Cultural Uniqueness

By Jennifer V. Hughes 

As a boy, Miles Dean pretended to be John Wayne; imagining that his bicycle was his trusty steed as he shot Indians through the handlebars while cruising the streets of Brooklyn. 

 I wanted to be a cowboy,” says Dean, now 59. “But I grew to an age where I became uncomfortable being John Wayne because John Wayne was white and I didn’t see any black cowboys.”

By Holly Beretto

In spite of Shakespeare’s impertinent question, “What’s in a name?” names do matter.

Take Hispanic and Latino, for example. Do we really understand these names? Do we understand what it means when we call someone Hispanic or Latino?

As people throughout the world prepare to celebrate the Christmas season, USARiseUp.com wanted to share this journey into the cultural symbols and traditions the children and adults from other countries observe during this magical time of the year.

In America, he is Santa Claus, but he has many names and symbolizes a wide variety of different things in other countries. As we kick off this brief overview of the origins of Santa Claus and his many counterparts, one thing stands out; despite our cultural differences, we share many similar Christmas traditions. Also keep in mind that over the years, Santa Claus has overcome all issues of race and ethnicity in America and the world in general.   

By Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat
President, Civilizations Exchange & Cooperation Foundation,
Baltimore, Maryland

As the preparations for the Christmas Holiday are underway in the U.S. and around the world, it might be of interest to see how Muslims
perceive the birth of Jesus.

It is worth noting that there are no detailed descriptions of any other Prophet’s story in the Qur’an like that of the story for Prophet Jesus’ and his miraculous birth.

When I see my fellow Christian Americans celebrate Christmas, it occurred to me that this would be a good opportunity for the YES and other cultural exchange students, who come here from predominately Muslim countries or Muslim communities, to better understand Christmas from the Islamic perspective.