September 23, 2022
Most of my friends are have immigrant parents. I live in one of the most diverse cities in the world, Chicago, making it easy to find second generational friends. For example, my boyfriend is Mexican and his parents are from Mexico. This allows me to learn the intricacies of their culture, customs, and lifestyle by being surrounded by his family. As a daughter of immigrants, I still remember a time where international calls were not easy to make. Every Sunday we went to telephone cards to speak with my relatives who are thousands of miles away from us.
To me, culture as a site of contestation is the most impactful because both my parents grew up during communism. Additionally, my grandpa grew up during the second world war and had to challenge, contest, and fight for the way he lives now. He was faced with unimaginable difficulties and his survival provided him a leadership role in our village. However, living in such turmoil has an everlasting effect on the generations after you, which is not prone to change. It is noticeable in the Polish population by the way they fought hard for their sovereignty and lives. Therefore they want to keep it this way and not abandon all they worked for, but there is always opposition and corruption in any government.
Intercultural praxis is a good way to develop your critical thinking skills and to create a more complex definition on what it means to be human. I have always been curious about the lands and lives of different communities and I feel being apart of the dominant culture makes me want to learn more since there are no universal human customs.
