Self Identity and Growth
Our identity is not just what we think of ourselves, but it is a social construct that also involves how society views us as well. In “Awareness of our unfinishedness” Paulo Freire discusses the idea that our self identity is unfinished and we continue to grow as human beings throughout life. He emphasizes this by saying “However, I hold that my own unity and identity, in regards to others and to the world, constitutes my essential and irrepeatable way of experiencing myself as a cultural, historical, unfinished being in the world, simultaneously conscious of my unfinishedness” (51). These concepts are all interdependent of one another because they are all individually fundamental to our identities. Since our identity is not just what we think of ourselves, but also how others view us, culture, history, age and race play an important aspect in it as well. How others view me is an important part of my identity because it affects how I will be treated and any opportunities I may have in life. What I’ve learned from my community service partner this semester is that these students have to work twice as hard everyday in order to get ahead in school and make a better life for themselves. Freire states that “ The invention of ‘existence’ necessarily involves the emergence of language, culture, and communication at levels of complexity much greater than that which obtains at the level of survival, self-defense, and self-preservation” (53). The kids I volunteer with all go to an underfunded school in a low income area of Marin county. They do not have access to the same education or resources as the typical Marin student, but they work hard everyday in order to get ahead and make a better life for themselves.
Those who are most impacted and marginalized by systemic issues in our society are the low income people of color. None of the systems of society are put there in their favor and even the systems that are put in place to help them end up failing them most of the time too. Like we discussed in an earlier class, the concept of charity and volunteering are two very different things which help these people in different ways. But, it is not until there is a change in social structure that we will truly be able to help these people. Some of the larger contexts and histories that shaped these conditions are the years of discrimination and racism against people of color in this nation. This is something that has been occurring since the initial founding of this country with the invention of slavery. Since then this country has time and time again failed to put the proper systems in place in order to help fix its mistakes. Freire states “ I like being a human person because even thoughh I know that the material, social, political, cultural, and ideological conditions in which we find ourselves almost always generate divisions that make difficult the construction of our ideals of change and transformation, I know also that the obstacles are not eternal” (55). You make what you want out of this life and the students that I work with demonstrate this everyday by showing up to tutoring and attempting to change the status quo by obtaining a college degree. I believe that we all bare the collective responsibility to challenge and correct the structures that perpetuate inequity because if we want to make a difference in this society then it involves a group effort within the community.
With my knowledge and experience throughout this semester I now see it as my ethical duty to be a part of this change in society. It is important that we use the knowledge gained throughout this semester to try and make a difference within the community. I now understand that due to the resources available to them, not everyone is able to live the American dream by simply working hard and attempting to succeed. The systems put in place by society are unjust to those who really need them and only end up helping those living in the upper class. The attempt to climb out of poverty is a difficult one with many obstacles and not many people are able to succeed at it. We as students should try to use the education we gained from this experience in order to incite a change in society. “When I leave the house to go to work with students, there is no doubt at all in my mind that, given an openness to curiosity, to search, to hearing, based on awareness of our unfinishedness, ‘programmed to learn’ we will exercise our capacity to learn and to teach so much the better for being subjects and not simply objects of the process we are engaged in” (58).
