1. Who am I? Chayla - human having bad days, sad days, weak days, and happy days. 
2. Who do I pretend to be? Chayla- always positive, uplifting others despite how I feel, strong, easygoing like I am always in control.
3. Who do people think I am? Chayla- she’s so nice, she’s so helpful, she’s so motivating. 
4. Who do I wish I could be? I wish I could be all those things but I have bad days too. 
5. How has race or ethnic identity played a role in any of these responses? Race plays a role in all these responses. People don’t automatically see me, they see a “sassy”, “loud’, “funny”, black girl I looked at these stereotypes first. Then when people get to know it’s “Oh you are not what I expected” or “You’re actually smart.” 

1. What was your first experience with race? There have been a few this one just is one I remember at the moment, I was in grade school I was in a group of friends, and of the group there were two sisters. We played every day at recess, and at lunch, we’d eat together. One day they came to school and they were not talking to the black girls in the group which was a third of the group and they told us that their parents told us we cannot be your friends anymore because you will make us do bad things that’s what your people do. 
2. How old were you? 10
3. What emotions do you associate with the experience? Sadness, anger, and confusion.
4. Have you ever talked about the experience? Yes, when it happened my mom just explained to me like she has many times before that people have been taught racism and would rather carry it on than spread love.
5. How have your early experiences with race shaped your worldview? I think that I didn’t let my early experiences with racism change my viewpoint on the world. I learned that the world isn’t a kind place where people see my race before they see me.  I think that those experiences taught me that yes the world is changing but so many people are stuck in hate and just keep passing it on.

2. What do you think are the strengths and challenges of the Black family? Please state why you think so and provide examples.

   - Strengths Together/united A black family is always united and can come together for a loss, birthday, family reunion, or just having a get-together. Another strength is having our elders who are the backbone of the family keeping everything together.

   -Challenges Facing stereotypes about their household, people assume that a black household is always a single-parent household or just the typical stereotype of teen parents or “baby daddy/mama drama”. Another challenge is not having generational wealth to pass down or not knowing what to do. Lastly, one of the biggest challenges is the number of women to men because of the number of black men incarcerated. 

   
   

3. How do concepts such as racial socialization affect parents and children in Black families? Please explain.

   - I think that racial socialization affects parents and children in Black families in a positive way. From experience I was taught about race young I think it was very important that my mom did that because I talk to people and I realize that I haven't been exposed to their Identity or taught about their race. Understanding what racism is and how it impacts you is important because you might be experiencing racism and not even know that’s what is happening.

4. Based on our reading, what factors do you think have impacted Black families the most since slavery and why?- A factor that has impacted Black families the most since slavery is kinship. I think that kinship is something that is very alive in the Black family. So many times for many different reasons a family member will take in another family member's child making that village. When a mother or father passes away the rest of the family will step up to become that unit for the kids.

5. Search and find one academic resource that helps you understand this topic better and post it to your Padlet. State three main points from the resource and how it helps you understand this topic.

   - Hopkins, Marcía. “Family Preservation Matters: Why Kinship Care for Black Families, Native American Families, and Other Families of Color is Critical to Preserve Culture and Restore Family Bonds.” Juvenile Law Center, 24 September 2020, https://jlc.org/news/family-preservation-matters-why-kinship-care-black-families-native-american-families-and-other. Accessed 30 October 2023.

   3 main points I took from my resource to help me understand the topic was, the definition of kinship for African-Americans and Natives meaning coming together to make a tribe to protect and love the kids and loved ones. Also, I learned that during slavery the elders cared for children whose parents were sold into slavery I didn’t know that I knew that they would sell the children as well. Lastly, I didn’t know that foster care systems try to prioritize kinship by keeping kids within their communities. 

6. State one thing that you learned or one thing that stood out to you from the unit required reading, optional reading, or audio material in this unit. State its significance - Something I learned from the chapter 5 reading is about the rates of teen pregnancy and showing that in 1991 African-American girl rates were at 118.2, I am a little surprised by the number. I am a little surprised because a % of these pregnancies were nonconsensual. I watched a documentary about this I can't remember the name but it was saying how rape is an issue to African American women. One, African American women have been hypersexualized for years and that stigma has been terrible for their names. Two, incest is another issue. How many times have you heard don’t wear that uncle so-and-so is coming around most of the time they don’t believe the child and they have to keep the baby and raise it.

   
   

1-What is the Imposter Syndrome?= Imposter Syndrome is the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people feeling like "a fraud" or "a phony" and doubting their abilities.

2-How does the Imposter Syndrome affect a student in their educational journey AND into their career experiences?= Imposter Syndrome affects a student in their educational journey and into their career experience because they will experience accusations of cheating. Things such as the quality of the work couldn’t have come from them.

3-How does Imposter Syndrome specifically affect the self-esteem and mental health of African American women in the workplace? Links to an external site.?  =Imposter syndrome affects African American women's self-esteem and mental health because there is always a feeling that you don’t don’t belong wherever they go. It makes you feel like you aren’t as good or capable as others around you.

