As a child, my mother encouraged her children to attend church services both on Sunday and throughout the week. The connection my mother had with God was evident through her daily way of living. My family is large and diverse. My mother’s family was led by the matriarch of the family, which was my grandma, Lucille. This woman was the epitome of a warrior. She had a total of 13 children and ten were girls. So it is no coincidence that my mother is the strong woman. My grandmother believed in God, but her faith was watered down by other practices like superstitious activity and idolizing things. Although, my grandmother did not understand some of the things she did were associated with ungodly ways. However, my mother and her siblings were introduced to God as children through neighborhood churches. Where the pastor would come around the neighborhood to pick up the children for Sunday school and church services. Which is when my mother got her first real knowledge of God. As my mother grew up, church was a constant part of her life. She gave her life to the Lord and never looked back. My father’s family was different in the males were very dominant. The women were influential while holding down the home front as the men provided a …show more content…
Everyone knew our last name and there was an extremely large amount of respect that accompanied it. Or so I was lead to believe. My paternal great-grandfather, Papa Jim had a white father and a black mother. He owned his own business during a time when men of color did not. I might add he was often times mistaken for a white man. My great grandfather gave many of the black families a chance to earn money to feed their families. Even with my great grandfather’s helpful nature, there were those who resented him for his success. That resentment was passed down through those families in the same manner heirlooms are passed down through family
Before, the Joad family relied on a traditional family structure in which the men worked outside of the house and made the decisions while the women obediently did as they were told and tended to the house and raising of children. An example that shows how invested are they in these roles is how everyone continues to honor the grandfather as the head of the family despite the fact that he has outlived his ability to act as a sound leader, becoming just another person to feed and care for. Many will hold to a tradition family structure even in times of duress and pressure because it gives them comfort. Some families have a hard time being flexible and research has shown that allowing you and others room to change and adapt can be very healthy. (Price & Price, 2005)
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
While I never knew my father, I did grow to know the challenges faced by African Americans. I first began to feel different when I transferred from public to private middle school. People began asking about my ethnicity for the first time in my life. Until this time, it had never seemed important. Although I had never been overly fond of my curly hair, it, along with other traits deemed too 'ethnic' looking, now became a source of shame. I had a few not so affectionate nicknames because of those curls. I was shocked to realize that people considered me different or less desirable because of these physical traits. Being turned away from an open house in my twenties was just as shocking as being ...
My objective for writing this essay on the black family was to examine and interrogate a myriad of stereotypes surrounding this family structure. Slavery and its inception need to be explored because it enables one to acquire a better understanding of the modern day black family. It is my hope that once we achieve this level of understanding, if not acceptance, that we may be able to start the healing process that is so necessary.
The main gender roles that are described include the males job is to being the bread winner, which means he provides the financial support and the females’ job is to stay home to look after the kids and do the house work. The male is the dominant one in a family, if a female is not just married her father is dominant but when she gets married the dominance is transferred to her husband. When the father gives his daughter away at the wedding, which means he’s giving up control and dominance of his daughter to her husband. An example of the husbands having dominance is that the wife has to ask for approval to drink alcohol.
When Africans were brought to America during slavery they were forced to give up most of their heritage and were usually separated from their families. This common occurrence usually brought about tremendous pain and grief to the slaves. “West Africa family systems were severely repressed throughout the New World (Guttmann, 1976)”. Some slaves tried to continue practices, such as polygamy, that were a part of traditional African cultures but were unsuccessful. However, they were successful in continuing the traditional African emphasis on the extended family. In the extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents played important roles. Slaves weren’t allowed to marry, but they didn’t let that stop them, they created their own marriages. And through all the hardships they had placed on them, they developed strong emotional bonds and family ties. The slaves discouraged casual sexual relationships and placed a lot emphasis on marriage and stability. To maintain some family identity, parents named their children after themselves or other relatives or sometimes gave them African names.
Indian society was patriarchal, centered on villages and extended families dominated by males (Connections, Pg. 4). The villages, in which most people lived, were admini...
There are still families that are respected because of their legacy. For instance, the Kennedy’s were already a prominent family in society before John F Kennedy became president. Other prominent family names include Hilton, Gates, Booth, and Pinckney because of the histories and wealth associated with these families. This way, people are still born with a certain level of honor and prestige based on the family name they carry. Even on a local level, families carry reputations of having certain traits. Before meeting a Falls, one may expect to encounter a calm, reserved, intelligent person because those are traits associated with the Falls name. On a personal level, a person’s name still holds keys to a story. Public records are kept on everyone. A skilled researcher could uncover a person 's past simply by researching a name because that name carries a story. Anything a person does, whether good or bad, is associated with a name. Sometimes people to form opinions on someone based on a person’s name because the name alone tells a story. Modern cultures may view names casually, but they still carry power
Looking back on my childhood, I have many memories shrouded in fear and self-loathing. I was raised in the Baptist church. My mother and grandmother made sure that I attended church every Sunday morning. My grandmother was from the mid-west. She carried her strict Bible belt background with her as she traveled west with my grandfather. The many lessons I learned from my grandmother and the minister at our church played a big part in how I began to see the world and my place in it.
