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1. There’s No Place like Home: An Ethic of Cultural Love
- Temple University Press
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1 There’s No Place like Home An Ethic of Cultural Love There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. —Maya Angelou W e often imagine our cultural historians, storytellers, and griots to be elders—those that have lived long lives with deep meaning. But my own, Gen-X story bears witness to the fact that seeds of insight and wisdom do not take very long to grow. Whether the cause is the nurturing sun and rain (family love and encouragement) or toxic pesticides (poverty and oppression), our young flowers grow up fast. And they have incredible stories to tell. The voices and cultural experiences of young adults need to be heard. However, across many ethnicities today, folks often wonder if younger generations have what it takes to keep culture alive. Culture is not simply an individual experience—there is a strong sense of group ownership and history. And the group is becoming increasingly worried about the sustainability and future outlook of their cultural heritage. The torch is still burning, but many older generations are worried that young people may not have the stamina and training to keep the fire lit. As a scholar-practitioner in higher education, I have worked for almost fifteen years with young adults as they grew personally, intellectually , and socially. I use the term “scholar-practitioner” because I have enjoyed a career working with college students both as a professor in the classroom and as a campus administrator guiding their broader college experience outside the classroom. I have worked with young people as they prepare to enter the university in precollege or orientation programs. I have advised college students as they experience the initial excitement of becoming involved in campus leadership activities. I have guided students as they wrestle with truly understanding sisterhood, brotherhood, community, and service through membership in fraternities and sororities. I have lived with students as they experience the first taste of autonomy and independence. I have traveled all over the world there’s no place like home 19 with college students—observing them as they come to know themselves and the world more deeply. In visits to prisons and local public schools, in mentoring programs, at campus cultural events, in community leadership trips that have taken us across the United States, and in college classrooms, I have had an incredible educational journey with my young traveling partners. I have witnessed the process of life transformation and personal growth in young people ’s lives. There are many things in my life that remain a mystery, but one thing that I know well is college students. I have spent far too much time with them not to understand their hopes, dreams, and fears. And during my time working with these incredible young people, they have often confided in me—sharing bits and pieces of their life experiences, family struggles, and personal challenges . About five years ago, I began engaging students in a more formal reflective writing exercise as part of a research study. My goal was to pen these life stories, which I call “cultural self-portraits” in a more intentional way. Students were asked to tell me their cultural life story—the good and the bad. I originally hoped that by analyzing the elements and experiences included in their stories, I might be able to tease out an understanding—a portrait of how young adults define and value “culture” in a contemporary world. What I found was that young people today not only have ideas and perspectives on culture; they also have lived truly incredible and awe-inspiring lives. Since the first group that participated in this study, I have had more than a hundred students author cultural self-portraits. These students have come from different geographical areas, economic backgrounds, and racial and ethnic groups. What has been almost shocking is that across differences in age, ethnicity, and race, most young adults describe the core foundations of culture in the same ways. For example, family is consistently discussed as a critical component of culture. Across racial and ethnic groups, the specific family experiences, traditions, and rituals differ. But the idea of family as an important cultural foundation is shared regardless of race. The stories about family, poverty, life struggle, commitment to education, and spirituality that young people shared with me were insightful and inspiring . Their stories helped me to understand this generation much better. I have spent many years interacting with older educators and community members who have...