Personal Narrative: My Arab American Community

One moment, I was eleven, living happily in a house with my family. The next, my brother and stepfather had moved away, and the rest of my family and I would soon be following. The destination? Yemen. The reason? Religious study. Before I knew it, my mother and I had survived yard sales and packing, and we were on the intercontinental flight to what we would be calling our new home. I was excited and probably a bit nervous. When we finally arrived there and settled down, I felt anxious about having to adjust to a new culture and at times frustrated with the situation. Yemen would be my first time going overseas. But it would not be my first time moving around, norwould it be the last. Moving around has been one of the experiences in my life that has had a major impact on who I am today. I have moved around many times

These issues are societal factors present in all communities, ages, and ethnicities, however, the minority communities which are made of a majority of low-income individuals seem to face many difficulties accessing life’s necessary resources. Low-income communities deal with lower performing educational opportunities and limited influential leaders which lead to limited employment. Most individuals within minority communities work multiple jobs making it difficult to obtain the necessary funds for healthy eating habits, medical resources, and transpiration abilities. This challenges that individuals time and also their quality of life. Individuals within the minority communities strive to survive/ make ends meet verse the ideal life which can be putting their children in extracurricular actives, taking trips and the ability to focus on themselves. For example, Downtown Los Angels compared to Irvine, Encino or Pasadena. All are cities in Southern California, possibly hours from each other but have totally different economic opportunities and resources all do to the funds available. I’ve seen the effects in both areas as a young adult in Southern California. My passion in regards to these issues is that all should have the opportunities to obtain the necessary resources to an equal

Growing up there were many time where things would happen but I was too young to realize it or even know what was happening. As time went passed thing got better and less noticeable but that is when things normally take a turn for the worse. But most people when looking at me would say he is African American but in reality yes I am partly African American but I am also mixed with Nicaraguan, Italian and Jamaican. So growing up I did not fit in with thee Hispanic kids because I could not speak Spanish and they could so I was always grouped with all the other African American kids. Being placed under a specific group just because the color of my skin and because of the people that I know does not mean that if they do something I am right there

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. I say this because of what is portrayed in the media, the people I have been raised with, and racism itself in the black community. Keep in mind that this is from my own personal experiences and perspective so everything I say is just applies from my point of

The world is filled with people, and like snowflakes, each person is not the same as another. Each person identifies with different aspects of their lives to create their own personal identities. I personally identify with my Italian side of my family to help form who I am today. I have found myself connecting with this side more so than the other parts of my identity. It affects how I live my life by becoming the center to the culture surrounding me. However, my ethnic identity as an Italian American also influences how I live when it comes to my religion, and how my religion affects my life alongside my ethnicity. I will expand on this issue on how I express my ethnic and religious identity in regards to each other.

I am a daughter of a refugee and an immigrant. My father left Ethiopia and walked across several countries finally coming to America. While my mother came after 15 years since the communist advance into South Vietnam. I come from a household of parents from two different continents.Their arrival america gave an unique atmosphere in the household. The aroma of home-cook Vietnamese food and the constant shift between English and Vietnamese was my life was at home. My parents would frequently share their stories of their upbringings and struggles and how life here is very different.

The American Identity is more than just being a citizen in America. What makes the American Identity is the diversity that exists in America. America is a melting pot, which consists of many ethnic groups, religions, and ideas. It isn’t the appearance that makes you American, it is your mind and the way one acts make one American. I am a kid who is part Korean, French, and Chinese. My mom is Korean and Chinese, and my dad is French and Chinese. I do celebrate Lunar New Year with some of my relatives on my mother’s side, but my dad doesn’t celebrate any French holidays. To be qualified as an American, one must be unique in their own way, and love freedom.

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. To me it 's not about expecting something in return or a prize; it 's about the sense of Fulfillment which overtakes you when you realize that such a small gesture can change someone 's day or life.

The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves.

Jalaluddin Rumi once questioned, “And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?” Discovering one’s self continuously occurs throughout life; the variety of experiences that individuals endure contribute to the formation of one’s self-perceptions. Much of life’s events that facilitate self-discovery are challenges, such as conflicts involving the norms of society. It is common for outcasts of societies to be victims of injustice and violence due to not being accepted. Literature provides readers with examples of individuals that are victims of their societies and demonstrates how their responses to their situations reveal their true characteristics. The readings this semester exemplify this through the characters Antigone, Candide,

According to Shahram Heshmat, author of “Basics of Identity”, “Identity is concerned largely with the question: “Who are you?” What does it mean to be who you are? Identity relates to our basic values that dictate the choices we make…”. But sometime within every human being’s life, a situation arises where someone is not able to identify themselves, and because of this they can act strangely and sometimes hostile. In the book, A Separate Peace, four characters who are instrumental to the plot, Gene, Finny, Leper, and Brinker all face what most laymen would identify as an “identity crisis”. But in order to truly evaluate the identity struggle of each of these four characters, one must first identify what an overlying

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

Growing up in a family where my mom was a doctor and my dad was a musician, I was exposed to a lots of things in my life. For example I was able to see Broadway plays and and go on family trips to Disney every year in the winter. A lot of people would say I was very fortunate to be one of the family where I knew both my parents and they did there best to give me a lot of life experiences. But me being an African-American male it seems like I not supposed to how do experiences, I was supposed to not know my father not to be able to go on these trips with my family. It came to appoint where ever African-American in my peer group what tell me I 'm less black than they are because of the experiences I have, the way I dress, and the way to talk.

I suppose when i used to think of cultural identity, i perceive it as what racial background we come from, what race we are. Whether it’s Mexican, Asian, French, etc… I assumed it meant what special foods we eat, and events or activities we participate in according to our background. Little did i know this is a misconception; quite a common one actually. Cultural identity is actually how you live your life and how you express yourself, the things you enjoy that make you, you. I am someone who enjoys many things, ranging from A-Z. The things that are most important to me between that range, are the ones i focus on the most, the ones that are most important to me, and define who i am.

At the heart of a person‘s life lies the struggle to define his self, to make sense of who he is? Diaspora represents the settling as well as unsettling process. While redesigning the geopolitical boundaries, cultural patterns, it has also reshaped the identities of the immigrants with new challenges confronting the immigrant in negotiating his identity. Diaspora becomes a site where past is given a new meaning and is preserved out of intense nostalgia and longing. The novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid is significant in its treatment of the issues faced by immigrants in the diaspora. Mohsin Hamid has grounded his resistance narrative in the identity narrative and through the prism of identity offers a deep insight into the American society and its ideals. The novel exposes the ugly side of the American society with its fundamentalist institutions and dislodges the narratives of fundamentalism as a Muslim monopoly and inverts the myths and discourses on identity to produce a counter narrative.