Cristina Rios
February 20, 2014
For one of our
classes we attended Dr. Cynthia Chapa's presentation on the Afro-German
community. She spoke of a lot of things that had happened towards these people
that was very common for those of minority groups or who looked different from
the majority. They often suffered the question of where they belonged. What I
understood from Dr. Chapa's presentation was that these group of people needed
awareness because most people were oblivious to this community. She spoke about
various attempts for bringing awareness of this culture. I for example, did not
know that there was an entire community and culture of Afro-Germans. When one
of my African American friends told me she had been born in Germany I did not
think much of it and just found it very unique. This is what most people think
which is what Dr. Chapa was trying to explain.
Then she also spoke about various
prestigious people bringing awareness of this group through books and
presentations and even movies. She mentioned a couple such as Auma Obama,
Obama's half sister, with her book titled And Then Life Happens. Also about
Paulette Reed-Anderson who was an important figure in this movement. Some very
important figures were Martha Wegner and Theophilus Wonja Michael from Berlin.
These people all attempted to bring light to this hidden community.
What I was able to get out of this
presentation was that I am very similar to this community than I thought. I too
am a person with two cultures. As a Mexican American, I can relate to the low
awareness we had before. It is different now but we still suffered through the
same things such as not knowing where we actually belonged. From some of my
previous classes, this type of situation is called marginalization. I am very
glad that Dr. Chapa was able to provide us with information on what this group
went through because even though they are known now, some people are still
ignorant to this group and their trajectory in life.
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