Complete the final 6-page APA Multicultural Panel assignment, due at the end of Module 2. Please be sure to include the following: Part 1 (2 pages): Summarize a panelist’s racial, ethnic, im
Multicultural Panel
Noella Ntakirutimana
Walden University
Racial, Ethnic, Indigenous Identity, and Nationality The panelist that I have selected is Mariangelly Sierra, MS, LPCA, NCC who is a 35 -year -
old Latina female , who identifies as a cisgender and pansexual woman and is a single mother of
one child. Sierra grew up in a Christianity household where she would attend church and se minars
though currently, she identifies to be spiritual than religious. During her childhood she grew up in
a low -income household but through worked hard she went on to graduate from college and work
as a teacher then got married where she moved up into b ecoming to the status of a middle -income
household. Though Sierr a proclaimed that she is in a transitional period in her life as she is a single
mother and her income status is different for the moment as she is continuing her education into
getting her do ctorate. Sierra’s story beg ins with her parents as they are of Puerto Ricans nationality
which she is the same as well. She left Puerto Rico to the United States at the age of 5, then her
parents and sibling s moved to Connecticut where they began their new life in the U.S but it didn’t
last long as they moved back to Puerto Rico and then back to the U.S so there was a lot of back
and forth living exchange growing up. Then during her adulthood, she got married to a Puerto
Rician who is a coast guard where th ey had a lot of adventures in her life from moving all around
the U.S and other places. Sierra finally made the decision to her very own final destination living
status in her life which she resides in North Carolina with her child as a single independent
ambitious woman. Sierra embraces her strong Latina heritage as she is fluent in Spanish and she
has taught her child to be bilingual and bicultural like her. She goes onto to describe her heritage
as being descendant’s mixture of Spaniard, African and nati ve Ta Nos which all three identities
and cultures live within her. I enjoyed learning the background of Mariangelly Sierra, she seems
to be a woman who loves where she came from and embraces her culture identity. She takes the
time to inform her child abou t the backgrounds of her heritage so that her child can know where
he/she comes from that under no circumstance her child will not be a person in this world who
doesn’t know who they are or where they come from. Sierra loves her nation ality of Puerto Rica ns as she describes it to be an independent colony
that it is of a strong ideal establishment. As Sierra finally took ground into permanently staying in
the United States during her adulthood, she noticed that she carried her idea s and biases of her
indepe ndent country . She states that her opinion of white people was that they are evil people, the
oppressions which was the symbolism of white Americans to her where she has a hard time getting
over that issue. According to Sue and Sue, the term microaggression is defined as “ brief, everyday
exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of color because they belong to a racial
minority group .” (Sue, 2007) Though she proclaims to say that there are biases that the United
States people have rumored about as well. However, as she started to expand her education
especially when she started counseling her perceptions of white Americans prejudice was far
lowered than what she initially thought of them. She grew out of it, b ut it is never simple to just
abandon those perceptions of them as Sierra declares that she cannot deny it forever or keep it
under wraps because there are triggers that happen where it comes from her upbringing of those
ideals and biases that come to surface. Sierra tries her best to become aware of her perceptions
towards White individuals especially white men and keep in check. But though she declares that
her learning of white culture grew an increase of her progress where it helped her tre mendously to
overcome her ideals and biases. Since all she knew about White Americans is that they were the
supreme oppressors of their nation, that they kept her people back at home in charge, where they
had an upmost power over them. Sierra came to learn more and more about the culture of white
people and that she became friends with them . This was a breaking point to her where she put all
her past ideals and biases and government views behind her. That the misperceptions about the
history of white Americ ans came to a stop for her because she then knew to grew that they were
genuine and friendly individuals that the history that happen with her country it is not something
that she carried or carries around her anymore. That more in her part of the microagg ressions she received but that it was in her way discriminating against from other people based on assumptions
and biases that we have . Sierra concludes to say that we as people all have our biases and that as
long as discuss and become aware. That was sai d by Sue and Sue, all we can do is acknowledge
them and keep them in check and know where they came from and prevent them from affecting
how we perceive and see other people, where we try to learn and not to continue the oppression.
