As I stated in my first blog entry, I was really anticipating this lecture and indeed the lecture exceeded my expectations. Dr. Mario Beatty discussed with us the asepct of the Africans being torn away from Africa and what they carried with them to the new land that they were thrown in. He opened the lecture with a question, " Does physical abandonment directly correspond to mental abandonment?" The answer to this question was revealed by the end of the lecture.
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
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