Thursday, December 1, 2011
Group Presentations
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
First Semester
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Warmth of Other Suns
Two things that Ms. Wilkins said that peaked my interest was that 6 million African Americans fled the south during the Great Migration and African Americans would be arrested if they were caught leaving. This was astonishing to see how a society that degraded African Americans so much actually needed them to keep society afloat.
Her talk made the Great Migration more tangible to me. Normally we learn about these things through text books; however, she presented this topic through real experiences. It proves that the Great Migration isn't just a part of history but it lives it's legacy through African American's daily.
Kristen Bailey
Fall 2011
Academically my first semester has been very successful. It has been a struggle with some classes, especially calculus, but I have overcome these obstacles. Starting classes right after the craze of freshman week did require an adjustment period; however, I learned to manage my time very wisely.
Overall my first semester has been one of the most memorable four months of my life. I cannot wait to see what the rest of my college career will bring.
Kristen Bailey
Group Presentations
Saturday, November 26, 2011
GROUP PRESENTATIONS
First Semester Experience
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Isabel Wilkerson
First Semester at Howard University
Group Presentations
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Homecoming 2011
To start most of the ticket prices were out of my budgeted range. Fifty dollars for a step show plus transportation there seemed unrealistic. One because I am a (relatively) broke college student, and two because I could just wait for my classmates to buy the tickets and then resale them, which is what I did in most cases. Another reason homecoming wasn't as spectacular as expected was the celebrities. Yes they were great however they weren't the ones I grew up with nor were they in the limelight currently with the exception of two or three. Once I got passed that and realized that homecoming is what you make of it I enjoyed myself. Homecoming left a lot to be desired but all in all I wouldn't say that the prestige team failed (they just need a little improvement).
My First Homecoming..
Yardfest was more than expected. Not because of the performances but because of the abundance of food. The multiple options left me in a gluttonous bliss. Although Jeezy and Wale are great performance I didn't have the opportunity to see them because we had to leave early to make it to the r&b concert.
The R&B concert of course didn't start on time; however, I know from the experience that I will be purchasing Melanie Fiona's CD when it's released. Friday night after the concert was an experience to say the least; but not an enjoyable one.
Saturday's events topped those of the night before and my entire day was filled with entertainment. There was never a dull moment from 9AM Saturday morning to 5AM Sunday morning. Overall my weekend was more than fun and I am overjoyed for next year's homecoming.
Kristen Bailey
HOMECOMING!!!!
Niesha Bush
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Freshman Seminar Overview
iPhone 4S Rush!
M.L.K Memorial Dedication
President Obama spoke so well of King. He mentioned the things that we have overcome and yet more to come. It’s not about what we haven’t overcome but what we will overcome. Its time for us to stop complaining and get out and do what is right for African American rights. One of the things that we have to understand is there were people that paid the way for us. So what we have to do is work and fight for the things that will help the generations to come.
Niesha S.Bush
Passing Time...
One thing I know that will bring me back to the sanity I felt in California is my best friend coming to visit for homecoming. She goes to Xavier in Louisiana and I feel as though there is never enough time for us to talk anymore. Through everything she would always keep me sane and I am beyond elated that we will be able to reunite this weekend. Thinking about it makes me want to cry. I know through everything, even though we are not able to talk everyday and most times every week, she will always be my best friend.
Kristen Bailey
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Practices of Freedom and Justice: A Charge to Keep
Miss Evers' Boys
Miss Evers' Boys
Saturday, October 8, 2011
10.4.11
Miss Evers' Boys
The government plays a big part in this because they actually misled illiterate black men who didn’t know any better. One of the most horrible things about this play is that this went on for forty years before it was investigated. Even though this is hard to watch, it's an important part of American history and shows how people's ignorance can harm others. From this I started thinking about European diseases and how the purpose was to kill the African American Race. One of the main ones are HIV/AIDS. From seeing this play it makes me think about all the things that have happened to African Americans and how the government went all long with it such as slavery. One thing I know is anger will not solve anything we as blacks need to come together to make a change.