Social Class and Clas sism
The second panelist of my choosing is Marcella Rolle, M.E D, LAPC, NCC who is a 36
year old black female, who identifies as a cisgender and heterosexual woman though she states
that she only identifies as black and not African American as she does not associate any of her
heritage from the African background whatsoever as she believes that she identifies the racial more
than the ethnic background. She goes on to say that the term that all black people are from Africa
is a term that she does not agree o n and that would like to know how that term came about but she
just feels more comfortable as the label of just being called Black. Rolle comes from a Christianity
household; she continues to carry on that religious aspect in her. The experience of class a nd
classism to Rolle came apparent to her recently, she had never had any kind of oppression or
discrimination or microaggression in relation to class and classism that happened to her in her life.
Sierra declares that because she would hang out with peopl e of her own class and if it did happen
where she met someone out of her own class it was parents of the students she would teach. Though
it soon came to an end where it happened to her last year, she was invited to join this league of
women where she lear ned the history of the community was that there has never been a women of
color or her age invited into this league but that did not discriminate her from going thru with
attending the meeting. She was asked by someone if she was a working girl? Where she explained
to her that she does not sell her body for money but then asked for more of a clarification towards
the question where she answered that she is a working woman. After that the women around her did not like her answered as they were women who were privileged to the point that none of them
worked. As claimed by Hays and Erford, “Privilege is having power, access, or unearned
advantage; holding a majority status. Those who experience it find it difficult to detect. Complex
and multidimensional. ” (Erford, 2018) That statement she made was made into some sort of a
freeze out to her but that did not discourage her at all as she continues to be a part of the league
and attend the meetings. Rolle has never been asked to le ave the league since there is work to be
done but she knows that her presence is no where looked upon as the norm. Now the parents of
her students are from a lower socioeconomic status, which she declares that she has expressed that
the hardships of being in the lower status is rough especially when having children. It is really
important to her that she is able to provide some sort of an acknowledgment to them that she is
there for them that she sees and hears them. That she does not expecting anything mor e from them
than they are able to give. An example that she states is that is asks the parents what are they able
to bring to the table? Instead of setting out guidelines to them about what she is expecting of them.
She does this to help and assist to them in order to keep the relationship with her students as well
as her parents.
The panelist that I chose were extremely well -thought -out of people who have experiences
that I have similarities as well as difference in my life. Mariangelly Sierra is a woman who loves
where she comes from and her identity from her country is close -knit to her. I will say the similarity
experience that I share with Sierra is that we both are fluent in Spanish and that where we come
from is an upmost importance to us. I was rais ed in a Hispanic environment but my parents who
are from East Africa taught me about my identify i.e. the culture and traditions. My perceptions of
White Americans were upheld to me by their past history into this country but the difference with
Sierra is that it really didn’t affect me until this stage in my life as an adult who is African
American. So many of my race background are being killed of their identity for reason of them just being black and it is so sad that I need to act differently when I am around White Americans .
I think about it constantly that at any given moment someone could take my life just because of
my color and not because of anything else. I feel so weird that I wasn’t prepared for this kind of
treatment at all growing up. I was th e only African American in school except for my siblings but
my parents were there for me to just be myself, no matter what. And that even when I was feeling
down about someone not liking me it never came to my mind about race it was more like why
doesn’t this person like me? So whenever I had these issues my parents would not come to the
conclusion of my race but they would just help me boost my self -esteem, that if that person does
not want to have you in your life than someone else will come along and wa nt to be your friend. I
am not sure what is going to happen to the future for African Americans safety but that I know
that there are people out there who see me just as a person and as long as those people continue to
exist than it won’t be as bad but I r eally do hope that the killings will come to an end and that the
real problems that are happening into this world will be taken seriously. Marcella Rolle is a really
great person who I enjoyed hearing and listening about her life. I think that the similar ity we share
is that we have been involved with people who are privilege and that even with this kind of
predicament it does not shut us down at all. I have had my share of people who are privilege and
that does not in any way keep me from doing the things I want to do in my life. I am a strong
woman who I previously stated that my parents as well as my family has kept my spirits up in my
life. I would like to say that the difference about Rolle and I is that I identify myself as an African
American, I was born in the United States and I have never been to where my parents came from
but I do take it seriously about the label of being classified as an African American because I know
where my heritage lines comes from. My parents make sure to keep their tradit ions in line so that
the next generation that comes along will know who they are. I am truly greatly of the panelist I chose to write about, they seem to be outstanding woman who have stories that are interesting and
amazing to hear about.
