African American Culture

To understand African American culture, it is necessary to analyze the culture from various points of view. I have acquired several perspectives on life, research, and career advancements. To understand the different angles of the African American culture, I need to look at my personal life and former knowledge that influenced how I perceive this area. My early days were in culturally represented spaces from which I learned a lot about many cultural practices and traditions, specifically the ones concerning African American groups. Cultural differences have brought me personal enlightenment; my cultural diversity awareness, coupled with cultural diversity interpretation, not only interpreted cultural diversity but also allowed me to appreciate cultural diversity.

Interpreting this culture is also essential in the revelation of African American cultures. Through utilization of the findings from Smith et al. (2019), it is notable that the perception, representation, and expressions of African American culture and their impact on different aspects of life. These aspects include health promotion programs and behavioral interventions that can be meaningfully investigated and understood. Smith et al. (2019) explore the relationships between individualistic and collectivistic values and their consequences for the behavior of African American and European American children. The study addresses the importance of knowing cultural orientations and how they affect children’s growth. The article highlights that African American children had greater individualistic values than European American children. 

Drawing from module content and external sources, I have comprehensively understood African American culture. African American Culture spans not only literature and art but also music, cuisine, and so forth, and it is based on the experiences and creativity of its people. Contextualizing how genres like Jazz, Blues, and Hip Hop developed within cultural movements like the Harlem Renaissance helps one to appreciate their contemporary significance in African American society and their influence beyond that culture. The studies stress that family, school, and socialization values influence children’s art values and behavior. These children are African American, meaning kinship relationships, extended family, and communal activities are brought to the fore. It conforms to previous research on the importance of the closeness of the family and the mutual dependence in the family of African Americans. The paper enlarges our knowledge of African American communities’ cultural strengths and resilience by discussing the aspects of cultural values, namely, familism and respect.

The theme of mistrust holds immense relevance as it alludes to historical and systematic issues such as racism and discrimination, which have prompted distrust among African Americans towards any element of healthcare systems and research institutions (Ortega-Williams et al., 2019). Instead of recognizing and prosecuting these cultural characteristics, the researchers believe that clinical trials and behavioral programs designed for African American participants will suitably derive their own to meet their needs and expectations. This idea corresponds to the broader goal of culturally responsive and culturally accepting health marketing and approach design processes.

Such mistrust is an additional representative of the fact that historical and systemic problems play a substantial role in defining the attitude of African Americans toward health care. It emphasizes that researchers must consider these things when developing interventions for this population. They can thus get closer to building trust and improving the effectiveness of healthcare interventions by African Americans (Ortega-Williams et al., 2019). From this angle, this focus is a true reflection of the realization that standard endeavors may not address the requirements of some diversities and, thus, a demand for more cultural sensitivity and inclusion in healthcare delivery. Such inclusion demands cultural awareness as the most significant demand required in developing effective interventions and health promotion made real.

Finally, the features of African American culture come from the multidimensional interaction process of historical, social, and cultural factors. Culture is deeply rooted in the values imparted to young children regarding health and wellness; it penetrates many aspects of life among African Americans. Armed with the necessary essential tools of scholars and sources, we can understand the gift and diversity of the African American culture and create efforts to improve ventures present within interferences that enhance the medical conditions of these populations.

References

Ortega-Williams, A., Crutchfield, J., & Hall, J. C. (2019). The colorist-historical trauma framework: Implications for culturally responsive practice with African Americans. Journal of Social Work, 21(3), 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017319890083 Smith, E. P., Witherspoon, D. P., Bhargava, S., & Bermudez, J. M. (2019). Cultural values and behavior among African American and European American children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(5), 1236–1249. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10826-019-01367-Y