Cross Cultural Psychology

       Jumping The Broom is the first tradition that comes to my mind when I think of aspects of African American culture. The act of jumping over a broom after newlyweds say I do symbolizes sweeping away the old to make way for a new beginning. 

        Prior to the civil war, “jumping the broom” was a ceremony where slaves were forced to marry one another by their slave owners. Slave owners would take a broom then have two slaves jump over it before they were considered married instead of legally conducting a wedding with an ordained minister. In contrast to the current practice,sometimes the brooms were held in the air, and other times the broom was held on the ground. Some pairs jumped over a single broom while other pairs each jumped over their own broom. Some historians believe that slave owners forced slaves to undergo this tradition to mock them. Other historians believe the practice was enforced to prove to Northern abolitionists that slave owners were kind to their slaves by allowing them to have elaborate wedding celebrations.By the 1830’s and 1840’s, jumping the broom was a tradition that slaves understood as their own. 

        Not many people within the black community are aware of the American origin of the Jumping the Broom tradition. However, those that are aware debate about whether they should continue the practice to honor their ancestors, or to discard what they consider to be a”archaic” tradition.I personally do not feel the tradition should be discarded, and looked down upon. Even though there is no concrete evidence to support why slave owners forced the slaves to jump to broom, the fact that the practice signified new beginnings for slaves is worth remembrance and respect. With that being said, I do not plan to jump the broom at my wedding celebration. I will have one incorporated into my wedding as a prop though.

In the Caribbean culture there are many different celebrations that go on. All of these celebrations have different origins and meanings to them. In Nassau there is a celebration called Junkanoo.There are many origin stories that come up when you ask people about what started the celebration. The most common origin story, however, has to do with the times of the slaves.  The story is the people that were enslaved by the many loyalists that came into the country were given 3 days off around Christmas time. During these 3 days the people would have a celebration full of song and dance parading from house to house, letting them remember the times before enslavement. They would have colorful masks, dancing, signs made on crepe paper and cardboard, and much more. When slavery was abolished the celebrations had stopped due to the people not being slaves anymore. The people had started the tradition, however, to remember their past and also to entertain and educate people on Caribbean culture.

The head wrap, which is called “gele” is a part of a woman’s traditional attire in my culture. Female adults, typically from age 20 and above wear the gele as a sign of elegance and maturity. Women often wear a uniformed colored gele if they are among an organization or in the family that are involved with an event, such as a wedding or party. This photo is actually my mother and her fellow members of their organization, which is called Umuada ATL. Umuada means native daughter; hence, Umuada ATL means daughters of a common ancestor in Atlanta. The organization was established for the older women to empower women and especially the female youths. As time is changing, as well as living in many different environments, they strive to ensure that females have self confidence and value themselves. The common gele among the ladies bring awareness to their goal by promoting unity and expressions. Although, the common gele have similar colors, the women are free to make theirs at various heights based on their preference. It’s kind of funny to see the various styles that are chosen because the women usually make them or get them made based on what they feel is trending at the time. I just go by what I like, which is the small ones with multiple layers. The gele is usually not worn with just anything. The elegant head wrap must have an elegant attire and jewelry to match. The attire is typically with a traditional style. The style is usually a lace made blouse with a wrapper that must be wrapped with feet apart to help with walking once its tied. At a Nigerian party, the women with common gele usually get a lot of attention, which brings more awareness to their cause. Umuada initially started in Atlanta and today, this organization is global and continues to grow. I honestly thank the gele as the traditional head wrap adds a fun fashion that attracts people and indirectly gives a messages to the females that we should remain elegant because it is ingrained in us how the gele usually makes a woman feel and look. I am also aware that many other cultures use the gele but I don’t know if they all have similar representations. I would love to find out so I guess I got some researching to do!

This is a picture of Vincy Mas. Vincy Mas is the carnival that takes place in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is similar to Cropover in Barbados. Mas, which is short for masquerade, is an event that initially was a pre-lent affair introduced to us by the French. After years of changes, we have what is celebrated today, which includes African, Indigenous, and European traditions. Vincy Mas is a 12 day annual event, which ends with the carnival parade pictured above. Many different groups of people organize sections referred to as “bands”, and each band incorporates a colorful bathing suit style costume adorned with feathers and accompanied by a large headdress or back piece. The band Party Nation SVG is pictured above, as they followed a beautiful orange theme for Vincy Mas 2017. Though the costumes were once an opportunity for indigenous Caribs and escaped slaves to each express their own culture in a place of solidarity, now costumes come from a sense of individualistic creativity as usually a single person designs the costume for each band. As a first generation immigrant from St. Vincent, this festival is a very important event for me as well as other Vincentian diaspora as it allows a chance for us to go back to our home country yearly and celebrate our roots. Because majority of my family falls in the category of indigenous Carib, we value Vincy Mas as it helps us to remember our ancestors while celebrating the path they have created for us now. 

Hanbok is a traditional type of Korean clothing that is often worn at special or traditional occasions. The history of the hanbok traces back to the origins of Korea itself and has continued to experience foreign influences. With a dress style for women and a pant style for men, the hanbok has multiple garments that make one outfit. A traditional hanbok has different styles, patterns, and colors that once was used to symbolize one’s level of social class. More contemporary styles of the hanbok have been adopted and are commonly worn by many people in Korea today. To maintain the traditional hanbok culture, there is a hanbok rental service in Korea that allows people to borrow their choice of hanbok for the day. This is an excellent way for tourists to directly assimilate traditional Korean culture. 

