Cultural Autobiography by Kymla Mathis
Culture helps me identify my cultural being and awareness
by acknowledging the celebrating the similarities and
differences amongst people both in my city and across the
world. According to Rossi( as cited in Zimmerman,
2017),”culture encompasses religion, what we believe is right
or wrong, what we wear, how we sit at the table, languages,
how we greet visitors, and a million other things.” For me,
culture symbolizes ways of life , beliefs and traditions that are
passed on from generation to generation. As we grow up, the
past experiences shapes our futures. Upon initial examination, I
selected Cross’ People of Color Racial Identity Model to guide
me through the culmination of research needed for my cultural
autobiography. Because of my past experiences, I am who I am.
Experiences teach many lessons. In my cultural autobiography ,
I will discuss how my family , education, and life experiences
have shaped my life. My Methodist background of my family
members and very diverse community in which I was raised in
have impacted my personal views on equity, equality, social
justice, and diversity both as a special education teacher
and future educational leader.
I grew up in African American household with two brothers.
I was born in Gonzales, Texas. My father, Elias, married, my
mother, Maglene, on June 20 in Waelder, Texas. To this
blessed union three children were born, elder son Elias Jr.,
daughter Kymla Jean, and youngest son Jeffrey. Following the
birth of their daughter, the family moved to San Antonio, Texas.
In addition to working toward a graduate degree in Educational
Leadership, I graduated from Texas State University and
presently teach in resource inclusion classroom at a very
diverse public middle school in Duncanville, Texas. My oldest
brother attended truck driving school. My youngest brother
obtained an engineering degree a master degree in engineering
management. All three of us attended public schools before
attending college or trade school.
My father was born in Gonzales, Texas. He was the fifth of
seven children. As our father, he kept us in the Methodist
Church, valued education, worked hard and showed us love.
He grew up on the family homestead in the Elm Slough
community. At a young age, he dedicated his life to Christ and
become an active member of Henson Chapel United Methodist
Church in Gonzales. Elias completed his early education at
Edwards Elementary and High School in Gonzales. After
working for IGA Foods, he attended Radiological School in San
Antonio. Upon graduation with honors from the Baptist
Medical Health System School of X-Ray Technology, Elias was
presented with the outstanding X-ray student award from
Mollinckrodt Radiopharmaceuticals. Elias worked for the
Baptist Health System his entire career. My father was a
rancher and skilled carpenter. His father was born in Elm
Slough before he worked as rancher and carpenter until he age
seventy five from a stroke. His mother was born in Elm Slough,
where she was youngest of five children, and served in the role
of housewife. She was raised in Methodist faith. My mother
was born in Waelder, Texas , where she was the sixth child of
nine children. With a hard working husband, she graduated
nursing school with an associate degree in nursing. She
dedicated her life to the serving others. Her mother was born
in Waelder, Texas. She was hard worker as a maid. She was
raised in Methodist faith. Because of my past experiences, I am
who I am. Experiences teach many lessons. In my cultural
autobiography , I will discuss how my family , education, and
life experiences have shaped my life.
Attributes of Culture
Ehtnicity , which describes cultural traditions such as religion
and language, and race, which describes physical characteristics
, demonstrate significant roles in people lives. According to
ethnicity and race, I identity as African American. African
American people have become a single pan-ethnic group
because of a common history, language, economic life, and
culture developed over centuries of living in the United States
(Gollnick & Chinn, 2017). Blacks still experience racism with
BLACK LIVES MATTERS MOVEMENT. By being African
American woman, I am a double minority.
As a female, I am a minority and women’s right movement
made improvements. In my opinion, the movements more
opportunities for women, but men get more of the highest
paying jobs. After the three waves of women’s movement,
women continues to fight for equal pay, (Gollnick & Chinn,
2017). The first wave began with Seneca Falls Convention
when goals was to gain the right to vote, own property, and
work. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 addressed civil rights of
women. With the second wave ,women gained greater access
to employment and educational opportunities. In the
reflection, with history of the movements in creating gender
equity, future principals are more likely to be males than
females. With continuing education, women will eventually
get same pay as men. In my perspective, women have gained
some ground in the workforce.
My culture also receives the discrimination of having African
American parents. My parents attended segregated schools.
With Civil Right Movement, they attended colleges and
obtained better paying jobs. The 1964 Civil Right Act led to
removal of Jim Crow Laws and expansion of civil rights to
women. Today, Black Lives Matters is decentralized political
and social movement protesting against incidents of police
brutality and all racially motivated violence against black
people. Because of Civil Right Movement, I am educated, own
a home , and living in a diverse city called Cedar Hill,Texas.
Yes, Civil Right movement created economical gains for African
Americans.
Religion is part of my culture. Religion is system of faith and
worship. Over the course of decades religious diversity has
increased as has interaction between different religious groups.
