Week of April of th 18th and April 23rd
Last Two Week Blogs
Suicide
AnaMaria blog about her situation was so hard to read, my heart was so overwhelmed with hurt for her. This is so upfront, that I feel that it will change how I view people different from me and that we do not know how and what people have been through in their lives. We are not supposed to judge but as humans I feel it is in us to do it without even thinking about first. I will take the information AnaMaria gave us and use it to help others to seek help for the issues that have them thinking about taking their own lives. This is something serious and need to pay close attention to because we could be sitting right next to someone whom may not be alive the next day due to taking their own lives. I commend AnaMaria for being open with the class about her past and future, so thanks to her for opening up my eyes to the subject of suicide.
Service Learning Project
The Eastside Community project is one that needed to looked at and so we took it upon ourselves to find out peoples reaction to the new and coming changes of the central Austin formerly known as east Austin. Many do not refer to it by central east Austin, including me I still and will continue to refer to it as East Austin. Personally I wanted to get inside look at what people really thought especially the African American community, that were born and raised in East Austin. During the project it was a surprising outcome of what the few people I interviewed thought about the changes, it truly was a surprise to me. The results had a spin on what we thought these group of people would with what they actually felt and how they believe in those changes. We decided to pose questions on how they felt communication should be implemented with upcoming changes to the East Austin and how those plans of changes should involve the African American who feel they are being left out and or remove from an environment that they built together as a African American and their roots. As we read the article on Individual and Family Intervention skills, it talked about how in African culture is rooted in a spirituality relationships with human beings and how their was or is a need to live in harmony. African Americans deal with many things in life by gracing life with spirituality beliefs and praying about things instead of literally acting on things that may have a negative effect on their future, being okay with what is to come and accepting changes as good changes and that God has his hands on the situation. I do feel myself when things are too much for me to handle, or things just seems to high for me to reach and debate, I pray and allow some changes to take place. Basically leaving our lives and our future in the hands of someone, who has no idea what being African American is about and what we've been through and where we're going.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Week 12
Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes?
While watching the film in disbelief, I can not imagine why the women in the rap videos would belittle themselves while dancing half naked and also while attending the BET fest and being groped by the men. There has to be some level of very low self-esteem, to think that this is healthy attention from the men in the crowd. I also feel if the ones making the rap videos have no respect enough to know that they are exploiting the women in so many ways. I understand that it is a money making business like many other businesses who take advantage of many others but just in a different way. I also feel if more people are aware of the negative consequences then some of what happens can take a turn in a positive way. If we do not start educating our young women at home, in communities and in our schools, I feel it will just continue and poison our African American women who have so much more potential than to be a cloth less pawn for a rap video.
Watts Article
The idea from the article is a good start and to focus on the consciousnesses of the young African American males is a great beginning. To understand where their actions come from and what they lead to is an important part of oppression liberation. Once the focus is integrated into the communities, the homes and the school system, it may possibly change the way of thinking. We have to change the way we feel and see things to have a effect on the policies that effect our communities and its people.
Peterson Article
I feel the way African American women are portrayed in rap videos is a total disrespect to all mankind. As women we should teach our younger peers to have more respect for themselves, to have confidence and that self-esteem, that says I am worth more than just a piece of flesh. I also feel that this may be the reason for the rape in African American women, early teen pregnancies and the unhealthy relationships with many partners. Their has to be a way to get information out there about the negative portrayals of women in music videos and in some movies. We have to demand more positive portrayals in rap video and how those actions in some rap videos have an adverse effect on our society of African American women. I believe that the future of the African American people depends on the change in media, rap videos and how African American males treat women in their personal and public lives.
While watching the film in disbelief, I can not imagine why the women in the rap videos would belittle themselves while dancing half naked and also while attending the BET fest and being groped by the men. There has to be some level of very low self-esteem, to think that this is healthy attention from the men in the crowd. I also feel if the ones making the rap videos have no respect enough to know that they are exploiting the women in so many ways. I understand that it is a money making business like many other businesses who take advantage of many others but just in a different way. I also feel if more people are aware of the negative consequences then some of what happens can take a turn in a positive way. If we do not start educating our young women at home, in communities and in our schools, I feel it will just continue and poison our African American women who have so much more potential than to be a cloth less pawn for a rap video.
Watts Article
The idea from the article is a good start and to focus on the consciousnesses of the young African American males is a great beginning. To understand where their actions come from and what they lead to is an important part of oppression liberation. Once the focus is integrated into the communities, the homes and the school system, it may possibly change the way of thinking. We have to change the way we feel and see things to have a effect on the policies that effect our communities and its people.
