History is Culture

A word today, friends on the notion of culture. It is firmly my belief that culture is based on family and an understanding of history. Despite a widely held belief that race impacts culture - I don't buy it.

Put anyone into a cultural society not their own and they will adapt to the societal norms to become a participating member of the new culture. Typically such new members of society will add their own cultural traditions and thus evolve the culture of the new society.

This is one of the secrets to the successfully merging of identities and cultures in New York City. It is the reason we celebrate New Years and then Chinese New Years. We also participate in a host of other cultural parades and activities throughout the year.

The Afro-American diaspora (link) is an example of such cultural integration. There is however a portion of the peoples for whom the mass dissipation has left it's original culture in tatters. I refer to those former slaves and their descendants (of whom I am one) who have had their original culture ripped away from them.

That is not to say that this removal process was either intentional or by any means complete. Nor has the lack of a historical binding to our original cultures hindered us from contributing new cultural idioms to the emerging society. Much of the stylized origins of popular culture originate from the Afro-American community.

Notwithstanding these contributions, it may be useful for the aforementioned community to reconnect with their historical roots. A re energized base of society, newly endowed with a sense of their original culture would no doubt add a new perspective to the self image of the community. It is out of this frame of reference that we now celebrate Kwanzaa (link).

But on to my main point. It should be well known if you read these pages (of the New Freedoms Journal) that I am a strong advocate of self-education. I cannot think of many things that are closer to understanding oneself than by the introspection obtained through a historical examination of one's culture in addition to the classics.

As it stands now we have access to the greatest information resource on the planet (the Internet). In addition to this resource there is a movement afoot to make available for free Education at the highest levels to anyone with access to the Internet (your public library will have free access).

Lastly I would like to direct your attention to the free resource of lectures and notes on the African American History (link). This resource is available to anyone free of charge from one of the nations top schools (The University of Notre Dame). There is a further collection of free Education materials at the Open Course ware Consortium (link) and Curriki (link). A search for free eduction on Del.icio.us (link) will yield many similar sites.