How do you identify yourself? Most people connect themselves to specific groups of people:

Suggested books: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories edited by Harold Augenbraum and Ilan Stavans

Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez by John Rechy

America is in the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan

The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese-American from Number Two Son to Rock’n’Roll by Ben Fong-Torres

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the West by Dee Alexander Brown

Push: A Novel by Sapphire

A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Run Suskind

Suggested movies: Eyes on the PrizeAfricans in America: America’s Journey Through SlaveryStand and DeliverBoys Don’t CryJoy Luck ClubReal Women Have CurvesSmoke SignalsMi Vida Loca

With your friend, start to explore your multiple identi-

ties with the “What Are You?” exercise listed in the first

section of Beginning Activities. Write some of your re-

sponses to the right. Together with your friend, pick an

“identity” theme to explore—this could be about your or

your friend’s ethnicity or other group that you identify

with or would like to identify with more strongly.

Plan ahead and research some activities that you can

do together to celebrate, participate in, or learn more

about that theme. Some examples include visiting a

cultural center or another town or neighborhood; at-

tending a cultural celebration, museum, or art gallery;

seeing a film based on an identity; eating a particular

kind of food; watching a related dance or theater per-

formance; researching the theme at the library together;

making a collage based on that identity; or interview-

ing someone else who shares a similar identity.

* Be sure these books and movies are age-appropriate for your and your friend’s reading and viewing levels. Some of these sug-gestions are more appropriate for older youth.

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Learn about other identities through stories in print and film. Check your local library or online for age-appropriateness and reading/

viewing level. Think about how the author or director explains or shows an identity. Can you relate to any part of someone else’s identity?

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ACTIVITY