Cultural Identity

Kathie Pham, Evelyn Espinoza, Shimin Park

What is cultural identity?

Cultural identity is the feeling that you belong in a certain group. Usually cultural identity is related to nationality, religion, social class, and anything that can relate people back to their culture.

Race Demographics

Black alone - 64.4% (420,273)

White alone - 25.4% (165,658)

Hispanic - 7.1% (46,198)

Asian - 1.6% (10,394)

Two or more races - 1.2% (7,684)

Other race alone - 0.3% (1,947)

American Indian alone - 0.08% (500)

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 0.02% (98)

MUSIC 🎵

Beale St

The most famous street in Memphis, Beale street was created in 1841 by a city planner named Robertson Topp. Initially known as Beale avenue, the street was named after a long-forgotten Mexican-American war hero. During the civil war, Memphis served as a safe haven for free African-Americans and many settled around Beale area. Modern day Beale street began emerging in the 1900s as African-American entrepreneurs began opening businesses. It peaked during the Jazz age from 1920s to 1940s since then it has been knows as the birthplace of blues and rock n roll music and civil rights movement. To this day Beale street is a popular entertainment district. Few of the famous musicians who performed on the Beale street are Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, and B.B. King.

MUSEUMS 🏛️

STAX

The Stax Museum holds the history of the music and musicians that influenced the culture in Memphis. Memphis is "Home of the Blues". Once entering you can see the different artist and their accomplishments.

CIVIL RIGHTS

The National Civil Rights Museum is located right where MLK JR. was assassinated. The museum highlighted some other key players of the civil rights movement

WITHERS

During the trip our team went to the Withers Museum which holds years worth of history. Dr. Ernest C. Withers' had a passion to tell the stories of what would become American history today.

ART🎨

Our takeaways 👩‍🎓

Shimin - Having seen and expereinced Memphis culture for a whole week, i was able to learn how much the city of Memphis and its people contributed to the development and enrichment of U.S. culture overall. I observed how empowering and uplifting the culture of Memphis was to their community and how valuable they are. I thought the ways the people of Memphis used art and music throughout the city was a perfect example of asset based community development. I hope to use this insight and broader understanding of different culture to enhance my social interactions and service work.

Evelyn - During the trip I realized how influential the citizens of Memphis are. They express their cultural identity through various art around the city. May that be the music, art, food, etc.

What I wish to do with this takeaway is to acknowledge all cultural identities that reside in Iowa City. So as a community we can continue to push each other and become aware of the different identities that reside in our community.

Kathie - The Memphis trip made me see one of the ways people respond to issues in their communities. For example: one of the issues that Memphis faces is ineffective public transportation. Many people within the Memphis community are a part of the transportation union and they try to bring the issue to the local government. Having the opportunity to see this experience in person opens my eyes on how people respond to situations in a way I haven't thought about before.

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