate causes.
The injustice that occurred to the farmers awoke very different feelings in me, ranging from anger to pride. Anger from seeing just another way that people are oppressed, thrown to the side and invalidated in the eyes of white supremacy. Yet I was proud of my Latino community because in the face of this abuse they fought for their rights as people and did not let the oppressor just do what they always do with no resistance. This situation with the garden and the farmers is a very specific example of the way a group of people of color trying to advance and better themselves and their community, but is again being stopped and cannot grow and develop in this country, which has happened to numerous communities and population the moment these land
Shuffling through the grocery store, I hastily pushed my shopping cart along, crossing items off a crumpled list. After eyeing up the prices, I scribbled a line through my mother’s elegant cursive font. I smile at her misspellings of certain foods, despite her previously asking me to correct her. This goes on for some time. I have my items rung up and exchange pleasantries with the cashier, and carry on with my day.
From as early as I could remember I noticed I was not like the others kids. I had an interest for things most kids would not be interested in. I liked interacting with people, knowing about people and their life stories; I wanted to help in anyway that I could when I would hear everyone’s problems. I thought outside the box throughout my whole childhood and I wanted to make the most out of my knowledge. I told myself that I was going to dedicate my life to helping my community.
Challenges are events that are used to change you for the better should you choose it accept it. The challenges I have faced wasn’t a matter of choice but of something that I have no control over. Some people will tell you it’s a burden, some say it’s an entitlement or free ride. Science says it’s just having a high amount of melatonin due to geographical location for survival. To me though, being black probably one of the biggest challenges a human can have in America at least I find it terribly perplexing.
As a black female, I feel as if it is an obligation of mine for me to truly understand what it means to be a minority in America. To prosper, we must know our roots. However, I am exposed to the history even less than the average amount because my family is not from America. My parents merely came to America knowing nothing about it except that it is the land of absolute freedom where dreams can come true. Growing up, I believed this concept adamantly, after hearing my father’s stories of his journey repeatedly.
From experiences with my parents, and those growing up around me, our parents held a certain type of cultural capital, or societal resources, which garnered them knowledge sets and access to certain resources (Bourdieu, 1986). It is apparent that the educational system values the cultural capital students have gained from “white, middle or upper-class resources,” and considers those without these knowledges “deficient” (Yosso, 2005, p. 81). Within higher education, this may still be the case. In my experience as a Peer Advisor, I had a multitude of different students with varying identities.
MEMOIR: INTERVIEW WILLIAM WU I 'm a first generation Asian-American. I was born in Lima, Peru, right before my parents came to America from China, and we moved to America when I was one. Growing as a first generation American, my parents worked a lot. I can 't say that I wasn 't loved, but my bond with my parents was weak because I was always home alone, being babysat by others, or going out because they had to work.
He grew up in a low budget project homes with his parents and four younger siblings. The neighborhood was located in a dangerous part of East Atlanta surrounded by drugs, prostitution, and gang violence. He elaborated on how his surroundings had an
One night, during the cold winter, I walked along the side walk to reach the local store down the block. As I walked out, before I can realize it, I was dropping down onto the concrete while bullets swiftly passed me. I then began to run back home, but I wanted to keep running. Away from Chicago, away from the west side. Growing up in Chicago, it was easy to assume that there was nothing different beyond the blocks of my streets.
“America is a melting pot.” This metaphor is often used to describe America’s strong diversity for there is hardly anyone in this country who is purely one nationality. I am a person who has ancestors from many locations. After interviewing some of my family and doing lots of researching, I have learned that I am very diverse. I am 1/8 Greek, Sioux, Irish, French-Canadian and Hungarian; 1/16 Croatian and Slovakian; and 1/4 Italian.
Multicultural education is about more than a classroom with varied skin color, it includes careful examination of the neighborhoods, parenting styles and general experiences that shape each and every K-12 student” (Lynch, 2015). According to Lynch (2015), there are six ways to embed a real multicultural education into the
To resolve these relating to segregation and educational inequity, educators must face racism upfront. Educators have to confront their own, sometimes unmindful, racism, and then move toward integration that will lead to a better cure of racism or at least a prejudice reduction. Important aspects of a multicultural curriculum include critical thinking, emotional intelligence instruction, character, moral education, peace education, service learning, antiviolence education, and the comprehensive of education etc. Sandra Parks, a successful educator, believes that by adapting the curriculum and by addressing expressions of racism, schools can help students improve to by understanding and dealing with other people, of peoples color and cultural differences. She believes that teachers have to show respect towards their students, their families, and their students' cultural backgrounds.