Peterson Article
I feel the way African American women are portrayed in rap videos is a total disrespect to all mankind. As women we should teach our younger peers to have more respect for themselves, to have confidence and that self-esteem, that says I am worth more than just a piece of flesh. I also feel that this may be the reason for the rape in African American women, early teen pregnancies and the unhealthy relationships with many partners. Their has to be a way to get information out there about the negative portrayals of women in music videos and in some movies. We have to demand more positive portrayals in rap video and how those actions in some rap videos have an adverse effect on our society of African American women. I believe that the future of the African American people depends on the change in media, rap videos and how African American males treat women in their personal and public lives.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Week 11
Boys of Baraka
The film touch me so that when I left the class I continued to tear up and wonder what can I do and where do I start. I truly feel that the system affected the individuals which in turn caused a huge achievement gap. We are one of most powerful countries, the United States will rescue other countries, rebuild their communities, their schools and their people. But yet here we have people who suffer daily, who are homeless and children who go hungry everyday and night. We have billionaires who give money to many causes because somehow can not bring those children out of despair and give them the proper tools for an education. This system allows these children to live in dangerous area and watch them disappear behind prison walls and or watch them be buried six feet under. How can such a rich country not have the funds to give back to what society took so much from, hung, burned and mutilated their ancestors just because of the color of their skin. How can you not feel the need to give back to what you have taken, how can you sit back and watch people of color be treated like non-human and treat slime in the gutters with more compassion and respect. It truly makes me so sad that I know even at my age, I have to do something, I just do not know where to start. I know that this is why I have stayed in College at my age for so long and that is to reach back and give back to those who have been neglected and so misunderstood by this society and its people. And now I do have to wonder why so many of the wealthy have gone to other countries to adopt and to create an entire school system to help others when there is so many in need here. I am not saying neglect those children but why not start at home and give back. My outlook now on those wealthy people is a little different now and I will always question their mission. When the outcome of the Boys of Baraka ended the way it did, I knew at that moment we as a people still have a long way to go. I truly feel that some things will never change but that does not mean that we as individuals can not change. As parents, students, professors, teachers and so many others have to begin to question, challenge and seek the answers needed to make areas such as the projects in Balitmore Maryland extinct. One district at a time, one parent at a time and one child at a time and most importantly it begins in the home, to change the system that was built to make sure many fail in hope, education and life. Taking the time to educate our children in the homes and educate them on our history of where we been, where we are and where we need to be. All this can be done by supporting each other, praising each other, respecting each other and reaching back and pulling someone up with you on your journey. We say all the time we will but yet we pass each other on campus and not even acknowledge each other, we are doing exactly what that same system that has set people of color up to fail, not standing behind each other. As a parents we need to make education important in the household, find out what books are needed and find funds to buy the books, attend all parent/teacher meetings and stop accepting what is thrown at us as the last resort. And people make it a point to let all know that those prison complex's that are being built probably has many people of color names on the front door and we need to start early with our children, it is hard work but I am sure it will all pay off in the end. I respect and appreciate the opportunity to be apart of such classes and take what I have learned and continue to learn to people I come in contact with and uses your privilege to vote will help change who is in charge of your life.
Closing the Gap
I do feel there is a achievement gap and a structural oppression, the both work together to continue to cause oppression. If the system is not working to educate all children in society then it is set up so that many will fail and those who are privileged will continue to have those privileges of success and a bright future. I believe that the gap can be closed, it is just going to take an extreme amount of hard work from the parents and of the community of which we live.
Acting White
I had not observed this while in my particular High School because it was predominately white and foreign students, the African American students were pretty much trying to keep up and achieve because that was expected of us and something we wanted to do was to get good grades. I have noticed it while my son was growing up, I would do things I know needed to be done to make sure he had received a good education. So reading books, and trying to get him to speak with correct words, his friends who were not being taught the same thing would tell him to stop acting white. So it was a struggle trying to get him to see that education was very important and that it was okay to be smart and be apart of groups such as the book club, boy scouts etc. because some of his peers were not involved in the groups and some of their parents were not doing some of things I was trying to do with my son. The acting white to me is a form of internalized oppression because we have been taught to think we are not smart, not worthy and not capable of achieving great things.
