My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

“A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.  You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event.  However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details.  You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently.  You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take three small items with you.  You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.” (Blog 2, 2011)

I would choose to take my Holy Bible, because it holds the words my mother and father taught me as a child.  The second item I would take is pictures of my photo album that holds pictures of my childhood, family, and friends. The last item of the three that I would take is a gold engraved picture of the escape to the Underground Railroad.

The items I chose to take with me are a part of my family.  My family reminds each generation of the importance of knowing God, by understanding that the Bible is the path to knowledge and understanding.  The photo album is a reminder of the love we share as a family and the gold engraved picture holds the value of where we struggle to get where we are today as African Americans.

If I had to give up two of the items I chose and keep only one then I would keep my Holy Bible.

Because of this exercise, I learned that I hold the truth dear to me.  The Holy Bible is the passage to truth, freedom, understanding, faith, determination, peaces, and love.  However, my culture identifies what I was taught as a child.  It taught me to obey rules, to be who I want to be, and how to handle my feelings.  My family believes in God and knows that without him in your life there is no understanding, peace, and love.  It does not matter where you are or how you feel, the word of the scripture will get you through.  I have actually learned how important it is to hold on to your culture and understand the differences of culture in others.

In addition, I have learned how important to begin this process in the classroom so that children do lose sight of their own culture and beliefs. (Video, 2011)

Reference:

Blog 2, (2011). My Family Culture.  Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5691618&Survey=1&47=8342480&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Video, (2011).  “Family Cultures: Dynamic Interactions”. Sylvan Learning Center.  Walden University. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5691618&Survey=1&47=8342480&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1