Purpose:  This unit will explore the concepts of race and ethnicity as they relate to individuals and communities. More specifically, explorations herein aim to assist students in developing the following understandings:

• How are identities shaped and defined?
• How do I perceive myself and how others perceive me?
• Who is the in-crowd and who is often considered the “other?”
  
  
• What is the process of identity formation?
• How has the development of images, stereotypes, reduced or magnified an individual?
• What does it mean to be an American?

This unit, and units to follow will seek to develop understandings of the impacts of stereotypes and explore deeply their own identity and how they fit into society.

I am from…

Purpose of this activity: to explore our individual and collective cultural backgrounds and heritages through poetry.

Description
This activity will engage students in composing a poem that explores their cultural identities, backgrounds, and where they come from.  The importance is not so much on the technical perfection as much as the detail and contents contained therein.  The examples below offer some general ideas for consideration.  However, the most powerful part of this exercise is the group sharing of the poems.  Please allow ample time for drafting and sharing.

          Teacher Note: there are a gazillion examples of "I Am from..." poems online. Feel free to select a few that you like to model for students.

DIRECTIONS

Step 1:  Review examples below with students.
 
Poor Example

 I say what I feel
I am funny.
I dream of greatness
I wonder about my family.
I try to do the right thing
I dream every night.
I hope to find honor some day
I see with my eyes.
I am, for now, just Victor, a nobody.
I cry in sad movies.
 
 
Better Example

 I am from winning and losing
I am from wondering if I could be somebody else
I am from champions and trophies not yet won
I am from others honored as heroes
I am from the dreams of those unsung
I am from falling down
I am from getting back up again
I am from greatness
I am from just trying to do my very best
I am from doing all that I can
I am from just trying to understand
I am from beginning and false starts
I am from more than just parts
I am from all that makes me whole
 
Step 2  Think about who you are and what you want to be. Think about where you come from, where you want to go, and all that you have dreamed. Think about your friends and family. Think about your hobbies and the activities you love and bring you joy. Think about your culture and the community that you are a part of. Think about what you value, what you care about in life, the things you love, and the things you aspire to become, and the things you wish the world could be.
 
Brainstorm some ideas on this page by answering some of the questions in paragraph one, above. Then go to page two of this activity and attempt to write your poem.
 
Remember: All of us can write poetry. You must be patient and persistent. Finding the right word that expresses how you feel takes time. Don’t give up.   List several ideas that come to mind:

Step 3  Beginning your poem by writing “I Am From…” on line 1 connecting to your thoughts to an item listed above. 
You can explore beginnings each lines with some of the alternatives listed below.  Your poem must be a minimum of 25 lines.
 
I am from…
I wonder…
I hear…    
I see…
I want…
I am from…
I pretend…
I feel…
I touch…
I worry…
I cry…
I am…
I understand…
I say…
I dream…
I try…
I hope…
I am from…
 
Step 4
Read your poem to yourself aloud and check for how the words feel as you speak them.  Are they difficult to speak?  Do you find yourself fumbling a lot?  If so, consider revising your poems now paying particular attention to how the words flow together.  You may have to repeat this process, reading and revising, until you are comfortable and the poem feels right to you.
 
Step 5
Read your poem to a partner.  Ask them to note one thing they liked about your poem and one weakness that they think  you could improve.  Repeat this with at least two others and revise your poems based on the feedback you have received.
 
Step 6
As a class, take turns reading your I Am From... poems aloud to each other be sure to praise and encourage each writer's efforts while recognizing the creativity and ideas that each have included in their composition.
 
Step 7
Collect copies of all poems and consider the following:

• binding them for publication
• posting copies of the poems on the classroom walls
• sharing the collection with others

Impacts on Cultural Identity (adapted from Gorski (1995-2018)

Distribute the Cycles of My Multicultural Self Handout

Step 1: Write your name in the center circle.

Step 2: In each of the surrounding circles include a part of you that defines you.
     
