Competent Communication

When I think about all of the different people that I come in contact with I would have to say that my god mom has the best communication skills or techniques EVER. Effective communicators understand how their communication choices affect others and why others' communication choices affect them as they do (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2015, p.4). There are so many reasons why I would say that my god mom converses so well with others because she truly listens to what others are saying and she takes in to consideration of others feelings and their own personal ideas/opinions - she doesn't force her opinions or thoughts upon you because she understands that everyone does not think the same as her. I enjoy talking to her about whatever may be going on in my life or just having casual conversation just for the simple fact that I know she truly cares about what is going on in my life and she will always have the best little encouraging statements.
I would love to have some of the same communication skills that she has - when she is talking to me or others its just easy breezy to her, she knows exactly what to say and how to say it so that she is not offending others. She always maintain a positive attitude with others whether she agrees or disagrees with what they are saying and the most important thing is that she doesn't treat them any different than she did before a particular conversation afterwards.


References:

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. Chapter 1, "Communication: Essential Human Behavior" (pp. 3-26)

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that everyone will learn to love all people and not to judge no matter race, culture, beliefs or whatever background they may come from. I hope that in the future there will be resources to help ALL families from all of the different backgrounds so no one will feel left out and the children will be more comfortable in their surroundings whether it is new for them or not. I hope that I am able to help at least one child that I come in contact with and inspire them to chase after their dreams and goals and to be such a successful person in life.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice would be that I would like to create a community or just a liaison group that consists of people from different cultures, race, beliefs and other background differences where we can serve as a helping board for different people no matter what form of help that they may need - if they need help with translating from their language to English or the other way around I want to have a group there that will help them no matter what.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues during the 8 weeks of this course I have learned all different types of things and was able to hear different opinions and receive new insights that were different from mine which made all the more fun of learning about diversity. Thank you to those that I learned new things from and to those who inspired me to think differently about the things that we were learning on that particular week. I wish you all much success to all of your future endeavors and to the next class that you all are about to take on.

Much love and well wishes.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

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Barbados 

If I was a working at an early childhood facility of any kind and I learned that I was about to get a new student who is from Barbados and is new to the United States I would feel happy to meet him/her and their family because I love to meet new people and learn new things if they are from a different state or country. I would want to definitely make sure that I am open minded and ready to learn and adapt to a new culture and their way of thinking and doing things as well as introducing the student and their family of the way things flow in the US. I would make sure to do the following things before the student arrives in my classroom so that I may be culturally responsive towards them:

1. I would go over ALL paperwork/applications that is filled out because those documents will let me know the gender of the child, age, likes/dislikes, interesting facts and I would be able to get a little bit of the child's characteristics and personality just from the paperwork that is filled out by the parents or guardians. I would establish personalized contact with the parents and other individuals of the family to let them know they are more than just a parent to me - they are a person.
2. I would develop and use vocabulary of greetings and key phrases in the child's primary language to show that I have taken time to enter into their world which can in turn become an "ice breaker" which sometimes helps other feel more comfortable with you.
3. Try to discover some commonalities of experiences. I would try to find out what their favorite hobby is, styles of cooking, parenting secrets or anything that we may have in common. I would use those experiences to establish a bond that will help me relate to the student and family as individuals rather than as student/parent.
4. I will do my best to accommodate the needs of the family. I would keep in mind the work schedules of the parents/guardians, transportation needs, religious or cultural holidays and child care arrangements when scheduling meetings, visits, etc.
5. Lastly I would try to convince myself that just because someone else's customs and beliefs are different from mine, there are no right and wrong cultural beliefs. All beliefs and customs are correct in the culture in which it occurs. I would make sure to keep an open mind to ALL of the students' beliefs and customs and discuss them with the parents/guardians if needed and sometimes the differences could result in more choices and options. 

I hope that the above preparations would help my whole classroom and not just one student in particular - I feel as if I have an open mind and free spirit so that no one would feel left out or excluded from any activity. I hope that the preparations would help the parents or guardians feel extremely comfortable with me and in return we are able to develop a great relationship. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I have had several incidents where I have encountered bias and prejudice. One of the memories that I do have is of an incident where there was a biased attitude or a biased opinion of me when I went to a restaurant that is located in North Dallas. Now North Dallas consists mostly of rich white people - there are not a lot of black people in this particular area of North Dallas where I was at - but I was with one of my friends and we decided to go to Chili's Restaurant to have lunch and while we were there the service from the waitress was extremely terrible and I believe that she acted that way because of our skin color and the perception that African Americans do not tip their waiters/waitresses. During this particular visit to Chili's we waited almost 20 minutes before she came over to take our drink orders and her attitude was just very bad and she acted as if we were bothering her and she didn't want to be there at work. I apologized to my friend for the worst service at this restaurant because I feel as if her rude attitude was directed towards me because I am African American and my friend was White - maybe the waitress wasn't too fond of that type of friendship between two different races.
This specific bias diminished equity by separating the love for one another or just the human kind because of the difference of race or culture. Equity is when one or the quality of something fair and impartial and the service at the time was everything but fair and impartial.
I had a lot of different feelings and emotions going on at the time but I was too busy trying to enjoy my friend since I don't get to see her as much that I simply ignored or brushed off the bad service an the waitress' attitude - I think that is what everyone needs to do when they encounter a person with a negative attitude - just ignore them, they will eventually act like they have some sense when no one feeds into their foolishness.
As I stated I think my friend and I did a great job with turning this incident into an opportunity for greater equity by ignoring her and proving to her that not all people of the African American race act loud and crazy.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions are brief everyday indignities that may be verbal, behavioral or environmental, they are usually communicated intentionally or unintentionally that contains an insulting message and often causes severe psychological stress and harm. Microaggressions reflect views of inferiority/superiority and inclusions/exclusions and they can happen outside the level of awareness of well-intentioned individuals (Laureate, 2011).

