Who I Am...

“Out of the huts of history's shame…I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain…I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear…I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear…I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise…I rise…I rise”
Maya Angelou “Still I Rise”

I recently received a friend request on the popular networking site, Myspace.com. So many people are apart of this network, that I never screen my friend request, I always accept everyone as a friend. I accepted this person without thinking twice about it and not even looking at his picture. Some days later this person left me a message about “the old days,” however, I still did not know who it was. Eventually, I got around to looking at his page and realized it was a friend with whom I had gone to elementary school and middle school. I had not seen "C" since we had gone to different high schools. I was glad to see that he had also gone to college and traveled far outside of North Philadelphia/Philadelphia. Many of our classmates did not have the same fortunate pathways as "C" and I. If they are still alive, they have children, did not complete high school, or are/have been incarcerated.

“I am the dream and hope” of my African Ancestry, of the enslaved Africans, of the southern sharecroppers, of the streets of North Philadelphia, of my public school education, and of my family. All these factors have played a role in who I have become today and the person I will eventually evolve into. This portion of Maya Angelou’s poem reminded me of my recent reconnection with my “old” friend, "C". We have surpassed what was expected of us as Black children from North Philadelphia and as products of the Philadelphia Public School System.
I view myself as a multicultural being, not because I am a woman of African descent, which is thought to be an automatic descriptor of multiculturalism, but because of my experiences, relationships, and involvement with different people and groups. I view multiculturalism as a factor of what we do, which makes us who we are. The things that I have done and have been apart of has molded me into the multicultural being that I am today.

My identification as a Black Baptist, a singer and lover of music, a Spelman Woman, a University of Pennsylvania Graduate Student of Education, among many other things have made significant contributions to who I am. I identify as a Black Baptist and not a Baptist because there are significant differences and traditions that are apart of “the Black church” that are not apart of other churches or religious institutions. For example, my love of music and singing began in church. The music of the Black church plays a significant role in the service and in the life of people apart of the church. My identification as a member of the Black Baptist culture, has lead to my identification as a member of the gospel music culture, which has expanded my interest in all types of music such as jazz, r&b, ragtime, swing, neosoul, rap, of which all can be traced back to gospel music and other church music.

I also identify myself as a Spelman woman. For four years I attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. This one experience has probably had one of the greatest impacts on my life. During the four years I was at Spelman, I was exposed to so many new and different things both inside and outside of the classroom. I feel like I became my own person, with my own ideas and perspectives that I did not mind sharing with others even when my beliefs were unpopular. While at Spelman, I was able to explore new parts of myself and new lifestyles that my family, my friends, my church, and my home-culture, did not allow me to explore when I was in that environment. As a result of removing myself from those things, I was truly able to figure out who I am, what I like, how I like it, and what I want to do.

When I finished Spelman in May 2006, I came back to my family, my church, and my home-culture, of which all have remained the same. Who I am now, is a different person than who I was then, which has created some dissonance; however, in dealing with this dissonance, I feel like I have become a member of a new culture: the learning to cope with “change” and difference after returning home from college culture.

The newest culture I have joined has been the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Students of Education culture. When I joined this culture I thanked my parents and my professors at Spelman for making me the person I am with the knowledge I have, because it has come in handy. I am often the only person of color in my classes, which often means that I am the only one with a certain ideology or practice. Despite my underrepresentation on this campus and in my classes, I still feel the need to assert who I am and make my voice known. Similarly, my classmates often present view points that I have never considered and in being who I am, I think it is only right for me to listen to and respect their opinions, but interject when their perspectives marginalize others.

Who am I? I am the dream and hope of all who have come before me and who have come from the same place I have come from. I have worked to carry out the great legacy of my African Ancestors. I have worked to carryout “the dreams and hopes” of enslaved Africans, southern sharecroppers, and Civil Rights leaders who worked towards paving a road of equality and equity. I come from the streets of North Philadelphia and am a product of a public school education, but I have not let these stereotypical circumstances determine all that I am. I have sort out more experiences and lifestyles which has lead me to who I am, this multicultural being.