The film touch me so that when I left the class I continued to tear up and wonder what can I do and where do I start. I truly feel that the system affected the individuals which in turn caused a huge achievement gap. We are one of most powerful countries, the United States will rescue other countries, rebuild their communities, their schools and their people. But yet here we have people who suffer daily, who are homeless and children who go hungry everyday and night. We have billionaires who give money to many causes because somehow can not bring those children out of despair and give them the proper tools for an education. This system allows these children to live in dangerous area and watch them disappear behind prison walls and or watch them be buried six feet under. How can such a rich country not have the funds to give back to what society took so much from, hung, burned and mutilated their ancestors just because of the color of their skin. How can you not feel the need to give back to what you have taken, how can you sit back and watch people of color be treated like non-human and treat slime in the gutters with more compassion and respect. It truly makes me so sad that I know even at my age, I have to do something, I just do not know where to start. I know that this is why I have stayed in College at my age for so long and that is to reach back and give back to those who have been neglected and so misunderstood by this society and its people. And now I do have to wonder why so many of the wealthy have gone to other countries to adopt and to create an entire school system to help others when there is so many in need here. I am not saying neglect those children but why not start at home and give back. My outlook now on those wealthy people is a little different now and I will always question their mission. When the outcome of the Boys of Baraka ended the way it did, I knew at that moment we as a people still have a long way to go. I truly feel that some things will never change but that does not mean that we as individuals can not change. As parents, students, professors, teachers and so many others have to begin to question, challenge and seek the answers needed to make areas such as the projects in Balitmore Maryland extinct. One district at a time, one parent at a time and one child at a time and most importantly it begins in the home, to change the system that was built to make sure many fail in hope, education and life. Taking the time to educate our children in the homes and educate them on our history of where we been, where we are and where we need to be. All this can be done by supporting each other, praising each other, respecting each other and reaching back and pulling someone up with you on your journey. We say all the time we will but yet we pass each other on campus and not even acknowledge each other, we are doing exactly what that same system that has set people of color up to fail, not standing behind each other. As a parents we need to make education important in the household, find out what books are needed and find funds to buy the books, attend all parent/teacher meetings and stop accepting what is thrown at us as the last resort. And people make it a point to let all know that those prison complex's that are being built probably has many people of color names on the front door and we need to start early with our children, it is hard work but I am sure it will all pay off in the end. I respect and appreciate the opportunity to be apart of such classes and take what I have learned and continue to learn to people I come in contact with and uses your privilege to vote will help change who is in charge of your life.
Closing the Gap
I do feel there is a achievement gap and a structural oppression, the both work together to continue to cause oppression. If the system is not working to educate all children in society then it is set up so that many will fail and those who are privileged will continue to have those privileges of success and a bright future. I believe that the gap can be closed, it is just going to take an extreme amount of hard work from the parents and of the community of which we live.
Acting White
I had not observed this while in my particular High School because it was predominately white and foreign students, the African American students were pretty much trying to keep up and achieve because that was expected of us and something we wanted to do was to get good grades. I have noticed it while my son was growing up, I would do things I know needed to be done to make sure he had received a good education. So reading books, and trying to get him to speak with correct words, his friends who were not being taught the same thing would tell him to stop acting white. So it was a struggle trying to get him to see that education was very important and that it was okay to be smart and be apart of groups such as the book club, boy scouts etc. because some of his peers were not involved in the groups and some of their parents were not doing some of things I was trying to do with my son. The acting white to me is a form of internalized oppression because we have been taught to think we are not smart, not worthy and not capable of achieving great things.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Week 10
Tatum Article
In reading the article I realized that I had been in some of those situations. As I think back I grew up in a race-neutral household, my parents did not go out of there way to make sure that we interacted with a diverse group of people. We were surrounded by African Americans and exposed to White Americans in a later stage in our lives. I had not realized how divided society was until I began my high school year, attending Austin High School and it being predominately white (upper class) that I noticed that the color of my skin made a difference if I would be invited to birthday parties and or a trip to the mall on the weekends. Thinking back I do wish that I had been better prepared to deal with what was to come but my parents did the best they could with what they knew. My parents had to endure many civil rights violations during their years, being treated like a non-human, having to take five dollar a week jobs and having to enter houses through the back doors where my grandmother was a maid/housekeeper and raising the upper class whites children. It did not dawn on me that the one child that my grandmother raised happened to be a grade above me, at the same high school and I never knew it until years later when I saw a picture of her in my grandmothers photo album. With all that being said my parents never said a negative word against a white person and dwell on the past and what they had to endure. My parents worked hard and provided us with a home and with the things we needed and most of what we asked for. My father was able to work forty plus hours weekly and receive a Associates Degree and he became the first African American assistant director for the city of Austin water/wastewater department and my mother became one of first supervisors for Travis State School. The only thing I would change about my childhood is that if I could have been a little more prepared for what was on the other side of IH 35 and what people may say or do when I walked into such a high school. I would have love to learn what I know now about African American history and its effects on my people. Though my high school did not offer or encourage any such opportunity for knowing who I am and where I came from. Now a mother of twenty-two and nineteen year old interracial young men, I have made it a point to teach them as much as I can about what it is to be Black in America. Trying to teach them to be proud of who they are and to recognize the importance of African American culture and the culture of their father as well. Teaching them to respect where they came from and they have the opportunity to be whatever they want to be, but they will have to work a litter harder than the average white American. That the choices that make now determines what the future may hold for them and never put a label on an entire race for what the majority of a race is doing and saying against our culture. They know and are confident about who they are and can walk with their heads held high and know NOW the information is there so take it, learn from and use it to change the equalities in our society. Last I am very proud of my parents and as I watch them walk away, their frail bodies but still holding strong, I know they protected us from the ugliness of society and gave us the tools to become who we are today :).
