Similarities Between African American Culture And My Culture

In this new integrated society, colorism has the greatest impact on the African American culture and community. People of color are discriminating against each other due to the fact of their skin complexion. Colorism is a major problem in society and the black community. This vicious system privileges light skinned people of color over dark skinned people in such areas as beauty standards in mass media, self-esteem in social media and education. Passed through generation after generation, it has been taught that light skinned has been the right skin since the 1600’s pre-slavery. After all, colorism has its roots in slavery.

There is an importance in the black community of embracing Afrocentric Cultural Values and sharing to our younger generations and adolescents. I chose a scholarly article that utilize this factor in its hypothesis. From the Journal of Black Psychology, the article is titled Examining Afrocentric Cultural Values, ethnic Identity, and Substance Use Abstinence in Low-Income, Early Adolescent, African American Girls. This very extensive article was written or experimented by our fellow professors at the University of Austin: Delida Sanchez, Emma Hamilton, Dorie Gilbert, and Elizabeth Vandewater. Their study is about finding a possible link of cultural factors and substance use abstinence among low income African American girls.

My culture is very average like a lot of other people who live in Louisiana. Food is a part of my culture because, in Louisiana is some of the best food in the world. My age has a lot to do with my culture too because my generation uses a lot of technology. Music has impacted my life because I am in band. My cultural identity can be identified by my age, the food I eat, and the music I listen to.

America is one of the most diverse nations in the world. It is a melting pot of cultures, which has made it a great nation. This variety of cultures has helped impact and build America into the great nation we are today. One of the cultures that has influenced America is the Black Culture. This particular culture is known for their evolution of music and fashion and also their trendsetting skills in hair and dance. Unfortunately, like every other culture, they have had to face cultural appropriation.

There is a stark contrast between the rural Jamaican and the American perception of the ideal body in society. Jamaicans highly favor fat bodies, while Americans prefer the lean, lithe look. The major extreme comes when comparing women in both cultures. Jamaicans encourage young girls to eat and become fat and portray that as the most desirable. On the hand, in America, young girls are the most at risk for developing eating disorders. In the Jamaican culture, skinniness is related to sickness and death. Therefore, many Jamaicans can’t understand that people would want to loose weight. American culture on the other hand is completely built around dieting. Just check out our grocery aisles, filled with a diet version of tons of top products.

The culture I identify is African American. The African American culture have several traditions that my family and I practice. The traditions of the African American culture that are practices among my family are maintaining family relationships, practicing Christianity, maintain hospitality, gaining education, and cooking.

Both racism and classism contribute to the cultural appropriation of black culture because culture is not always portrayed in the right context, often viewed as a negative or stereotype for the group in which the cultural component belongs to and white groups tend to capitalize on the appropriation of other cultures. The appropriation of black culture is nothing new, nor is black culture a trend or recent fad. The usage of elements of black culture through appropriation contributes to the marginalization of the people and some of the major forms of oppression, in particular racism and classism. Racism being a primary factor; it is a form of discrimination towards an individual or group of people based on their race. Classism playing less of

Americas. In Central and South America, the Maya, Aztec, and Inca had a huge domain that included large cities with the complex framework of roads, irrigation systems, and controlled government structures. The European explorers and America’s original occupants had both positive and negative impact upon each other. Therefore, it is essential to raise the question on how European exploration and colonization influenced cultural collisions and interactions between Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans.

Everyone has their own culture some different from others and some don 't really know their full culture. Some of us may not have similar things in common but we are all alike.

Being enslaved was not an easy job for African Americans. African Americans survived slavery through their connection with their culture. They then went on to contribute to the economic and social development of the South and America. African Americans survived the institution of slavery and Africanized the American South. They helped free themselves by sticking together as a family, resisting, as well as wanting slavery to change. They freed themselves by 1865. They founded institutions, for example, black colleges, churches, banks, insurance companies, fraternities and sororities to uplift their race.

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender, as well as the influence of family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.

I am an African American female whom is a descendent from the African Slave and a native American refugee. My culture runs deep in my veins and I am a product of the strength of my mother and father. While growing up I understood we were on the poverty line. My family lived in a small home with 3 bedrooms and occupied 7 people. I grew up in a small southeast Georgian town named Statesboro. You may know of Statesboro if you listen to the Blues. A famous blues man by the name of Blind Willie Mctell wrote a song called Statesboro blues about his beloved home town. Statesboro is a small town where the color lines are divided. Although things have changed along the years, some tension still exist.

Although they bear some superficial similarities, the differences between life in Africa and that of America is clear. Firstly, I would like to start with the weather. There are only two seasons in Africa; the rainy season and the dry season. The rainy season is generally the time of the year when the rain brings new life in the wilderness areas of Africa and bringing forth new growth. It is sometimes refer to as the season of non-travel because the roads become risky for travel purposes. During the dry season much of the surface water dries and the animal have to find source of unceasing water. On the other hand, there are four seasons in America; autumn (fall), winter, Spring and Summer. During the spring it is sometimes warm and at some point chilly. In the summer it is always hot and sunny.

“Folklore represents a line to a vast, interconnected network of meanings, values, and cognitions. Folklore contains seeds of wisdom, problem solving, and prophecy, through tales of rebellion, triumph, reasoning, moralizing, and satire” (Ogunleye, Tolagbe, African American Folklore: Its Role In Reconstructing African-American History, 1997). Folklore is a medium in which to impart teachings and principles. By using storytelling, folklore becomes an accessible means of relaying cultural guidelines. Contrary to popular perception, tales are not merely told for entertainment purposes. Rather, they represent the collective ideology of a culture to be passed on to later generations. While the stories take different forms, their purpose is to convey

The people from Africa were generally part of early American history; however, Africans had experience slavery under better conditions compared to the conditions imposed by other civilized society. From the Egyptian Empire to the Empire of Songhai, slavery was practice for the betterment of their society, however, foreigners invaded these regions and took their slave, their ports and impose these people to a life of servitude in the Caribbean islands and in the English’s colonies. Furthermore, the African American slaves were an active agent of society in the earliest period of American history; they have brought new religious practices to their community; for instance, they constructed networks of communities; they had fought in war alongside