The disrespect and irony can be seen when Dee changes her name from a family name to a name that an ancestor could have had while still in Africa. After her Mom finds out she has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo she confronts Miss Wangero about this blatant disrespect, “You know as well as me you were named after your aunt Dicie” (Walker 488). Dee’s name had been her Aunt’s, her Grandmother’s, and her Great Grandmother’s. Dee’s name was a family tradition that could be traced through 4 generations. Dee’s mother went on to say, “I could have carried it back beyond the Civil War through the branches” (488). Dee’s name could had been in the family since before the Civil War. Dee’s only defense for abandoning this family name was that she didn’t want to have a name that was handed down from a slave master. Dee says “ I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.”(488) It’s ironic that Dee would choose to give up the traditional family name in order to pick up a name someone could have had in Africa. It’s ironic to drop a tradition in order to revive one that may or may not have ever been observed by their family. It’s ironic because Dee lost her family’s tradition in order to save one that someone else
This question is one of the examples that displays that gender roles are slowing progressing into change. If I had to asked this question again 50 years ago, I would probably get more fathers as answers and none for mothers. The next two questions discuss what is expected of men and women in the household. I put the most common tasks that men and women are associated with; cooking/cleaning and earning money. 17 participants said that men are expected to earn money and 14 participants state that women are expected to clean/cook. My prediction was right when I stated that this is the norm in traditional cultures. The last two questions asked if participants felt superior/inferior to their opposite gender. These two questions had an effect and cause on identity from the family. Most participants stated that they did not feel superior or inferior to their opposite gender. I believe if I asked this question to participants who I personally knew that grew up in an extremely strict household; I would get more “yes” than no”
As I stated before, I grew up in church. In fact, the church I attend today is the one my father started attending when he was only seven months old. I have strong familial ties to my church and that is ultimately where my faith began. I sometimes reminisce back to when my father would sing Amazing Grace with me and my mother would teach me Bible stories. Together, my parents were my Sunday School teachers from third to sixth grade. I loved going to church as a family: my sister, my parents, and myself included. My sister, two cousins, and I even formed a singing group at my church in honor of my grandmother, Minnie (we were called “The Minnie Maberrys”) Needless to say, my family has been an integral part of my faith. I have sought encouragement from them and the wisdom they have instilled in me will remain with me for a lifetime. Another crucial facet of the growing of my faith has been the Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization, or FCA for short.
The beginning of my faith journey can be described as rocky, at best. Each Sunday morning my dad would stay home just so that he could catch every possible second of Sunday football coverage. I wasn't even exactly sure who God was; my mom just told me I had to go to church "'cause I said so." This upset me, especially as a child. Furthermore, the example that my father set for me was far beyond comprehension. Who was he to tell me to go to church when he didn't even go himself? For a long time, I lost trust in my parents because I was being led on so many different paths.
Which brings me to Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development, specifically Individual-Reflective Faith which occurs in early adulthood. Growing up as a family we went to church every Sunday and sometimes even twice a week, everyone in my family was a catholic and that was expected from all of us, no questions asked. I even got baptized as a baby and did my first communion when I was about nine years old. I did not mind the expectation from my family when I was little because I loved church, especially the singing. Then came a time where both of my parents started to work on Sundays, so did my sister, and so my brother and I helped out at my parents restaurant. Ever since then we really have not made church a priority, I believe this is what effected my encounter with my mother when I was eighteen years old. I was currently taking a class called “religion in the modern world” and learned about all rituals and how different religions support different things than others, and it got to me to reflect on what religion I grew up learning about. Some things I liked and some things I was horrified by. So talking to my mother, I was telling her my opinions and what I believed in and that there is not just one way to believe or think. She was furious, I was stepping out of the norm, but it had been because of my Individual-Reflective Faith than lead me to this stage. I am very thankful I was able to reflect on my faith, I now have a stronger bond on my beliefs and now my mother totally supports me on it, so it was all for the best that I went through this
When my sister once asked me why I never went to church with her, it only led to an intense conversation. A heated discussion erupted when we talked about the existence of a higher power. She persisted on the assurance that one existed, while my mind reflected otherwise. Being as stubborn as we are, we were not going to change our minds. However, she gave me reasons as to why she believed that a god existed. For example, one time she needed money to travel out of town on a trip, and the following day at work she received a $100 tip. Another time, she said that once while driving home from work, a horrible storm blew in and she could only see inches in front of her car. Once she pulled over and the storm passed, the realization that a few feet ahead lay a