Embrace Your Culture | Lireesa Gokhool-Jefferson, Queen's Gaels
In honour of the inaugural Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Anti-Racism Awareness Week, individuals from our member institutions shared insights into their own cultural upbringing, how they continue to celebrate their culture, and why they feel it is important to learn about and embrace cultures other than their own.
Please describe what your own cultural upbringing was like?
I grew up eating Trinidadian food and learning about my Caribbean side.
How has your cultural upbringing influenced you throughout your life?
It has influenced the way I cook, listen to music, and dance.
Are there ways in which you continue to celebrate your culture?
I make cultural foods and have cultural cooking nights at my house. I teach people about my cultural music and dances.
Why do you feel it is important to embrace and celebrate your culture?
Embracing what my ancestors fought so hard to keep and preserve. There is so much beauty, I would never want to not celebrate it. My culture also brings people together.
Why do you feel it is important for people to learn about cultures other than their own?
Changes out mindset from ‘me’ to ‘we’. We start to think of others more and take others into consideration when he know more about people other than our selves that are different and unique from us.
