Personal Cultural History and Background
Personal Cultural History and Background
I am from Delta State, Nigeria. My family and I are Christians and we strongly believe in God. Our faith also keeps our family close since we spend much of our prayer time together. For example, we go to church together every Sunday or even during the weekdays. We also make sure that we are together during special occasions and we visit my grandparents during Christmas.
Given the close relationship I have with my family, I can say that I have received my strongest cultural programming from my parents, although the community I lived in also had a great influence in me and as I was growing up, I would also be influenced by the media. In this regard, some of the stereotypes I have developed are mostly based on my faith. For example, I tend to think negatively of people who are too liberated in their ways of thinking, such as in the cases of same-sex relationships and abortion.
I love myself just the way I am and I would never trade my skin, my color, my race, or my culture for anything. I greatly value my culture, religion, and my family, and I can’t imagine living my life without them. I believe that they have helped shape who I am today and I probably wouldn’t be the same me without them. In that regard, since I am deeply rooted into my culture and my family, I don’t think anything would change in me if I looked differently from the way I looked now. I believe that God has made everything possible for my and that my physical appearance would be inconsequential.
However, although I greatly value my heritage and my culture, I am trying to be more open-minded about diversity. For example, I am increasing my awareness by educating myself about other cultures through reading about them and through watching the international news. This allows me to become familiar with the beliefs and cultures of people from other countries, in turn helping me to understand them better. With this knowledge, I am able to improve my skills by being mindful of how I interact with people who are different from me and I am able to correct any misconceptions I have about them. I also try to educate other people about diversity and I try to serve as examples for them.
