A Young Black Woman

How long will being who we are change the way people see us? We know that even many years ago, human beings always judged others by their skin color, ideology, religion, sexual preference, and social class. So just being who you are, doing what you like to do and defining yourself the way you think is best will always affect how people see you, what they think of you and how they will treat you when you are around. I am black, from an African and Latin family, and I grew up knowing that I came from a country where people like me must work hard to reach a good level in life, that people like me learn from an early age about what it means to be resilient and persistent with your dreams. In the position of a person of color and considered non-privileged by society, I believe that I will have very different perspectives on life from those of privileged, white people who grew up with privileges that I never had, and I know that this does not make me better than anyone else or less human. My identity is a mix of two very different countries, and I know this will forever affect my life in how people see me or treat me.

I’m Gabriela, a 19-year-old girl. I’m from Africa, from the democratic republic of Congo, but I grew up in Brazil with my Brazilian family and spent almost my entire life there. I am the eldest daughter of divorced parents, and this made me grow, learn and respect two totally different cultures. My mother is Brazilian, I believe that Brazilian culture is 80% part of me, my mother always taught me to be kind and friendly, to pursue my goals and dreams, and to be careful with the outside world and the environment and the evil that exists. On the contrary, my African father taught me not to be afraid of anything, to always be persistent with my dreams and my desires, that every “no” can turn into a yes, that I must be a very strong and mature girl, that as black people and considered Unprivileged people must fight with everything they have for our dreams. When I was a child, my mother was always by my side to show support in everything I did, while my father always let me do things for myself and showed me that if I didn’t do things for myself, no one else would, He let me be independent and not be afraid that I would learn from a young age to do things for myself. However, as I grew up, I learned that if I didn’t have these two experiences as a child, I would never become an independent person and would always run to my mother’s arms to cry, so I learned and as time went by, I matured. and learning to deal with everything they taught me since I was little. There is research that says, “Childhood and adolescent stages play a crucial role in the formation and consolidation of identity” (Mann, 2016, p.212) and I strongly believe this, my parents shaped me to be exactly the person I am today. Their teaching helped me to be strong and curious. So, this is me, Gabriela, a young woman who doesn’t limit herself and who is always tempted to take risks and find out what the world has to offer me.

Considering that I am black, African and Latina, recently graduated from high school, learning English, from a lower class, female, heterosexual, native Portuguese speaker, and a person who is not American I am not in a position of privilege in US and everything I need and want to achieve I have to do 10 times better than a white American or a white foreigner so that I can receive the minimum. I never had a dream or desire to live outside my country, but I saw that the United States could offer me a life and study opportunity that I couldn’t have in my country. Since then, I came to live the “American dream” as people say, and I never imagined how many obstacles I could face along the way. As a recent high school graduate I believe that high school was the first culture shock I had, I went to a school where the majority of students were white, Indian and Chinese, I could count on my hand how many black people They had and it still wouldn’t have 10, however, it was also a very welcoming school and they tried to include everyone, but on the other side the students were not very receptive and I don’t blame them. In the American school where I studied, we didn’t learn about other cultures or other countries, the focus was on the history of America, American politics, what was America’s role in past wars, etc., so how can you be inclusive with other cultures if you never learned about them or maybe I didn’t even know that such a country existed, or how people are there and how they usually act. “Integrating one’s past, present, and future into a task that begins in adolescence and continues for a lifetime” (Tatum, 1997, p. 35). I know that being who I am affects the way people will treat me, and that racism still exists within many people, but I also believe that the world can be a better place when we teach young people from an early age about diversity, understanding and empathy. I know that I have a lot to offer as a person and not because of my skin color or beliefs, and as an immigrant I have the advantage of showing many Native Americans that there are incredible countries, languages, ​​and cultures outside of America and how much inclusion is important.

In conclusion, having your own Social Identity in today’s world will always affect the way people will act towards you, my social identity grew based on the culture of two very different countries and this impacts the person I am today. Being African taught me a lot about persistence and consistency. But being Brazilian taught me to be a caring person and have empathy. In addition, coming from a foreign country and moving to the United States taught me the importance of being open-minded, that human beings will always be constantly learning and that we should never feel insecure about being who we are and who we want to be. Being different is what makes us unique, we never need to strive for acceptance from others or let someone use who we are to make them look better. I know that getting to where I am was very different from what the me of 10 years ago expected, and I know that I will still go through many incredible and scary experiences just for being who I am, therefore, today my social identity as a black woman, African, Latin, will still encourage many people like me to reach where I did and perhaps have a better perspective than I had. Today I know that I don’t want to change the world, but I hope to be able to open small opportunities for my family and for many people who identify with who I am.

References

Mann, M. A. (2006). The formation and development of individual and ethnic identity: Insights from psychiatry and psychoanalytic theory. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 66(3), 211-24. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11231-006-9018-2

Tatum, B. D. (1997). Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? Revised edition. Basic Books. https://sbctc-lwtech.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01STATEWA_LWTC/117qsle/cdi_proquest_ebookcentralchapters_5368838_10_96