Tatum Article
In reading the article I realized that I had been in some of those situations. As I think back I grew up in a race-neutral household, my parents did not go out of there way to make sure that we interacted with a diverse group of people. We were surrounded by African Americans and exposed to White Americans in a later stage in our lives. I had not realized how divided society was until I began my high school year, attending Austin High School and it being predominately white (upper class) that I noticed that the color of my skin made a difference if I would be invited to birthday parties and or a trip to the mall on the weekends. Thinking back I do wish that I had been better prepared to deal with what was to come but my parents did the best they could with what they knew. My parents had to endure many civil rights violations during their years, being treated like a non-human, having to take five dollar a week jobs and having to enter houses through the back doors where my grandmother was a maid/housekeeper and raising the upper class whites children. It did not dawn on me that the one child that my grandmother raised happened to be a grade above me, at the same high school and I never knew it until years later when I saw a picture of her in my grandmothers photo album. With all that being said my parents never said a negative word against a white person and dwell on the past and what they had to endure. My parents worked hard and provided us with a home and with the things we needed and most of what we asked for. My father was able to work forty plus hours weekly and receive a Associates Degree and he became the first African American assistant director for the city of Austin water/wastewater department and my mother became one of first supervisors for Travis State School. The only thing I would change about my childhood is that if I could have been a little more prepared for what was on the other side of IH 35 and what people may say or do when I walked into such a high school. I would have love to learn what I know now about African American history and its effects on my people. Though my high school did not offer or encourage any such opportunity for knowing who I am and where I came from. Now a mother of twenty-two and nineteen year old interracial young men, I have made it a point to teach them as much as I can about what it is to be Black in America. Trying to teach them to be proud of who they are and to recognize the importance of African American culture and the culture of their father as well. Teaching them to respect where they came from and they have the opportunity to be whatever they want to be, but they will have to work a litter harder than the average white American. That the choices that make now determines what the future may hold for them and never put a label on an entire race for what the majority of a race is doing and saying against our culture. They know and are confident about who they are and can walk with their heads held high and know NOW the information is there so take it, learn from and use it to change the equalities in our society. Last I am very proud of my parents and as I watch them walk away, their frail bodies but still holding strong, I know they protected us from the ugliness of society and gave us the tools to become who we are today :).
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Affirmative Action
As I was reading the article it come to mind, that some Asian and White Americans already feel negatively towards African Americans. When you want to be a part of what someone would consider great, they will do as they do and act as they act, meaning that some Asian look upon African Americans as worthless and lazy just as some White Americans do. So no need to worry about affirmative action making Asians and White Americans feel resentment it is already present. Affirmative action to me means equality for those who have been oppressed for hundreds of years and are currently still being oppressed its just a little undercover now. If Affirmative action is a way to give those left behind a step up, no doubt I am all for it. I became a little disturbed to see that they would stoop as low as to use Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech to their advantage, which to me is despicable but is not a surprise. I feel that some people will still feel the same way about African Americans but I do feel and hope the baby steps will continue to move us forward. I also realize that when one has been "privileged" all their lives and their ancestors before them, that when that "privileged" is being threatened that many will do everything in their power to not let it happen.
