Each of us has a personal and social identity. Our personal identity is individual, and involves our personality, history, and other personal traits. Our social identities are more about the groups to which we belong, or the groups with which we identify. Examples of social identities are race/ethnicity, age, sex, gender, social class/socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, (dis)abilities, immigration status, and religion/religious beliefs. Understanding identity is foundational to understanding diversity, equity, and inclusion, so I am excited to begin delving into DEI by discussing identity. I would love for this group to really get to know one another as we work and grow as a community, so I thought it might be nice to explore some definitions around identity, and then share a little bit about our social and personal identities with one another. The next discussion post will ask you to do a personal reflection around your identity, and the third discussion post for January will encourage you to engage in a cross-cultural conversation with a student or colleague whose social identity is different from your own. Please introduce yourself to the group by sharing a bit about your personal identity, and a couple of things about your social identity. Here is a resource from the Multicultural Center at The Ohio State University that provides definitions of social identity: https://cbsc.osu.edu/posts/documents/identity-terms-and-definitions.pdf
Only disclose what you are comfortable disclosing - we are just getting to know one another after all. I will start! As far as my personal identity, I was born and raised in Cleveland. I am the middle child between 2 brothers. I love people and tend to make friends pretty easily. I am very competitive- a trait that I don't love, but that has served me well. I love trying new things. I have lost two younger cousins in the last year, and that has changed me a lot. I try to live each day so that if it is my last I leave here satisfied. As far as my social identity, I describe myself as a Black, cisgender female, I describe myself as Black first because my parents are both African American so I feel my race was my first social identity, and because if you see me on the street from far away, you may not know my sex (whether I am male or female), but you will definitely know my race. I am a US citizen. I would describe myself as spiritual, but not religious. Please share some of your social and personal identities to help us get to know more about you.
Please consider making this discussion a real conversation as you would in person- react and respond to others' stories, and perhaps share your experience in response to someone else's.