            Examples: Mexican American, Family, Sports, Music, Religion/Spirituality...

Step 3:  On the back of the handout explain/describe:

• how each of the descriptors has impacted you.
• an experience you had you when it was painful to be identified with one of the identifiers.
• Name a stereotype associated with one of the groups with which you identify that is not consistent with who you are.

Complete the following sentence:

     I am (a/an)   _____________________ but I am NOT (a/an)_____________________.

Step 4: In small group, share and discuss the front and back of your cycles.

Step 5:  In large group, discuss what we learned from this lesson.

Step 6: Discuss what you would know more about and identify potential resources to facilitate this learning.


Further impacts on Cultural Identity

Watch:  Culture Identity Model (Anand, 2012).

Answer the following questions (based on Anand's Cultural Identity Model)

1. Name at least three core beliefs or values that you posses.  
2. How have these beliefs and values been shaped by your culture?  
3. How has your identity been shaped by:  human interactions (ex:  family, friends, teachers, etc...), external events (ex:  war, birth of a child, death of a parent, etc...), and reflection (ex: how I made sense of, adapted to, and/or responded to people, places, experiences, etc...)  
4. What sub-cultural groups do you belong to? (ex: church community, sports fans, skateboarders, etc...)  
5. What might be some counter-cultural benefits that blended cultural individuals or groups can offer to society?
6. Give an example each of the following:  

• cultural rejection (rejecting a certain part or all of one's culture), 
• cultural appropriation (adapting aspects of another culture), and
• cultural mutation (blended parts of two or more cultures into one's identity)
• culturally divergent behavior that either is a response to:  a strong stimuli originating from an extraordinary event or a failure to meet cultural or contextual expectations

Step 6 Share and compare your response with at least two peers.


Reflection Questions

• How have my identities been shaped by experiences, relationships, heritage, and history?

 

• Describe my individual and collective identities - how am I connected/situated, historically? How does my story connect to the stories of those who came before me?

 

• How do my chosen identities conflict/differ from the identities that are often assigned/imposed upon me?

 

• How has race, culture, ethnicity, language, nationality, for example, shaped my identities? What other factors have played role in shaping my identities?

 

• How has my identity been shaped by the dominant culture’s narrative, language, story?

 

• What new questions do I have?

 

• What have I learned about myself, my story, my identity?

 

•  What do I want to know more about?

What is my name?

My Name, My Identity http://nabe.org/myname

CHICANO/LATINO IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT https://prezi.com/bvlxd6c-vfnr/chicanolatino-identity-development/

Complexities of "Social Identity" Development https://studentdevelopmenttheory.wordpress.com/complexities-of-social-identity-development/

Watch: select a few of the mini-films to further explorations of race, bias, and identity.


Complexities of Identity

Read: 

• "The Bear That Wasn't" https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-1/bear-wasnt (respond to questions at the end)
• The Complexity of Identity (B. Tatum)  http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com/resources/05-The-Complexity-of-Identity-Beverly-Tatum.pdf
• Everyone Has Many Identities (Goldbach, 2016)
• Intersectionalty & positionality (Elliott, 2017)

Watch:

• Understanding Race (Marks, 2014)
• The Complexity of Identity: Who am I? (Sarah Morris, Sept. 5, 2011).
• What is identity? (ChelseaLovell, Oct. 10, 2010).
• The Illusion of Race  http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm (go through activities)

Activity: Factors that shape our identity

Step 1: Select at least three of the factors discussed in the links above that you believe have shaped your identity.

Step 2: Give some specific examples of each factor describing how each has impacted your life.

Step 3: In small groups – share and discuss the above with the other members.

Step 4: In large group – have a representative to report out what was discussed.

Step 5: Document each group's findings on the board.

Step 6: Determine which factors were the most common.

Step 7: Reflection Questions

• What did we learn from this activity?
• What new questions do the findings reveal?
• What new information is needed?