
Cultural Patterns Overview
Cultural Patterns are how we see the world.
Learn how Cultural Patterns work in our life.
- We all develop Cultural Patterns, which are unique to us, formed through early experiences, our family, and how our community interacts with us. They are passed down through the generations, integral to our identity and the lens through which we see the world.
- We identify them as Cultural Patterns because they provide our core beliefs. These patterns provide shortcuts in navigating the world, but they can also harmful. Once people start noticing their own patterns, they can more effectively assess when those judgments are useful, and when they get in their way. It paves the way for them to practice and strengthen their resilience skills.

How to Practice-Model-Coach
Cultural Patterns
Practice:
- Think about what Cultural Patterns you have. With what lenses do you see the world and what beliefs emerge from those lenses?
- Recognize when your Cultural Patterns influence you.
- When do these Cultural Patterns help you? When these Cultural Patterns hurt you? Is there a current situation in your life that my Cultural Patterns are part of what isn’t working? If so, what could be done to move forward?
- When you make assumptions about others, what is the impact on you or others?
Model:
- When influenced by a Cultural Pattern, name your bias for those around you and whether it is helping or harming.
Coach:
- Listen for others’ potential Cultural Patterns. Be curious about them. Reflect back what you hear.
Resources for Cultural Patterns


Books
Adults
- How to be an Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi
- Caste by Isabelle Wilkerson
- Cultivating Resilience: Antidotes to White Fragility in Racial Justice Education by Katherine Roubos
Tweens & Teens
- The People Could Fly, American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton, Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon (Ages 8 and up)
- Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice” by Veronica Chambers
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat (Age 8 to 12)
- Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood by Kwame Mbalia (editor)
- (Age 8 and up)
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- Sit by Deborah Ellis (Age 12 and up)
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, written and illustrated by Anastasia Higginbotham (Age 12 and up)
- This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell (author) and Aurélia Durand (illustrator) (Age 12 and up)
Children
- Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi and Ashley Lukashevsky (Age 0-3)
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Age 0-3)
- A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats (Age 0-3)
- We’re Different, We’re the Same. by Bobbi Kates (Age 3-7)
- Story Boat. by Kyo MacLear and Rashin Kheiriyeh (Age 3-7)
- Bowwow Powwow. by Brenda J. Child and Jonathan Thunder (Age 3 to 7)
- A Is for Activist. by Innosanto Nagara (Age 3- 7)
- Freedom, We Sing by Amyra León (author), Molly Mendoza (illustrator) (Age 3-7)
- Sulwe, by Lupita Nyong’o (Age 3-7)
- Hair Love by Matthew A Cherry (Age 3-7)
- It Starts with Me! by Dr. Bernice A. King and Dr. Kimberly P. Johnson and illustrated by Zoe Ranucci (Age 3-7)
- Skin Again by Bell Hooks, Illustrated by Chris Raschka (Age 3-7)
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice (Age 3-7)
- The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson (Age 3-7)
- All Because You Matter by Tami Charles (author), Bryan Collier (illustrator) (Age 4 – 8)
- Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales (Age 4 – 8)
- Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker (Age 4 – 8)
- I Am Enough by Grace Byers, Illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo (Age 4 – 8)
- Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, Illustrated by Bryan Collier (Age 4 – 8)
- Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady (Age 4 – 8)
- The Colors of Us by Karen Katz (Age 4 – 8)
- The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson, Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton (Age 4 – 8)
- Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm Xby Ilyasah Shabazz, Illustrated by AG Ford 4 – 8)
- Anna Hibiscus (series) by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia (Age 4 to 10)
- Meet Yasmin! (series), by Saadia Faruqi and Hatem Aly (Age 5 to 8)
- A Bike Like Sergios, by Maribeth Boelts (Age 5 to 8)
- Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper ( Age 6 – 9)
- The Undefeated, by Kwame Alexander ( Age 6 – 9)
- Wherever I Go, by Mary Wagley Copp and Munir D. Mohammed (Age 6 to 9)
- Harlem, by Walter Dean Myers and Christopher Myers
- The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson (authors), Nikkolas Smith (illustrator) (Age 7-10)