President Powers
I saw the video and to my surprise, I sort of felt that he was being sincere about giving opportunity to those who deserved the same opportunity as those who has it all their lives, even without trying. President Powers may have been one of those who does not like to look bad and not to happy about losing but in this case, I hope he doesn't lose either. I hope this is correct and this is what he was trying to say.
Programs for African Americans and their families
I googled a topic and could not find anything located in Austin and any near by cities, I did find a program called Afro Puffs and Ponytails, Inc.. It consist of improving resources for parents of young African American girls/black teens. Improving on academic performance, building confidence, enhance self-esteem, instill leadership skills, empower the young girls and their families. I am interested in finding out if there are other programs out there that will improve the quality of life for African Americans in Austin, so I will continued to look.
As I was reading the article it come to mind, that some Asian and White Americans already feel negatively towards African Americans. When you want to be a part of what someone would consider great, they will do as they do and act as they act, meaning that some Asian look upon African Americans as worthless and lazy just as some White Americans do. So no need to worry about affirmative action making Asians and White Americans feel resentment it is already present. Affirmative action to me means equality for those who have been oppressed for hundreds of years and are currently still being oppressed its just a little undercover now. If Affirmative action is a way to give those left behind a step up, no doubt I am all for it. I became a little disturbed to see that they would stoop as low as to use Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech to their advantage, which to me is despicable but is not a surprise. I feel that some people will still feel the same way about African Americans but I do feel and hope the baby steps will continue to move us forward. I also realize that when one has been "privileged" all their lives and their ancestors before them, that when that "privileged" is being threatened that many will do everything in their power to not let it happen.
President Powers
I saw the video and to my surprise, I sort of felt that he was being sincere about giving opportunity to those who deserved the same opportunity as those who has it all their lives, even without trying. President Powers may have been one of those who does not like to look bad and not to happy about losing but in this case, I hope he doesn't lose either. I hope this is correct and this is what he was trying to say.
Programs for African Americans and their families
I googled a topic and could not find anything located in Austin and any near by cities, I did find a program called Afro Puffs and Ponytails, Inc.. It consist of improving resources for parents of young African American girls/black teens. Improving on academic performance, building confidence, enhance self-esteem, instill leadership skills, empower the young girls and their families. I am interested in finding out if there are other programs out there that will improve the quality of life for African Americans in Austin, so I will continued to look.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
March 6, 2012
Mid-Term Essay Blog
African Americans parents raising children in today’s society, have a tremendous amount of obstacles to overcome. As parent’s we have to collectively integrate ideas on how to raise our children to become successful African American so that we can as supportive of each other and raise above what had been placed upon us. As history will show that African Americans have been, oppress and manipulated for decades and stripped of all that we could be proud of, so that others can prosper and continue to strive forward while our people fall backwards in society.
During slavery the family unit was ripped apart and made to feel non-existence, it then left the struggle to survive upon the women who were left behind to breed more children for the benefit of the slave owners for profit. During slavery and even more so now, women had to become the head the household because their husbands were either sold to other owners or killed. As parents raising children we have to get back what had been ripped from our souls and physical bodies to build back on the strong unity of the African American that once lived decades ago and in some areas in today’s society. In the “The Nguzo Saba and the Black family” it spoke of finding the resources collectively and learning what it will take to be the best of being an African American and the human in the fullest sense.
When raising the children we have to become so familiar with the history of our people and to past those thoughts, feelings and facts down to our children, so that they can appreciate why it is so important to live in the richness in spirituality, union of family and the union of positive relationships rather heterosexual or same sex marriages. The guest speakers were well aware of whom they are and how much more the community needs to understand about whom they are and how they feel. They are comfortable in opening up about their spirituality and relationships within the family and the community. That is why it is so important to raise our children to be strong with whom they are and to love and appreciate the differences in people as they are. In the “Strange bedfellows against gay marriage” When there is a strong bond in loving relationships, the strong bond of family shall follow. In the empowerment theory, it speaks of independence and self-determination as the forces in changing people’s lives and doing as collectively as a union. Using this theory to teach our children they have the power to lead and to effect changes within the family, community and the oppressed society. The teaching that power comes in a unity of a strong culture, a culture that has the power to overcome the oppression of the white privileged society, which still today controls the members of our society and has distorted our African American culture. In the Africentric Theory, it explains that it is important to change behavior and promoting human transformation through spiritual, moral and humanistic ends and this can begin and end with the raising of the children. The children can be the end of what society calls an oppressed culture of people, the African American people. The raising of our children needs to be composed of those set of beliefs, values that African Americans need to rebuild our communities worldwide.