Oppression or d iscrimination based on their affectional orientatio n and/or gender identity
The panelist that I chose for this part is Dianne Piggott, M. Coun., LPC who is a 59 -year -
old woman and her gender is a transwoman. Piggott states that she got over her birth gen der as
male quickly though her transition happened later in her life.
Piggott continues on to say that with her transition gave her the confidence and courage to go back
to school and further her education where she got her counseling degree. The transit ion stage is
different to everyone as some people can handle it and others can’t because of the hormones that
come with it. Though with her it did not have that kind of the affect since she was able to continue
on with it and that know that what she was doing for her was right. The oppression/discrimination
she experienced was that when she became a woman the community in her state of Idaho would
say that she is a lesbian and that her legally and bind ing marriage is sought to be as a same sex
one. The sta te law in Idaho wanted her to have her taxes separated from her partner but she had a
friend who worked in taxes and was able to help her since it was not something that was an issue
or that they will come hard on to her about. Piggott declares that growin g up she did not have any
experience about lesbian relationships as she jokingly says that she is one but her partner does not
care about the label of the relationship which has brought some sort of frustration towards the
LGBTQ community. But that doesn’t seem to put her down in a way about herself though she does
go on to say that growing up she wanted a peer to peer relationship where she points out to be that
affiliates of the lesbian relationship she wants. It was to where she felt that she was among t hem
but no really with them. “Feminizing
hormonal treatment leads to reductions in testicular germ cell levels. All transwomen should be
warned about this consequence, and gamete preservation should be of fered before starting hormonal treatment. ” (Jindarak, 2018) The experience she had growing up was a big difference as
she did not experience a normative gender sexual practice. The becoming of a transition person
was different in a way that Piggott has always been relationally a ttracted to women where it came
to the point where it has not change for her. Because some people who have transitioned have
hanged their sexual attraction which she goes on to bring up of the hormones that are taking place
which seems to be a powerful thi ng to every individual. Wagner and Bohecker state that
“Intersectionality is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems
of oppression, domination, or discrimination. The intersection of sexual orientation, gender, and
race in the classroom can facilitate awareness of the experiences of LGBTQQIA people, thereby
promoting skill, advocacy, and ally behaviors in emergent counselors. ” (Bohecker, 2015) It is of
true importance to understand someone fully on their identity. That they are able to come to the
counselor about their problems and issues within themselves. I think that the community of the
LGBTQ is a group of people that want to be able to be themselves, where they have no one judging
them on their preference about who they are or who they are attract to. I would say that this
community has had a lot of battles where people were being killed or attacked about and I will say
that this is something that should not be hated or discriminated aga inst. I have felt discrimination
in my life and I wouldn’t want to happen to anyone because this what they want and we shouldn’t
deny anyone about who they want to be in their life.
Bibliography
Bohecker, W. a. (2015). Ally Development Through Feminist Pedagogy: A Systemic Focus on
Intersectionality. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling .
Erford, H. a. (2018). In H. a. Erford, Developing Multicultural Counseling Competence: A
Systems Approach . Pe arson.
Jindarak, S. (2018). Spermatogenesis Abnormalities following Hormonal Therapy in
Transwomen. Walden University Library .
Sue, D. W. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life. In S. a. Sue, Implications for
clinical practice (pp. 271 -286).