As a Korean-American born in the United States, wearing a hanbok is not very common for me. However, older members of my family usually wear a hanbok on wedding days, birthdays, or traditional holidays such as “Chuseok”, Korea’s major harvest holiday. When I went to visit Korea, I was able to rent a hanbok and walk around the historical palace nearby called Gyeongbokgung Palace. By wearing a traditional hanbok and exploring historical monuments, I was able to re-connect and truly appreciate my home culture. It felt like I was a part of the traditional Korean culture, and it is definitely an experience that both visitors and citizens of Korea should partake in. 

Dreadlocks. What do you think of when you hear this word? Black people. Men. Trouble -makers. Jamaica. Bob Marley. I believe that a single story has been told about dreadlocks. A single story of the rebellious black man’s hairstyle, but dreadlocks has many stories. They involve many cultures, but I want to speak on mine. Dreadlocks in Jamaica started during post emancipation. It was a means of defiance for ex-slaves to rebel against Euro-centrism that was forced on them. The hairstyle was originally referred to as a “dreadful” hairstyle by the Euro centric Jamaican society. It later evolved to the term now used: Dreadlocks. It represents freedom. Independence. Self-choice. It is also represents strength to Rastafarians. Men who took the Levitical vow to not cut their hair (along with other dietary restrictions). Their hair was a symbol of their strength and cutting it would make them weak. These are just two of the stories of dreads as they relate to Jamaica. Now what do you think of when you hear dreadlocks?

   In class we learned that culture is more than just your race, but also any institution or group that you are apart of. The picture is a class picture of the basic training camp that I went to and my first step within the Army culture. The Army from the time I stepped off the bus to the time I left basic training begin to install their core Army values such as Integrity, duty, honor, Respect, Selfless Service and Personal Courage upon me. Not only did they teach us the values of being a soldier, but also through the tough situations and conditions that we had to go through those same values where reinforced.  Undoubtedly the army is a collective culture, where that trying to be an individual is highly frowned upon. The collective culture of the army begins with we unity and the accountability of each other . For example  if one person gets in trouble for not being in the right uniform than we all get in trouble.  In a sense creating a system where we look out for each other. In the end I am happy to have been able to join the Army culture as its one of many things I am proud of.

Above is a picture of a traditional Wayang Kulit puppet from Indonesia.The term Wayang derives from the Indonesian word for shadow, Bayang, due to the traditional practice of utilizing these puppets to produce shadow theater. These puppets have a longstanding history throughout the various islands of Indonesia dating as far back as the 800’s. Because it was widely believed that the puppets were able to be temporarily inhabited by ancestral spirits during performances, the shows were held at the cemeteries where the founders of each village were buried. Each founder is believed to have a particular puppet character that they prefer and that they will choose repeatedly to perform through. The Wayang Kulit puppets were originally produced from water buffalo hide, but are more typically produced from metal currently. Each Puppet is intricately carved and painted before being welded to thin metal posts that can then be held by the puppeteer during shows. When not being used for a performance, the puppets regularly serve as beautiful decorations within homes and performance centers. Growing up, my family had many Wayang puppets throughout our house as decoration and although they can look a bit frightening, they are also quite beautiful and served as a great reminder of traditions that my ancestors held dear. 

 

Of all of the aspects and trends that go into Black culture, hair is something that has remained a constant. When I was younger, my mom struggled to find products that worked on my hair. Stylists wanted to either perm or flat out not do it. Most of society told me that it was ugly/unmanageable, and I’ve grown to realize that this is an experience for the women and men in my culture. We were all expected to cut, hide, and alter our hair to fit societal norms. Lately, more and more Black people are embracing their different hair textures. Recently, ex-FLOTUS Michelle Obama was spotted with her hair in its natural state; and the community found that as a relief. Solange even made an entire song that covered a few concepts of hair. If you were to take a look around your class room, you would see less Caesar cuts and more styles embracing natural hair. These images, though he guy posted that as an “opposite” of Solange, somewhat represent where the culture stands with hair. We’re in a good place; and, hopefully we can continue to embrace ourselves.

Today, I would describe my family’s culture as simply American.  However, we do have one unique tradition: the birthday table. Everyone gets a birthday table to wake up to on his or her birthday. When we were young, going to sleep the night before our birthday felt like going to sleep on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa. But unlike Christmas, the next morning would be all about you! Of course, the content and excitement levels evolved over the years as tables with wrapped toys turned into cards with money and flowers. We do our best to make sure everyone gets some form of a birthday table no matter what age. The first picture is from my birthday this past February with cupcakes, flowers, and inside that box is a large painting from my parents. Somehow, no matter where I am living, my mom has always found a way to make it work. My roommates have been great sports and I never expect it, especially the older I get. The second photo is my mom’s table from this past weekend. We were visiting my grandma in Orlando, where my grandma had it set up waiting to surprise my mom when we arrived. My family is very loving year round but birthday tables are one tangible way we let each other know we are grateful that person was born!