Ethnic Scrapbooking

Summer Solstice & Cultural Diversity

The summer solstice happens annually between June 20 and June 22 in the northern hemisphere. Our summer solstice is soon to occur, Monday, June 20. My colleague and dear friend, Sasha, will be hosting his first annual Summer Cultural Solstice Event. His goal is to bridge the significance of the Summer Solstice, which is the day with the longest period of “light”, and the significance of cultural diversity.

It will be a gathering of humans. Humans from all backgrounds, races, and ethnic upbringings.  The only requirement is that you come in peace and you come to meet and enjoy new people and food.

I have assisted him with some fundraising, and we have has some very generous people donations. gathering. We are so very fortunate for Take One Event Rentals, a party supply and production company. They are donating all the tents, table, chairs, a small stage, and necessary items to put on this Solstice Celebration.  We contacted them about a discount and they offered their equipment and services, at no charge. We are so very grateful their generosity.

There will be food, music, dance from a variety of cultures, and a yoga lawn. On the yoga lawn, 108 sun salutations will be performed by those that wish to participate in honor of the solstice and in honor of each diverse individual. The power of the event will be created by each person. The power of the event will be the sum of all people to create the larger, more powerful whole. It will be felt, be experienced. The intention is to develop awareness

Solstice & Diversity Defined-Together

This has always been a perplexing question for me.  I feel a big identity crisis each time I come upon that specific question when filling out paperwork.  I never know what to put!  When we were young my mother always filled out that we were Hispanic, although she is not.

My mother is Caucasian or “white” with a mix of German, Swedish, Irish and Norwegian that make up the beautiful woman she is.  My father is I guess you could say Hispanic. His mother and father were originally from Mexico, but found their way to Arizona at a very young age, where they were raised. His Father’s Father was from Spain, and he has some Italian and French mixed in their from a far away bloodline.  So I assume his Hispanic.  Often times now, you will find Hispanic or Latino…so what to check!

Hispanic was termed during the late 70’s by the Federal government.  it comes from the Latin word “Hispania” and refers to someone fluent in Spanish. It was a way to gain information on the discriminated population.  Basically Hispanic refers to someone speaking the language.  Latino was later added by the government to identify more of the mixed races or “mestizo”. Basically Latino identifies someones geography.

Well this still leaves me stumped. I was both born and raised in the United States. My father grew up speaking Spanish at home.  He spoke English outside of his home. He met my mother and they married and spoke English to one another as well as the three children they had. None of my siblings nor I speak Spanish. We are of mixed decent, but we reside in the U.S. So what are we?

Let’s explore ethnic cultures. We take a look at their culture and history to give insight on other cultures. Ethnicity is believed by certain theorists that it can shape many things, including interaction, learning and social engagement.  Although this is not the topic of todays article, I wanted to make a note of it.

Culture Name is Greek, other names associated may be Hellenic or Romeic. The word Greek refers not onlt to the country but Ethnic group too.  Greeks have a strong shared sense of ethnic identity. Ancient Greeks were strongly religious and most of their traditions and customs celebrated today are still based around religion.  98% of Greek People are Christian Orthodox, which forms the 3rd biggest branch of Christianity. The Greek Orthodox church can be found all over in Greece and those areas that of Greek culture. Their religion played a strong role in their historical past in keep the Greek ethnicity and culture alive and thriving. Therefore religion plays a large part today and the majority of holidays are religious in their presence.  Church and state are separated, but it is not written and the church has a great role in everday society.

The Greek language offers a strong cultural and a strong element to the Greek culture.  Greeks are strong and prideful people that embrace their traditions and ethnicity.  They are proud of their culture, architecture, history, literature, philosophy and the such. They are actually more ethnically proud than any other nation in Europe.