FIRST GEM^ERATION SOCIAL CAPITAL

This blog was created on the eve of my 29th birthday, while, I reflected on what it means to be FIRST GEM^ERATION. When the word FIRST comes to mind I think of someone who has the guts to step outside of the norm. Perhaps, because the FIRST has to have the courage to do what others have never done before.

Being the FIRST GEM^ERATION you have no choice! We are trailblazers, We are a GEM ...because we just have to be.

Many people would be elated to be the first. People go through many extremes in their lives to be recognized by their constituents as the first. What if it was not your choice to be first but it was someone else's? If you are the first to be born in the United States, the first to go to college, the first to gain access to the educated job market, you go through your life being the first.

I come to a realization that in my limited understanding of the world and how it works that being FIRST GEM^ERATION is about defining a legacy in a land where there is a blank slate. My experience learning how to navigate a land of the newness has been both frustrating and rewarding. Life can be challenging for FIRST GEM^ERATION folk since first hand experience and guidance is often missing from our families and communities.

It has also been liberating to create my own path. I have tried to be resourceful and collect knowledge along my life journey. This is the knowledge that I am happy to share with others. Through merely my existence, I have learned how to walk a middle ground of being low-income, educated, from an immigrant bloodline, and black at the same time!

DEFINING SOCIAL CAPITAL

This blog is a result of my frustration of navigating the unknown. My family was convinced that education would be enough to be a great equalizer in propelling us out of poverty. They had a dream that I would go to the same schools as the families who built their American legacies by purchasing university benches and marking their names on libraries. And I did...and what I found is that education is not enough to tackle generational poverty and systematic racism.

Now, passing down knowledge is wealth and contributes to building the FIRST GEM^ERATION Social Capital.

• Social capital is the intentional act of passing on information that you have gained through your experience. Generations are found to prosper when people support one another and build a foundation of knowledge that can be passed on.

This blog is the foundation for building a tool for FIRST GEM^ERATION folk who come with a unique set of transnational, sub-continental, intercultural, educational and racial identities that are looking to define a path for themselves that no one in their families or communities has done before. Here it goes a self-help guide and vital lifeline to building the FIRST GEM^ERATION social capital in our communities.

I hope to build

Consciousness

Community

&

Compassion