First off a little about me is i’m an African American who grew up in New Orleans LA in a big family i have 8 siblings and i’m the youngest.

The purpose of this assignment is to help you gain a greater understanding and awareness of your own personal identity and culture.  We are all born into a culture, our family. The background of your parents, the areas of the world they have lived in, the language they speak and their culture/ethnicity has influenced the culture of your family.  This paper will examine the various elements of your cultural identity as well as your values, belief systems, stereotypes, etc. What are the impacts of these identities on our self-esteem, your views about the world and your personal and professional future?  How has internalized oppression impacted your sense of identity? Etc.

In this assignment, you will be exploring your personal culture by answering specific questions about yourself, and writing a paper that highlights the aspects of your personal identity and culture.

In order to write your paper, it is suggested to review the following questions and contemplate responses.  You will use these questions to guide the writing of your paper.

What type of community were you raised in?  Was it homogeneous or heterogeneous? Were you the majority or minority?
Where were your parents born? Where were you grandparents born?  Where were earlier generations of your family born?
In terms of race or ethnicity, how do you identify yourself?
What aspects of your identity are you most proud of and why.  Select two of the identities from the Social Group Membership Profile (See handout).
What aspects of your identity are you least proud of, ashamed, or believe that it has negatively affected how you see yourself.  Choose one from the Social Group Membership Profile (see handout).
What types of foods related to this race or ethnicity do you cook or eat at home?
What are some of the privileges you have and how have they shaped your life?
What people, experiences and or institutions had the most influence on how you view yourself today?
What kinds of messages did you hear growing up about your culture?  What were some of the positives and what were the most hurtful/negative you learned about your culture.  How did you internalize them?
What traditions and or customs does your family follow?
For example, what language do you speak at home, what foods or clothing do you wear that is tied to your culture? 
If applicable, what physical attributes are often attributed to people of your ethnicity or race? Do you have any of these attributes?
Do you practice a formal religion? If so, which one?  Would you consider yourself active? How has that shaped your worldview?
Which are the most significant holidays that your family celebrate? Which are related to your race or ethnicity? Which are related to your religion? Which are related to other aspects of your identity?
Spend a considerable amount of time thinking about your identity and culture before you start writing.  You will write a 5 page paper describing what you learned about your identity and your culture. This paper should describe (1) How this assignment helped you learn about your culture, (2) What aspects (people, experiences and or institutions) of your culture you believe shaped you the most as an individual and (3) What messages you received about your culture from your family that were both positive and negative, (4) How your culture shaped your worldview, and (5) How understanding your culture will help you as a future professional and Global citizen.