Rosalie Romeo

Cultural Belonging

My mother is Filipinx and my father is Italian. I have always been proud to

identify as Filipinx. In grade school I would proudly tell teachers and
classmates about my heritage and my culture and how proud I am to be a
part of it. Being Filipinx is a huge part of my identity. At home, I speak
Tagalog and Bisaya with my mother and my aunt. I can fluently understand
them and I am also trying to have them teach my baby how to speak our
language. I mostly identify as an Asian-American (Filipinx-American).
Growing up in America has definitely shaped who I am as a person because
if I was completely raised in the Philippines, I most likely would not be the
person that I am today. I consider myself very progressive, liberal, and
understanding. In the Philippines, they are heavily influenced by their
religion and super conservative. Taking what I know about my culture, but
also being raised in America helped me to be who I am today and helped me
shape and form my own opinions on myself and the world around me. I also
very much enjoy Filipinx foods. Whenever I have a party for whatever
occasion, I would bring lumpia, Filipinx spaghetti, pancit, or adobo. For my
Italian side, I am also proud, but my father never really educated me on our
culture, so I never grew up completely immersed in it. I took Italian for two
years in college, but that was the extent to my cultural background as an
Italian-American. Music is also a huge part of my background. I can
remember belting to the songs of Imelda Papin or any other classic Filipinx
singer with my mother as we rode in the car, cleaned the house, or karaoke at
parties.
Life Experiences

My whole life I have struggled with who I am, what I believe in, and how that
conflicts with my family and their beliefs. Since I was born in 1997, I have
been living through a time of great progression when it comes to cultural
sensitivity and acceptance as well as acceptance with the LGBTQ+
community. My background can be very racist and homophobic and growing
up I would hear and experience a lot of it. I had to challenge what I learned and
form my own opinions on myself and the world. The difficulties sprung when I
would call my family out on their own negative and harmful behaviors and
thoughts. I would call them out and educate them on how they were being
harmful and that would create a huge divide between me and them. Growing
up, it was always a hostile environment at home since I was the black sheep. I
was still proud to be Filipinx, but I was not Filipinx enough for my family. To
them I was white-washed and I was an American who did not respect them or
their culture. I always battled internally with who I am and what I represent. I
am so glad that I am growing up in a time where there is cancel culture and
people are being held accountable for their actions. Where there are
movements for marginalized communities in order to uplift and support them.
There is still so much more that needs to be done, but we are slowly working
towards progression. I am also glad that I was able to fully support myself and
finish my bachelor’s degree in Gender and Sexulaity Studies with minors in
Human Services and Couples and Family Therapy. That further helped expand
my worldviews and my ideologies. I love to read books that feature and give
spotlights to marginalized characters as main antagonists as well as
volunteering in my community. I also enjoy being lazy and watching movies
and TV shows within multiple genres.
My
Worldview

Acceptance

Awareness

Balance

Compasion

Empathy

Understanding

Knowledge

Integrity

Courage

These are the values that I live by.

It is important to accept everyone no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or

sexuality. It is equally important to be aware of your own biases and
prejudices in order to work towards dispelling them. It is important to have a
balance in your life to keep your mental health healthy. Compassion,
understanding and empathy tie in with acceptance. It is also important to
value knowledge because you can never stop learning or educating yourself.
Integrity is important because it shows that you have values and morals that
you hold yourself to and you would not sacrifice them for any reason.
Courage is important because you need to be courageous to fight for and
advocate your beliefs.
Cultural Artifacts