Niesha S.Bush
Practices of Freedom and Justice: A Charge to Keep
The effort to live by “Ubuntu” can enhance teaching, learning, and the overall quality of life of the community because it’s a code of good deeds. The codes are things like being honest, look good, never give up, etc. These are the things that make a great community long as the people follow the code, “Ubuntu”.
Although places in Africa are not safe the students are inspiring because they score off the charts on test. From this I get the idea that they don’t let their circumstances defeat them in getting an education. Another important thing about the Leap Program is the validation of cultural experiences. It is a place of not being ashamed, as they say abandon all fears. This is great thing because having fear can actually harm a person in the long run. Also Ms. Kimberly talked about how they correct each other when they are wrong. This only allow them to become better people. One of the things that really caught me was the part about not having clocks. Africans feel that clocks are an European thing. With a clock I think it actually stop the learning process which is like breaking a bond or separation. Just by the results from the students test shows how powerful the Leap program is.
Niesha S. Bush
Miss Evers' Boys
What is most angering about this play was the audacity of the American government to blatantly lie to African Americans to use them for experiments. They subjected them to harmful treatments such as back shots and mercury rubs to attempt to cure them; however, even after a safe, effective cure had been discovered they would not make it available to the patients.
These misgivings continued all the way until the 1970's, and the debt against African Americans involved amounted to a measly $10 million settlement. Just 40 years ago, America was still committing inhumane transgressions against the oppressed.
Although unjust experiments aren't being held on African American's today, a lot of underprivileged are still not receiving adequate health care. How is this not another form of modern racism?
In conclusion, this play successfully ignited an unforgiving anger within me. Not anger for revenge, but anger to make a change.
Kristen Bailey
Practices of Freedom and Justice: A Change To Keep
Another key point was culturally relevant teaching. The school systems must teach children from an alternative paradigm, one that validates and exalts culture. The days of forced assimilation and the colonial classroom are long gone; thus, we must make it a priority to teach the youth to value their culture as well as the culture of others. Instead of tearing the culture down and degrading traditions as we have done in the past, we must now use facets of these cultures to educate.
A third point was communal responsibility. As we have learned in previous lectures, this is a big part of what Howard tries to endure in its students. With these three initiatives, America can make a huge impact in educating its disadvantaged.
Kristen Bailey
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Eloquence of the Scribes
The Eloquence of the Scribes
What can I do to be a part of the best and the brightest at Howard? Being a university, striving academically is an obvious prerequisite for being part of the "best and the brightest", but there are also other facets of life at a university that students should excel in. These include community service and extracurricular activities. Community service is not only a leisurely activity, but a requirement for educated African Americans. It is our responsibility to attempt to better the African American community as a whole. We can do this by joining organizations based on improving important issues and spreading awareness.
To be a citizen of the world means to be socially and politically responsible; not only for oneself but also the surrounding community by making ones voice heard. It means being informed about issues the affect the world as a whole and working to improve them.
Representative thinkers of Howard University who have impacted me most would be the professors in the chemistry department; more specifically Dr. Hosten and Dr. Raghavan. This is because they are truly invested in the education of their students. They go above and beyond to provide extra resources for their students success while at the same time the take on a somewhat parental role by standing back and letting us learn by making mistakes in the lab. Their approach for teaching is helpful guidance. They offer key advice, but let us take the reigns in our learning.
Kristen Bailey
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Eloquence of the Scribes
Friday, September 30, 2011
"The Eloquence of the Scribes": Initiation,Expectations, and Mastery-Continuing the Legacy of Howard University
The person I think is a representative thinker of Howard is Dr. Greg Carr. His inspiration makes me want to do more in the community and to love anything that I do for my community. Each Howard student after graduation should have given back to their school because someone had to pay the way for us to attend college. African Americans haven’t always had this opportunity so we should learn, teach, and offer more to the world from what was handed down to us students.
