My cultural background is Native American, Scottish, Irish, and Canadian; I have been taught a lot about our cultural background throughout my life. I have also been lucky in the area I grew up. I grew up in a very culturally diverse area. Many of my friends from elementary school through high school were from many different cultures. I grew up eating food at friends house that to this day I still cant pronounce.…
I talked to my great grandmother, on my moms side, and asked her many questions about our ancestors. "Most of the generations I know about have lived in New Mexico. Usually when people ask us we say Spain because we know our ancestors didn't come from Mexico. I'd say Spain" she said word for word. I also asked her how long ago they came and she didn't know so I assume they came a long time ago.…
At around 10 years of age my family and I were coming out of a store when we heard an individual yell out, “Go back to Mexico, America houses no aliens!” At that moment, I felt as if this wouldn’t be the last time I would hear these words echo through my life, and I was right.…
That’s interesting you’ve mentioned not to attend the hospital and funeral for your grandmother. In my African American/Indian culture if a woman is pregnant she’s prohibited to attend anywhere the death angel may currently be around, and funerals are definitely off limits. My family used to say when a life is taken a new life is born and I don’t know if the pregnant thing was an old superstation by forbidden spirit in my family as well because they believed the death angel comes to take a life in three; therefore it permits the baby a chance at life. Nowadays, there’s wills and other things in place to carry out a person’s wishes. I believe she told you because she knew she could trust you to carry out her last wishes amongst the family accordingly.…
Once we arrived to Illinois we went by 26st. There my father was waiting for us outside with my cousins and aunt. The first thing I did was reach for my father. Our first few weeks in Chicago were a bit lunatic. By saying that the next day after we arrived my sister and I went to the store and a shoot broke out. My mom came into the store running to pick us up. I honestly was scared of my new home. Once school started I started to have a bit of comfort in the neighborhood. Once I went to school it hit me that I was not anymore in Mexico, for I saw a lot of diversity. From black to white, to brown people I saw and I meet. I only saw white people on TV who were another ethic than me. During kinder I learned to read, count, and learn a new language…
“Wow! I did not know there were black Americans”. During the month I was in China, I heard this or a variant of it jokily said to me numerous times. I never took offense to it since I understood most of the media from America that came to China featured individuals who did not look like me. Furthermore, for those Americans who had come to China, they were mostly white and had come for business. While in China, I was able to share my experience as an African-American; I always found enjoyment sharing my experiences and it seemed to me those around me found enjoyment learning about a different side of America. With me sharing my experiences, they were being able to understand the diverse nature of the United States.…
Take the time please, and imagine that everything is okay. I was outside playing on such a beautiful day. I was eight at the time, and was absolutely befuddled by the fact that this lady “Katrina” had everyone in my neighborhood frightened. Could this Katrina that they speak of really be this mean? Who does she think she is? At this point I was determined to meet this “Katrina” not knowing she would change my life without me actually seeing her.…
I lived in Hollywood, FL for nine years to long. It was circumstantial how I wound up there. It was not a pleasant experience. I went to Florida niave. I thought that the blacks from different parts of the world got along. I was in for a rude awakening. My family goes back to be an American every since colonization. I felt like an outsider in America an I’m a veteran. I experienced prejudice and stereo typing from both the men an the women. I t would pain me to see how other black Americans were treated. Most of the black americans families migrated from Mississippi, Alabama and the Carolins. The majority of the Islanders lived in their own commities like Mirramor, Little Hatti and…
My father is a Sicilian combat veteran from Brooklyn and my mother is an immigrant from El Salvador. The disparity of their backgrounds is immeasurable, but their lives have impacted me greatly. They divorced when I was 3, but their relationship is unbelievably strong. I lived in a diverse environment, speaking different languages and existing in polar opposite lifestyles. The dichotomy molded me and influenced my character, perspective and state of being. Under my father’s roof, I endured a military-style upbringing-but the love was apparent. I was encouraged to play sports and excel in my academics. I am competitive in nature, and exceeding was always my aspiration. However certain events have caused me to falter, but I now understand that the duty of each human is to delegate their time for the advancement of the species and if no one holds you responsible, it is imperative that you do so.…
Haven’t you ever wondered how it feels to be discriminated or what goes through their mind? Well it has happened to me many times, and as well to those who are like me. Every time someone saw me they would assume what I was. I felt like I wasn’t what I was. I now know that I am who I was meant to be.…
Have you ever tried packing your whole life within three suitcases? I have. It is hard work, but you can make it work by making sure you are only taking the necessary things that make up your life. It was the night before our flight to America. Immigrating to America for my parents meant providing my brother and me with opportunities in our future. However, it also meant leaving behind the life they had created in the past 18 years in Dubai. It was tough saying goodbye to everything was familiar. We were going to a new country with only the hope that we would have a better life. Leaving behind so much was hard for me, but I knew that I could not just give up this opportunity. I am an immigrant, and only a fellow immigrant can understand the…
On Tuesday, March fifteenth I attended the Women's Refugee Experience. There we heard from the women refugees living in southwest Ohio. The women refugees at the event were from Bhutan, Burundi, Iraq and Syria. I enjoyed hearing about the experiences of the woman’s travels and their stories actually made me rather emotional. Although learning about their experiences there was one major conflict at the event which was the language barrier.…
The day started off as any normal day. My mother woke me up and said “we must go.” Her voice sounded very urgent for what I thought was just a trip to the grocery store. My mom laid my outfit on my bed and packed by book bag; that’s when I figured out that I was starting school. I wasn’t entirely oblivious to the fact that I was going to familiarize myself with a completely different environment, but I just thought I had a little more time to prepare. Well, it turns out that I was wrong. You see, I wasn’t your average pre-schooler who was nervous about making friends. I was the immigrant child who had never spoken a word of English.…
Growing up I excelled in every educational aspect of school. However the stereotype for someone of my skin color did not allow for me to be both Mexican and smart. My Hispanic peers began to exclude me; the most common way they did that was by taking away my identity as a Mexican. I heard “Diego you white” an uncountable number of times throughout my schooling. I noticed that my grades and vocabulary would trigger that comment so I began to change the way I acted in order to fit in. It was not until recently that I realized the fault in changing and found a peaceful merge between the two speech communities.…
With that in mind, my motivation to become a journalist stems from two sources: first, my coursework taught me that journalism, unlike many other professions, is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. I never fully comprehended why until I spent time working under lawyers, politicians, and lobbyists, witnessing a side of society that needed to be held accountable. Secondly, my worldview— informed by the experiences of my own family and families like us— gave me a unique opportunity to see stories that others may not; that is, my background forces me to acknowledge the plight of those who are often overlooked. My mother, an immigrant, a brown-skinned woman of color, has a story that was not told until you read it a moment ago. My father, a blue-collar worker from rural England, grew up in a community where peoples’ voices were never heard, let alone listened to. Therefore, I decided to become a journalist because I knew that I needed to use my skills and my perspective to give a platform to those people and communities that are underrepresented, misrepresented, or in danger of being…