Whose Culture is Capital?
The purpose of the Yosso article is to depict the society of people of color as a place full of cultural wealth where cultural knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts are in abundance. Various forms of capital are nurtured through cultural wealth (Yosso 69). However, I will be looking at aspirational and social capital. The most significant point I have learnt from the Yosso article is that a call is being made to the people of color to help get rid of discriminative theories about their culture and experiences (Yosso 70). This point is very significant because it depicts the rise of a revolution against racism. This revolution will make social mobility easy for students like me in foreign circles because there will be fairer treatment and more appreciation for mine as well as other people’s cultures. Also, there have been debates fueled by racism and classism of whose knowledge and opinions are valued and whose are not (Yosso 70). In the journey towards eradication of discriminatory theories about people of color, the critical race theories framework (CRT) was formed which originated from criticisms directed towards the Critical Legal Studies (CLS) Scholarship which focused on critiquing liberalization (Yosso 71). As a result, the CRS disengaged from the CLS and has now grown to incorporate other people of color moving beyond its original mission that was to put an end to black discrimination.
The two forms of capital that my educational experience helped are aspirational and social capital. Aspirational capital involves having dreams and hopes for the future despite the challenges one faces (Yosso 77). Through aspirational capital, students are able to survive the aggression in school and excel in their school work (Luna and Martinez 1). My educational experiences in the United States, despite being difficult due to my struggle in speaking English have helped my aspirational capital to grow. This growth is because I stay motivated since I have hope that I will achieve other dreams just as I have achieved the one of receiving a college education in the United States. I also stay motivated because my parents encouraged me to pursue my dreams before I came to the state by telling me of the educational and job experiences I would have in the United States. They also told me about the prestige in being able to speak English. They continue to encourage me up to date through our regular communication.
Social capital involves the ability to network with people and resources to receive important financial, educational and emotional support (Yosso 79). Through social capital, many people of color are able to attain education through scholarships, employment, healthcare as well as justice (Luna & Martinez 1). I have had social growth because of the networks of people I have created here in the United States through lecturers, fellow students, friends some of whom are Japanese as well as other resources in my educational experience. These networks have provided me with educational as well as emotional support. I am able to share my experiences as well as get the academic help I need through these networks.
My family has influenced my access to these forms of capital through encouragement and the values instilled in me. They taught me how to be resilient and to never give up. From them, I also learnt how to face challenges. My family also taught me the importance of chasing your dreams and working towards achieving them with the promise of a bright future. My family also taught me the importance of having goals and focusing on achieving them. They also taught me the importance of formulating strategies to achieve goals. From them, I learnt that focus helps one maintain consistency and keep sight of the strategies and goals.
I hope that my schooling will provide me with linguistic capital so that I have the ability to communicate fluently and express myself in various ways using English such as storytelling and poetry. Linguistic capital will also help me become more confident while interacting with English speakers. I also hope that it will provide me with navigational capital so that I am able to acquire social mobility and move up the ladder in my career. Navigational capital will also help me learn how to deal with stressful situations better and maintain high academic achievement. It will also help me learn how to make wise decisions in the future while pursuing my career by navigating through social relations and job processes.
Works Cited
Luna, Nora A. & Martinez, Magdalena. “A Qualitative Study using Community Cultural Wealth to understand the Educational Experiences of Latino College Students.” Journal of Praxis in Multicultural Education.7.1 (2013): 1-18.
Yosso, Tara J. “Whose Culture has capital?” Race, Ethnicity and Education.8.1 (2005): 69-91. Print.