In the article African American Women’s spiritual beliefs, it touches on many qualities that involve the family union and roles of raising our children in today’s society and starting from scratch. Spirituality was one of the important unions that kept the family together; it was one of the things that could not be stripped from the African American culture before, during and after slavery. Spirituality was the one component that we can instill in our children, so that it can strengthen our values and beliefs system. The strengths that African American women possess are the importance of spirituality that bonds that family unity and as it was mentioned in the article serves as a resource and coping mechanisms. In another article its speaks about our emotional inheritance, freeing yourself of negative beliefs and to have faith and that change can help us to heal from the past. Those changes that we pass down to our children can help them to live healthy lives and that lasting love is important to the survival of our culture of people.
The raising of our children should be the most important privilege known to humankind, because these are the people that will continue to change the face of oppression and that will end the inequalities that still exist in our societies. As African Americans, we have to educate our children from birth and throughout their adult hood. When there is a disservice in one place, there is a disservice all over the world. Raising the children to be comfortable in their own skin, to build and maintain that community they call their own and to lift up their brother and sisters left behind, will help the entire African American culture.
Mid-Term Blog
March 6, 2012
Mid-Term Essay Blog
African Americans parents raising children in today’s society, have a tremendous amount of obstacles to overcome. As parent’s we have to collectively integrate ideas on how to raise our children to become successful African American so that we can as supportive of each other and raise above what had been placed upon us. As history will show that African Americans have been, oppress and manipulated for decades and stripped of all that we could be proud of, so that others can prosper and continue to strive forward while our people fall backwards in society.
During slavery the family unit was ripped apart and made to feel non-existence, it then left the struggle to survive upon the women who were left behind to breed more children for the benefit of the slave owners for profit. During slavery and even more so now, women had to become the head the household because their husbands were either sold to other owners or killed. As parents raising children we have to get back what had been ripped from our souls and physical bodies to build back on the strong unity of the African American that once lived decades ago and in some areas in today’s society. In the “The Nguzo Saba and the Black family” it spoke of finding the resources collectively and learning what it will take to be the best of being an African American and the human in the fullest sense.
When raising the children we have to become so familiar with the history of our people and to past those thoughts, feelings and facts down to our children, so that they can appreciate why it is so important to live in the richness in spirituality, union of family and the union of positive relationships rather heterosexual or same sex marriages. The guest speakers were well aware of whom they are and how much more the community needs to understand about whom they are and how they feel. They are comfortable in opening up about their spirituality and relationships within the family and the community. That is why it is so important to raise our children to be strong with whom they are and to love and appreciate the differences in people as they are. In the “Strange bedfellows against gay marriage” When there is a strong bond in loving relationships, the strong bond of family shall follow. In the empowerment theory, it speaks of independence and self-determination as the forces in changing people’s lives and doing as collectively as a union. Using this theory to teach our children they have the power to lead and to effect changes within the family, community and the oppressed society. The teaching that power comes in a unity of a strong culture, a culture that has the power to overcome the oppression of the white privileged society, which still today controls the members of our society and has distorted our African American culture. In the Africentric Theory, it explains that it is important to change behavior and promoting human transformation through spiritual, moral and humanistic ends and this can begin and end with the raising of the children. The children can be the end of what society calls an oppressed culture of people, the African American people. The raising of our children needs to be composed of those set of beliefs, values that African Americans need to rebuild our communities worldwide.
In the article African American Women’s spiritual beliefs, it touches on many qualities that involve the family union and roles of raising our children in today’s society and starting from scratch. Spirituality was one of the important unions that kept the family together; it was one of the things that could not be stripped from the African American culture before, during and after slavery. Spirituality was the one component that we can instill in our children, so that it can strengthen our values and beliefs system. The strengths that African American women possess are the importance of spirituality that bonds that family unity and as it was mentioned in the article serves as a resource and coping mechanisms. In another article its speaks about our emotional inheritance, freeing yourself of negative beliefs and to have faith and that change can help us to heal from the past. Those changes that we pass down to our children can help them to live healthy lives and that lasting love is important to the survival of our culture of people.
The raising of our children should be the most important privilege known to humankind, because these are the people that will continue to change the face of oppression and that will end the inequalities that still exist in our societies. As African Americans, we have to educate our children from birth and throughout their adult hood. When there is a disservice in one place, there is a disservice all over the world. Raising the children to be comfortable in their own skin, to build and maintain that community they call their own and to lift up their brother and sisters left behind, will help the entire African American culture.
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