Niesha Bush
Sunday, September 25, 2011
African Burial Grounds
Opening Convocation
Opening Convocation
Dr. Lomax’s speech gave me the insight to think beyond just going to college. The class of 2015 is the future for new beginnings. We should work harder and be able to accomplish much more than what pass generations have done and we should give back. He spoke so highly of Howard University that it made me stick my chest out and say that I’m glad to be apart of a highly respected institution of African Americans.
Niesha S. Bush
The African Burial Ground
From the pictures that I seen from the lecture gave me a basic understanding of what my ancestors went through and why the life expectancy was so low. Although I try not to dwell on the past but the pain that my people went through was just unbearable. Several of the pictures that were shown during the presentation were of skeletal remains. Also some of the pictures showed African culture for example; one picture had the skeletal remains of an adult but also buried with the body were babies. The significance of this was that Africans felt that the child shouldn’t go on to a higher power with out its guardian. The sad thing is that majority of the bodies that were buried were of children.
The monument is so important because both free and enslaved Africans were buried in a 6.6-acre burial ground. I think it’s a place that should be highly respected because of its significance. If I chose to attend the African Burial Ground Monument I think I would be very quiet and attentive. The reason why I would act like this is because it’s similar to a cemetery where you pay respect to the ones that have gone on.
I think Howard University has chosen to study the remains because they know the importance of our culture and our heritage. I think it’s a way to give back to the people that made it possible so that they can study things at a higher level. Just by this huge satisfaction I’m honored to be apart of the Howard University legacy. This gives me the urge to want to give back to my community and to my school because other people did the same thing to make it possible so that I could attend college.
Niesha S. Bush
African Burial Ground
Archeologist uncovered many hidden mysteries when recovering the remains. One of the most interesting is that Africans filed their teeth as a write of passage and ethnic identifier. This tradition was said to be esthetically pleasing in African culture. This answers the question of biological and cultural transformation.
Another, somewhat upsetting, discovery about this burial ground was that doctors from a nearby hospital would steal remains to use them as cadavers. In the 1700s it was illegal to use cadavers for experiments unless they were criminally insane. In attempt to manuever around this law, doctors would steal remains from the burial ground. In retaliation to this. slaves burnt down the hospital. This addresses the question of modes of resistance.
There are many mysteries surrounding the African Burial ground that I have yet to uncover; However, I am hoping during the visit to learn much more about my ancestors.
Convocation
Dr. Lomax's speech reminded me of one of the points Dr. Carr made in his lecture; that is that we, as students of Howard, have a responsibility to uphold the legacy of educating our surrounding community. Dr. Lomax noted that HBCU's have an obligation to keep striving for excellence and educating minorities. This message motivated me to strive for more than I previously have and to value my community and dedicate time and effort to giving back and continuing the legacy
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Convocation
African Burial Grounds
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Abandonment and Dismemberment: something torn and new
Abandonment and Dismemberment
The second key topic of the lecture was the assimilation of Africans to their new homes and cultures. Victims of the middle passage were forced to participate in and learn a new culture. From social structures, to family patterns, to languages and many more, Africans abandoned what they knew and what defined them as a people to learn the culture of their slave masters.
The resistance of slaves was also a distinguished topic in the lecture. Runaway slaves established maroon societies apart from the plantations. Many were developed in remote areas and new communities were built where African's could create a "home away from home" which was self governed and cultured to their liking.
Along with the resistance of slaves back then comes the resistance of ignorance in modern times. Dr. Beatty says that it is imperative to rewrite the history of the Americas emphasizing African presence and impact. Many aren't aware of how critical a role Africans have played in molding the Americas in what they are today. We, as students of Howard, have the responsibility to resist this ignorance and spread the knowledge throughout the community.
