Manifest Diversity: A CULTURALLY & COMPETENT BUFFALO

As a multicultural educator, I present cultural diversity workshops examining cultures, music and languages from around the world.  I strongly believe in bringing people from all walks of life together. I strongly believe in educating people about the world and the diversity of it. And I strongly believe that we can learn from each other by engaging in a simple conversation, hence the solution to create understanding.

 It is so important to be culturally competent in today’s world because we are encountering people from all walks of life. It takes time, patient and respect to understand someone who is different. It takes cultural awareness, cultural knowledge and cultural sensitivity to be culturally competent. But what does it mean to be culturally competent?

Culturally competent means that you have the awareness, knowledge and sensitivity to be able to understand someone who is different from you. So instead of understanding who you are, you are able to understand who someone else is based on their values, beliefs, norms, customs, traditions, styles, biases, stereotypes, behaviors and so on.  You understand that they do things differently than you do. They eat different foods than you do, they cook different foods than you do, they walk, talk and act differently than you do. At the end of the day, you still respect them. That is what it means to be culturally competent.

Someone who is not culturally competent discriminates, judges and looks at the differences of someone in a negative way. Their actions may label them a racist, a homophobic or someone who thinks they are morally, physically and intellectually superior than others. These are not traits that define someone who is culturally competent.

No matter what color, race, creed or sexual orientation someone comes from, cultural competence teaching us to understand others who are different from us. So if you want to practice being culturally competent. Talk to someone who is different than you, learn about their differences without judging. Attend an event or a workshop in which you learn about people from around the world. Google things that you never would about someone. Get to know them and why they are the way they are. Establish some positive feedback of your own about meeting people. How do you say Hello in their language? How can you erase stereotypes and judgements from your heart? How can you be more open minded in a world that makes it hard to accept people who are different?

I will be hosting more programs and events where we can learn about different types of people and how to interact, engage and treat people as human beings. For more information: checkout theeducationalpledge.com and email me at: manifestdiversity@gmail.com