4-How do race and gender Links to an external site. play into the African American woman's experience in the workplace? =Race and gender play a big role in African American women's experiences in the workplace because black women are more than a small percentage in the workplace. African-American women have to code-switch within the workplace because we are not accepted when we speak as ourselves. Many people don’t respect women in positions of power and especially don’t respect a black woman in power. 

5-State one strategy that you believe would be successful in addressing this issue and improving the workplace for women of color.= A strategy I believe that would be successful in addressing and improving the workplace for women of color is to stop comparing them to other coworkers. Everyone is their own person, what Britney does you can’t expect that from Ashley and shame her for not being like Britney. Stop the mindset of thinking that the women of color in the office are the “token black girl” etc.

6- State one thing that you learned or one thing that stood out to you from the unit required reading, optional reading or audio material in this unit. = One thing I am taking away from the reading/slides is how teachers pay less attention to the kids who need more attention because of their outbursts or being too much. I think teachers don’t realize or don’t care that the other students notice. In high school there was a student who was disruptive but anytime he answered the question it was right. It was just the way he answered the question that was a disruption to the class. The teacher didn’t like that, so he would always get kicked out or he wouldn’t pay attention to him. This time he was not disrupted but the teacher antagonized him so that he could be able to kick him out. A lot of teachers wear their bias and blatant racism on their sleeves for us to see that they don’t want the students of color to succeed.

2. What stereotypes are perpetuated when racial microaggressions are thrown around towards a person of color? - Some stereotypes that are perpetuated when racial microaggressions are thrown out towards black women are “ is that your real hair” or “wow your hair is so big/fluffy” insinuating that black women can’t have long hair or it is automatically a wig. When a Black woman wears her natural hair is nitpicked making it seem that natural Black hairstyles are not professional. Things that I have heard directed towards Black men is “oh wow you’re in college what sport do you play, I’m sure you got a big scholarship” perpetuating that every time a black male is accepted to school it is automatically for a basketball or football scholarship. This makes it seem like Black people can not pay for their child's education.

3. Considering Intersectionality, what other issues does this theme affect in the African American community? - Looking from Intersectionality theme some other issues that affect the African American community because things like Black Lives Matter or movements for racial injustices happen they end up sparking towards other groups or up perpetuating systems of inequalities towards other groups. Intersectionality affects us each differently, showing how the system views us.

4. State how these theories of intersectionality, racial microaggressions, bias or white privilege affect one's understanding of "sense of self" or ethnic identity? -  The theories of intersectionality, racial microaggressions, bias or white privilege affect one's understanding of "sense of self" because microaggression brings down your self esteem. For me being young having a teacher pat your hair like you're an animal in a circus is an uncomfortable embarrassing situation. Having a teacher say your work is too good to be yours is embarrassing. It makes you feel like what you are doing isn’t enough.

5. Search online for a resource that helps you understand this topic more and post it to your Padlet. State why the resource shines some light on a perspective of this issue. -  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10316039/  I chose this resource to help me further understand this unit because this article shine light on how microaggressions and imposter syndrome correlate,  providing data of age,gender, and race that experience microaggression and what types of microaggressions.

6. State a strategy that you feel can be successful to address the use of microaggressions especially when the offender is unaware of how their reactions affect people of color. - A strategy I think we can use to address the use of microaggressions for someone who is unaware of how their reactions affect people of color is to address it immediately. Counteract their microaggression with a question like “ how do you mean” and explain how you initially interpreted it and why. 

7. State one thing that you learned or one thing that stood out to you from the unit required reading, optional reading or audio material in this unit.  -  Something that stood out to me from this unit was learning about “quiet bias” . I have learned about implicit and explicit bias but this was my first time hearing about that one. African Americans are affected by all these biases. This world is rooted in hatred and anti-blackness. 

2-WEAKNESSES: What are the weaknesses of Black neighborhoods and communities and state one solution to an issue you have raised? = One weakness of the Black neighborhood and community is not having black-owned corner stores anymore. I think if we had more black-owned stores in our neighborhoods I think incidents like what happened to Latasha Harlins wouldn’t have happened. A solution I have is to buy back those stores. I think having back Black-owned businesses in the community will have a positive impact on the youth seeing someone who looks like you have your own business. Also, gangs are a weakness of the Black community because it isn’t uplifting the community they are just making the youth do dumb things and just end up as another statistic.

3-OPPORTUNITIES: What are three ways in which Black neighborhoods and communities could play a role in the progressive movement of the Black community?= 3 ways the Black neighborhood and community can be progressive is by opening more black businesses, having more community outreach events that everyone actually knows about, and having events to clean up the community.

4-THREATS: What are three ways in which Black neighborhoods and communities could have a detrimental effect on the progressive movement of the Black community? = The Black community faces the detrimental threat of gentrification displacing people and businesses that have been there for years. For example, the community of Watts has had a bit of gentrification recently, with a new shopping center and replacing the projects with apartments. It looks beautiful, don't get me wrong but now I am seeing new faces of people 5-6 years ago who wouldn't have set foot there. 

