The African World Experience

   This week's freshman seminar lecture explored the concept of the Mbongi. My initial impressions were that a Mbongi is simply a discussion among a group; however, after participating in this lecture I find that it is not only just a gathering, but a strong-held tradition in which brothers and sisters come together to exchange knowledge.
   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