First among different kinds of protestants, then with Catholics
and ultimately members of non-Christian Cultures as well
(Gollnick & Chinn,2017). I was raised in Methodist church. My
father’s example of faith influenced my life. He held leadership
positions of steward and class leader for several years, and
organized several church activities. He received the Man of the
Year Award. I became a Sunday school teacher. Religion
played a vital role in my upbringing. Religion is still heavy in
African American communities, but we don’t attend services
every day of the week, and most importantly, the services are
much shorter. While both black and white a people read from
the same bible, the atmosphere and culture of religion is
different. In the white church, church services are quiet and no
one is yelling to the top of their lungs begging for a witness. In
my culture, after two prayers, two scripture readings, and A
& B selections from the choir, it’s already been a couple hours
and the preacher hasn’t come close to the sermon. Because
service was not ending any time soon, the religion teaches
patience and discipline. My age of 57 is the number of years I
have been alive. I have passed five of seven stages on human life.
The stages including infancy, early childhood, middle childhood,
adolescence, and early adulthood. Now, I am in middle
adulthood stage. After twenty years, I will be in old age stage.
Language is part of one’s culture. Language is a system of
oral sounds and/or nonverbal systems by which group
members communicates with each other ( Gollnick &
Chinn,2017). Culture shapes the language. My first language is
English. My second language is dialect, African American
English. African American English is heard at family reunions
and cookouts. Language goes hand in hand with geographical location.
Our identity are closely tied to the geographic area in which
we grew up and the places we later live. My parents moved
from rural Gonzales to urban San Antonio for better jobs. The
rural workforce earns less the it urban counterpart. Larger
cities offer large jobs, libraries, colleges and restaurants.
Because I spent most of my life in urban setting as San Antonio,
Texas and Dallas, Texas, urban culture has shaped my values as
better organized my time. Living in Texas has allowed me not
to experience racism.
Cultural Proficiency Elements
Cultural Proficiency is an inside and out approach to ensure
that we are doing as educators is done through lens. Cultural
Proficiency is set of behaviors and values that allow to apply
mindset tools to issues such as diversity. Everyone has culture,
we cannot have culture, nor can be have an environment that is
culture free (Borel, 2021). By applying the tools of cultural
proficiency I am becoming culturally proficient leader.
Framework including the four tools is essential in cultural
proficiency. These include: the barriers, the guiding principles,
the continuum, and essential elements. The essential elements
are five which are: assess culture, value diversity, manage the
dynamic of differences, adapt to diversity and institution
cultural knowledge. Culture is everywhere. In the teaching
profession, the teachers bring cultures with them to work.
Different cultures create diversity. Valuing diversity is
important because all cultures need to feel accepted and
appreciated. For example, all school have moments of silence
to promote religious diversity. Being Methodist, I take a brief
prayer at that moment. My acceptance of diverse religion in
classroom is managing the dynamics of differences. Future
leaders and educators must learn to adapt to diversity and
promote social justice in order to be a culturally proficient
leader. Culturally proficiency leaders embodies personal
experiences, self –assessment, and reflection. Also, I value
diversity as a special education teacher, I create divers
environments and programs to help students get the most out
of education. In order to expand my cultural knowledge, I
volunteer as mentor in Big Brother Big Sister Program.
Identity Development
After analyzing Cross’s (1971) Identity Groups Minority
Racial Identity Development Model, I have concluded that I sit
on the internalization stage. During the stage, I am secure in
racial identity with pro-black attitudes. I am willing to establish
meaningful relationships with whites. In my childhood, I was in
pre-encounter stage because young kids do not see racial
barriers. Because of being raised in the black community, I
passed through the encounter stage and immersion/emersion
stage. In elementary school, in encounter stage, by looking at
my skin I acknowledged that one cannot be white. In
immersion/emersion stage, I kept symbols of black powers on
my wall as racial identity in my bedroom. After completing of
master in special education, gaining employment, buying a
house in a diverse community, I am in the stage of
internalization/commitment. In this stage, I am comfortable in
my race and those around me.
Conclusion
My African American culture has taught me to serve God and
get a good education. Methodist religion played a vital role in
my upbringing and it taught patience and discipline. Religion
includes: singing hymns, prayer and bible studies. With role
models of parents and grandparents, religion is a must in my
life. My geographical location of Texas has allow me to avoid
racial discrimination. All of my life experiences and cultures
have created the person I am today. I am a dedicated special
education teacher working on becoming a culturally proficient
leader. My experiences impacted my personal views on equity, equality, social justice and diversity.
References
Borel, D.A. (2021) Cultural Proficient Leadership: EDLD 5312 week 2 lecture 1(PowerPoint presentation) .Retrieved from
https://luonline.blackboard.com
Cross,W.E. (1971) The Negro to black conversion experience: Toward a psychology of black liberation, Black World, 20,13-27.
Gollnick,D.M. & Chinn, P.C. (2107) Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society (10th ed).Boston, MA: Pearson.
Zimmerman, K.A. ( 2017, July 12). What is Culture? /Definition of Culture.