5-Find one resource that helps you understand these themes and post it to your Padlet. State the resources' significance to this unit's material. = I chose this https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systematic-inequality/ as my resource because this article talks about systematic inequality and how Black families have a much lower level of wealth than white families, which makes them more economically unstable and gives them fewer prospects for upward economic mobility.

6-State one thing that you learned or one thing that stood out to you from the unit required reading, optional reading, or audio material in this unit. = From this unit I learned about how Central Park gentrified a whole community of African Americans destroyed. This reminded me of the history of Dodger Stadium, a whole community of people now have to struggle and find where they will lay their head.

 = The most important thing that I learned from this unit is the number of Black men to Black women. For years there were 91 males per 100 females but the men are less because of systemic racism, imprisonment, mortality, and due to morbidity. This leads to Black women being less likely to be married. This actually made me sad because growing up you see some of your friends with their father in their life and they are married. Others have the story of my dad being in jail or dead. I noticed in that type of situation the Black woman doesn’t go and move one but when it is vice versa the black male does go and marry someone else of another race.

2-How do long-standing stereotypes in the media of African American females being portrayed as property (i.e. in rap videos etc.) affect the psyche of those seeing these images and the African American woman's dating prospects? = Long standing stereotypes in the media of African American women portrayed as property affects the psyche of those seeing it because they believe these stereotypes that our woman aren’t more than “Bitches”, “Hoes”, and “Sluts” and used them just for their body and what they can do for you. This affects the African American women’s dating prospects because the people indulging in this media want to portray these negative stereotypes. This makes it hard when you are looking for a gentleman and you encounter a man who believes the media and thinks all women are hoes and just should shut up and listen to men.

3-What factors are contributing to the rising number of single Black unmarried females? = Some factors that contribute to the rising number of single unmarried Black women are Black women are no longer settling for less, they want to find this ideal person who is the image they are looking for. Also, Black women are willingly choosing to be single focusing on himself, education, business, spiritual growth, and self love. 

4-Why is there a stigma in the African American community against the LGBTQ community? = There is stigma in the African American communities against the LGBTQ community stemming from slavery. Main African Americans practice Christianity and use the bible to justify their reasons on why being gay is bad. I also say it stemmed from slavery because during that time African American women were not they only ones being raped the men were raped too. Many straight men who were raped don’t come forward because they don't want to be called gay. There is also stigma with HIV and being gay in the Black community because 43% of the HIV population is Black and Black gay and bi men were affected the most this also created more hatred for being gay. 

5-Find one resource that helps you understand these themes and post it to your padlet. State the resources' significance to this unit's material. = I chose this article because it highlights Black love and marriage and how beautiful it is. During slavery Black men and women couldn’t get married and as soon as it was made legal they rushed to do it, having the history and tradition of jumping the broom is so beautiful and showing love is so meaningful.

https://thetrinigee.com/blogs/the-trini-gee-insider/black-love-and-marriage-a-look-at-the-history-and-statistics#:~:text=Historical%20Background&text=After%20slavery%2C%20black%20couples%20were,marriage%20and%20build%20strong%20relationships. 

1. What does it mean to code switch and how does this affect an African American's success in life?= Code switching is the act of switching between two or more languages or varieties in grammar while talking. Code switching affects African Americans' success in life because it is  a performative expression and demeanor required for both climbing the economic ladder and successfully navigating relationships among races. When code switching is not just about how you talk, but also about how you look and carry yourself. Code switching can also protect African Americans in dangerous situations.

2. How does expecting code switching threaten diversity?= Expecting code switching threatens diversity because we are not allowing people to be their true selves. Code switching doesn’t allow people to be proud of who they are, by saying my natural hair isn’t professional, I can’t wear my cultural attire, or how I speak isn’t professional because I have broken English. 

3. How do the effects of code switching intersect with a persons' mental health? =Code switching affects people's mental health because a person has to constantly remember to put on this act for others and this is draining. This can be very stressful and depressing not being able to be authentically you.

4. Search online for a resource that helps you understand this topic more and post it to your Padlet. State why the resource shines some light on a perspective of this issue.  =I chose this article “The Costs of Code-Switching.” Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching this article breaks down the data of youth who have been/are exposed to code switching.

5. State a strategy that you feel can be successful to address the misconceptions about code switching that exist inside and outside of the African American community.=  A strategy that I feel can be successful in addressing the misconceptions about code switching  that exist inside and outside of the African American community is first explaining why code switching is used and understand how it helpful for situation involving the police where you need to  “acting polite and respectful when stopped” and “avoiding running even if you are afraid.” to save their life. 

6. State one thing that you learned or one thing that stood out to you from the unit required reading, optional reading or audio material in this unit. = From this unit I take away is learning that 80% of African Americans in the U.S. speak Black English. We all utilize the ability to code switch rather than people realize that.