Hopes, Goals, and Thank Yous

Thank you to everyone for sharing your stories with me throughout this course!

My hope is that each early childhood professional would be conscious of the far reaching effect of his or her words and actions.

My goal for the early childhood field as that we will all become more and more aware of the wide variety of the ways people live and the wide variety of ways children learn and learn to value the unique knowledge that each child comes to school with, so that we can move closer to giving equal education to all children.

Welcoming Families from around the World: Zimbabwe

Welcoming Families from around the World: Zimbabwe

                To prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family, I will learn a few words especially family words, food words, and words about taking care of necessities in the language of the family. Before this, I will have to ask the family which language or languages of Zimbabwe the family speaks. I will also ask the family what type of schooling the child has received, and I will want to know any special skills the child has learned in helping out with family chores. I will also ask who I should call first when there are questions or conflicts, so as not to override the authority in the family. Finally, I will research some things about the culture of Zimbabwe. Below, I have shared some things I learned.

                These questions will benefit the family by helping them know that I don’t expect them to have my culture, but I also don’t expect that by reading about Zimbabwe, I will know about their particular family culture and system. I will benefit by knowing what knowledge the child might like to share and what knowledge might be helful to the child. I might also like to ask if they could share cultural items or skills with the class. This would also benefit both the family and the class.

Children are usually surrounded by relatives from the time they are born, and they are expected to earn to cooperate. Girls start helping in the family domestic work when they are about seven, and boys learn to herd livestock at about the same age in areas where herding is done. In every area, children are expected to help with one form of work or another. Children are not supervised while on their way to school or while playing with friends. In this way, children are expected to learn to take care of themselves.

There are two major languages spoken by the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. Most of the indigenous people speak Shona, but more than ten percent speak Ndebele. Sixty-two percent of people in Zimbabwe are Christian, but the people also mix in some of their more traditional beliefs with Christianity. Ancestral worship (Amadlozi) is also practiced widely in Zimbabwe. There is a very high literacy rate in Zimbabwe.

Shona is a tonal language with two tones: high and low. These are not indicated in writing.

Here is a link to someone speaking in Shona: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtXr7bckLyc&list=UUBgWgQyEb5eTzvh4lLcuipQ

The meat of one's clan totem was traditionally avoided; even today animals representing totems are rarely eaten. Read more:

http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Zimbabwe.html#ixzz35ENdq56y

Shona, Ndebele, Shangaan, and Venda are patrilineal societies in which descent is through the male line and after marriage a women moves into her husband's home. The Tonga people are matrilineal, and the husband moves to the home area of his wife. Customary marriages are rarely desolved by divorce, and it is possible in a customary marriage that a husband would take more than one wife. Households usually include extended family. Authority is vested in men, and wisdom is vested in age.

Traditional and modern medicines are used, and a distinction is made between minor ailments and serious illnesses. This is done partly because of the belief that illness may have been inflicted by angry spirits (justifiably or through witchcraft).

Driving while Black and my Invisible Privileges

Driving While Black and my Invisible Privileges

                I have experienced bias in my favor a couple times in the last five years. Twice in the last five years, I have been pulled over for having out dated registration tags. I have learned since then that the police officers were granting me my invisible privilege when they did not give me tickets. I have become aware in several classes at Walden University that many people who are Black have been pulled over simply for driving while black, and have had to endure degradation and financial hardship even when they had done nothing wrong. In contrast with this, I had done something wrong but did not receive a ticket. The story of one of my classmates follows:

I was driving on expressway I-240 on my way home. They were doing some construction on the road. I was on the telephone and made my regular routine turn onto an incoming street. Immediately, I was flagged down by the police officer. I came to a complete stop, shortly afterward. The officer jumped into his car, speeding with the lights on. The officer asked why I came onto the road. I explained that there was no road block sign stating that the road was closed. He yelled at me, stating that you could have killed someone.  Again, I stated to that officer, there should have been a road block sign up, indicating do not enter or road closed sign. The officer placed me in handcuffs, placed me in the back of his car, got into the car with me, and started to use very harsh words. He drove the car off into a very dark alley and continued yelling. I was so afraid; I did not know what to do. I had never been in a police car, ever. He held me in the car for about 3 (three hours).

Not only is this situation inequitable financially, but after so many similar situations throughout his life, my classmate probably has to remind himself daily that there is no reason that he should be treated inequitably. Last week, I heard many similar stories involving police officers and people who are Black. It is apparent that the law enforcement system in our country is a very biased institution. Police departments throughout the country need to reeducate police departments about diversity and about the damage they are causing to people through their prejudicial actions.

Now I feel guilty for not getting tickets. I am also relieved that I am not the one who was held for three hours. It is very random that Black people are the ones being tortured. Our places could easily have been reversed if history had taken a different course. Guilt without action is not worth much, so hopefully my guilt will motivate me to speak out more about the random inequity that occurs in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

                I have to go and pay my registration for this year now. I am late again. I haven’t been stopped by a police officer yet.