Whether I have paid attention or not I have been a victim to some microaggressions and I have been the one to say some microaggressions to others. Just this week I was talking with some co-workers when the lady I was speaking with hollered out, "Isn't it only Africans that drive taxis?" I was so shocked because she asked the question so loud and second we sit around a lot of people that are of the African/Nigerian descent - all I could say to her was that she needed to be quiet before she ends up in the HR office.

I know I have been a victim to microaggression - I remember one time in high school a Mexican girl asked me if all we (African - Americans) really ate was "watermelon and fried chicken"? I remember being so mad and wanting to say mean and nasty things back to her but my teacher got to her before I could and sent her to in school suspension.

In my opinion I think that we as a people (country) should really pay attention to the things we say to each other and about other cultural groups and how it may affect others.

References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

After talking to three of my close friends and family I was very shocked to find out that we all think or see culture and diversity differently, which is not a bad thing. I decided to talk to my close friend Terrin who is African American just as I am but she was raised in a nuclear family and I wasn't so I was expecting her answers to be a just a tad bit different but it turned out to a big very big differences in what we believe or see diversity and culture as. Terrin's definition of culture was that basically culture is based on different people and their beliefs, values, and ethnicity - her definition of diversity was somewhat similar: diversity to her means that there are different people, different cultures, different sexual orientations that at some point come across one another, there are going to be people with different ideas and diversity can also include people with disabilities who are not the same as their peers or people from all around the world - they are usually treated differently because they have different needs than a person who is in tip top shape. Terrin stated that when she thinks of the words diversity and culture she imagines the picture where there are kids and people of all ethnicities and cultures standing around the world holding hands and I can definitely agree with her.

I also talked with my other friend Ahmad who is from the country Jordan which makes him Jordanian - Ahmad is very different from me and his upbringing is definitely different than how mine was. He explained to me how he thinks culture and diversity go together hand and hand - you cannot have diversity without different cultures being present in the world - no two people are the same or no two different types of culture groups are the same. He stated that they way he grew up in Jordan is a lot more stricter than the way kids are growing up here - he stated although he remember having lots of fun and good memories kids in the USA are very lucky individuals and most are not grateful which is heartbreaking to him because he knows plenty of children overseas who would die to live like Americans or just to have the same things and opportunities as we do.

Last but not least I spoke with my friend Earnest, when he was asked for his definition of culture he explained to me when he thinks of the world culture and what it actually means he thinks of people's background, how they were raised and the environment that they were raised in and how it has molded them into the adult or child that they are now. To him diversity is the difference between people, such as economic status, social stature and their level of their success in their life.

As I reflect on my friends answers I cant help but to notice that their answers are things that I have learned during this course so far or it was things that I already knew and thought for myself. The word culture refers to how particular groups of people live. It is the way we eat, sleep, talk, play, care for the sick, relate to one another, think about work, arrange our kitchens and remember our dead. It includes the language we speak, the religion or spirituality we practice (or do not), and the clothing, housing, food and rituals/holidays with which we feel most comfortable (Derman-Sparks, 2010). Culture is an everyday thing that we live - whenever you feel uneasy about something that someone may be doing that you are not used to that means they are doing things that are normal to their culture and not particularly yours.

References:
Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves
Chapter 5, "Learning about Culture, Language, & Fairness" (pp. 56–60)

My Family Culture

If my immediate family and I was a part of a major catastrophe and we had to evacuate to a different county whose culture is totally different from ours and we were only allowed to bring 3 small items with us that may represent my family's culture I would have to bring:

1. Magazine with Barack and Michelle Obama on the cover and all of the other African-American literature
2. African-American dance
3. African-American holidays and observances

When I get to the new country I would explain to others that the reason why I brought a magazine with Barack and Michelle Obama on the cover because after 43 Caucasian presidents he was the first African-American president of the United States of America and he won majority vote for both of his terms making him the 44th president of the United States for the last 8 years.  

Although African American dance is nothing tangible it would be something that I could bring with me and would never have to worry about it being taken away because again it is not tangible - I would share all of the different hip hop dances, jazz, line dances and other dances that is very popular in our culture and would explain that dancing and having a good time is good for the soul and in our culture many find peace in dancing - sometimes dancing can help relieve stress and make you forget all about your worries. Hakuna matata. 

The root of the African American culture to me would be the holidays that we celebrate every year to remind us what our ancestors went through in order to pave the way for us, again this is not a tangible thing - this would be something that can not be taken away as well. I would explain how African-Americans all over celebrate Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Black History Month (celebrated every February for the whole month). Kwanzaa happens every December 26- January 1 and on each of the seven days it honors a different principle that is believed to be the key on building strong, productive families and communities in Africa. Juneteenth (celebrated on June 19th every year) is a day where we celebrate the liberation of black American slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday that honors the civil rights leader which is celebrated yearly on the third Monday in January.

I wouldn't feel any type of way if I was told that I could only keep one item because the other two would remain embedded in my soul and brain for the rest of my life so I would have no issue with giving up the magazine with the Obama family on the cover.