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Ebony Wright

Joni Flowers

EDU 280-1004

05 June 2019

My Cultural Autobiography

Hello, my name is Ebony Wright and until recently I would have said it is pretty obvious,

I am African American. One day about 6 months ago, I met a Caucasian woman named Ebony.

That in itself is a great example of what multicultural education can do. I was born on November

19th, 1974 at Women’s Hospital here in Las Vegas, Nevada. I believe now it is called North Las

Vegas Hospital. Back then this hospital catered to women and is where almost everyone living in

Las Vegas were born at the time. As far as I can go back, my family is from Slidell, Louisiana. If

you are African American and your family is from America mostly likely your origins are from

the southern states because of slavery, which decreased the spread of many African cultures

within the families.

Culturally, I admire ethnicities that live out their culture. The only thing I know about my

culture is the strong sense of god in our lives. It is believed that during slavery you had to have a

strong sense of self, love and uplifting to get through the constant beratement of others. The

idiom “black people don’t need therapy we got Jesus” stems from that way of thinking and this

greatly influences me and my family. Traditionally, food is an element in my culture that has

been passed down from generation to generation. Some common foods are chitterlings, collard

greens, and blackeyes peas. This meal is eaten the first day of the year to bring prosperity, joy,

remembrance and good luck for the coming year. It is also an example of what slaves ate because

the owners did not care for or viewed as scraps. Other than those, everything I celebrate has to do
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with how I was raised in America and the fact that my family were slaves. Carrying on family

traditions because my great, great, great, grandpa or grandma left their traditions and culture

behind is not something I can look back on. I have many friends who can name where their

family originated for generations. For example, stating you are Scotch/Irish, knowing and living

your actual culture with your whole family and living in America for the last 100 years, is

something I will never experience or know. Yes, with the growing inventions and technology

figuring out where I originate is possible, but it leaves out the human nurturing aspect. Knowing

family and talking with others about my known relatives with pictures daily cultural behaviors

and attitudes that actually occurred will always be a fantasy for me. In my world, everything

starts and stops in Louisiana. This affects me all the way down to my name.

Many people make fun of Black people or African Americans because of our names.

Little do they know; this is our way of holding on to a piece of who we are because we were

previously forced to drop our names and our culture to become a well-trained slave. A lot of

blacks name their children “American” names to avoid stereo types and discrimination for

employment, loans, etc. As society becomes more integrated more people are using uncommon

and different names like the Caucasian woman named Ebony. For example, names like Lejuanna

pronounced (LayZhanna) like the French “J”, Quanisha, Trevina and Deroshia are common

names to me but are not for others and should have no stereotypical negatives.

This process has opened my eyes. It brought out emotions I suppressed for many years

and saddens me not to have a historical link to a culture that would have truly been who I am that

could have been taught generation after generation. I have learned that; it is imperative to share

my culture with everyone. I also realize how a multicultural education could have affected my
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family. I also learned, how ignorance and insensitivity of people and cultures can have negative

affects generations and generations later.