Kristen Bailey
Abandoment and Dismemberment: Something torn and new
As the Africans were taken from their homeland, everything was loss or so was to be believed. The whitemen that took the Africans expected that the Africans would have nothing to give to the generations in the future, but indeed they were wrong. Africans carried with them the art of music, speech,religion,cuisine, and song along with them. Even to this day we see evidence of these traditions in our everyday jargon and simple actions.
Dr. Beatty, in my opinion, challegened us to transform knowledge by asking us to think about what is considered the norm and what makes it the norm. Are we to conform to what is normal because it is the standard or should we go beyond that and challenge the status quo?
So in correlation to the question stated at the beginning of the lecture, the answer is no. Physical abandonment does not correspond to mental abandonment. The Africans proved that by retaining their african heritage and bringing it with them to the new land and teaching their traditions to the younger generations.
Dr. Beatty presented an excellent lecture. I'm looking forward to the lectures ahead and visiting the African Burial Grounds soon.
Jesseca Farr
Abandonment and Dismemberment"Something Torn and New"
One of the things that was discussed during this lecture was the dismemberment of our African American peoples. A basic definition of dismemberment is suffering of a person or a group of people. What Africans suffered from was the forcing of them from their native land. Many of the slaves would never see their homeland again. The reason why Africans were used as slaves because their bodies were immuned to diseases and they were much stronger. They new how to cultivate rice which was a major thing during slavery. Dismemberment makes it seem like everything was lost but it wasn't. Traditions were kept alive and their lives still continued only under someone elses authority. The moving of the Africans was known as the middle passage. The Middle Passage also consisted of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were taken to the New World. This was organized by groups of investors rather than an individual alone. This was a loss of emptiness.
Although Africans were forced from their homelands they didn't lose everything. Their culture still went on. Their beliefs and behaviors stayed the same. Several of their traditions are still apart of the Americas now. Such as the modeling of families with the dad always being at the top. With out African Americans several things wouldn't be going on in America today.What if there wasn't a such thing as medicine men and women? The development of cures wouldn't probably have been in existence. From my own experiences with making baskets and chairs this still goes on in my family and has been passed down for generations. One of the important things that still goes on today is agricultural cultivation.
One of the ways that scholars have tended to explain African dismemberment is how Africans suffered but they remained strong through the rough times. Like I mentioned earlier about the medicine men and women they paid the way for other people. Now we have technology to help make things much easier and we also have research facilities to make the job easier. Back during the days of slavery people worked hard and wasn't able to have short cuts to get the job done. Now we have anything you can think of to help with cures and other things that help the nation.
Niesha Bush
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility
Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsiblity
One of the things that was discussed was Ijuba, meaning homage. My understanding from this was that you have to give back or give honor to the ones before us and the ones after to keep traditions alive. One of the things that people forget about when they become successful is where they come from. Some times we get so caught up in our personal lives and forget about what we left behind. Its our responsibility to never forget because if we don't keep our "homage" alive, who will? That's where the title plays part in the lecture. Omoluabi, tells us our duties. We all know that we shoud be people of character who are disciplined to self improving. If we hold ourselves up to a certain standard our peers will began to gain the respect for us. We should use our wisdom and spread it through our communities so that they can gain knowledge from our eduacation. With that being said we should never get to caught up in ourselves because others need help too.
Another thing that Dr. Gbadegesin mentioned was acknowledging the human condition. What fell under this was racism and poverty. Racism and poverty are two things that we deal with daily. Dr. G mentioned that whites say that we as Africans don't have any history but what they didn't realize is that you have to have history before you can write it. So first thing is that we have to go through different situations until it can be apart of our history.
Dr.G and Dr.Carr's lecture relates because each gives us ideas about the research question. Each lecture feeds off each other giving us a better understanding in how to answer the question. The lecture for this week gave us an understanding for useful learning. I think we should all play apart in our society to be enthused to learn and maintain the developement of our society.
Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility
Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility
The first part is addressing the human condition. The human condition can relate to many things throughout our society; from our individual condition, to our communal or national condition. This question specifically relates to our social, moral, economic, cultural, political, etc. condition as a whole. Not just the state of our immediate community, but the entire world.
Secondly, the topic of academic knowledge was specified. The question addresses how different academic field have transformed knowledge. The fields cover a broad spectrum including fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and so on. All the fields have produced research and new knowledge which has influenced collective knowledge of the human condition.
Lastly, Dr. Gbadegesin defined exactly what constitutes a transformation. He described this as a challenged to orthodoxy and societal norms. Also, a new paradigm for the world to look through. In essence, it is a shift from one was of thinking, into a new, broader range of thought.
Dr. Gbadegesin and Carr's lecture related by taking the Mbongi, the place where knowledge is shared, and relating that knowledge to the transformation of thought. These Mbongi forums serve as a melting pot of new ideas which contributes to the defining and changing of the human condition.
Kristen Bailey
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Learning, Wisdom,and The African World Experience
One of the key points was the description of the "Mbongi".Since there isn't much time in class to discuss our feelings on a particular point, the Mbongi allows us students to elaborate on several ideas and questions from the lecture. The word Mbongi is not a word that I was familar with until I started Freshman Seminar. I think the creation of the Mbongi is one of the greatest creations ever made. Like I mentioned earlier the Mbongi gives everyone the opportunity to participate and give their opinions.
Also we examined the contribution to global traditions and innvotions in teaching and learning from the classical, medieval, and contempory African experience. This section gave the class the insight about inventions made centuries ago. One thing I noticed was that African Americans don't get enough credit for the inventions they made that changed the world. An example was the creation of hierglyphics which began as an African symbol for writing. This was another way that they learned to communicate with other people. The greatest words used was the word "amen", which mean the unseen one. As I started thinking about innovations and other things similar to that I was informed that all things weren't invented by whites. They fed off the African experience. From this lecture African Americans should have a push to keep creating because our ancestors started it. Things are so much easier for us because they paid the way for us. Now that we have so much technology we have no excuse to keep the innovations going.
Another thing was call to action. This gave us the insight to help others and to keep our heritage and traditions alive. We should spread our wisdom to help others in places that they are lacking. One of the main things is to pass down the tradition down to the youger generations. Passing down our heritage and tradition down helps keep the African experience alive. And this isn't something that we want to ever die. With out this we can't strive to better ourselves or our people.
I'm glad that the Freshman Seminar class exists because it's going to help us all the way through college. It allows us to be more open to ideas and discuss things that are important to us students. While some people may think the class is pointless I see it as an creation to better our African tradition.
Niesha Bush
Learning,Wisdom,and the African World Experience: An Mbongi
The African World Experience
The first point of this lecture is exploring how the world has progressed in teaching and learning through multiple facets of the African experience. To examine this we pondered classical, medieval, and contemporary African tradition and how each of them has affected the way we learn and teach today. What surprised me most is seeing how prevalent ancient Africans are in the sciences of mathematics, writing, astronomy and much more. It also saddens me that many don't give African's due credit for these innovations.
A second key concept of this Mbongi is self-actualization. In essence, once cannot truly learn and teach unless he or she is aware of his or herself as a person. This comes down to character and civil duties to the community. At Howard university it is our civil duty to participate in deep learning and with that learning to educate and share knowledge with others.
A third point of discussion of this lecture is a call to action. In order to keep learning and teaching, we as African American students must continue to grow and share our wisdom with others. The Students of Howard University carry a grave tradition and without our sharing of knowledge with others, this tradition will die. The best forum for distributing this knowledge would be by keeping the Mbongi alive.
In all, this Mbongi has defined our responsibilities and growth of knowledge for all future Mbongi's and has called us to action to take what we learn in this forum and share it with the community.
Kristen Bailey