The Eloquence of the Scribes

I found this week's lecture very interesting. Dr. Alvin Thornton is a very powerful speaker and is very engaging to listen to. To be the best and brightest at Howard University we must prepare ourselves for the future and confront what lies ahead of us. Dr. Thornton stressed the aspect that history repeats itself so with that being said we already know what's going to take place and can equip ourselves to take on the future.

Dr. Thornton stated a quote that was very powerful, "It is out of truth we get freedom." We gain our citizenship through knowledge. We become citizens of the world when we open to ourselves to not only what is in front of us, but what is around us also. Through knowledge we are free. We must make our own definitions of certain morals or someone will soon make them for us. Ignorance will only cause us to lose all freedoms.

Dr. Carr is a perfect example of someone at Howard who is a representative thinker. Dr. Carr empowers all he speaks to with the motivation to reach back in time and discover themselves so that they can transform the future. When Dr. Carr spoke to my freshman seminar class, I was instantly interested in finding more information about my ancestors and my history and not only being a student at Howard ,but a student who will transform Howard.

Out of all the lectures we have had thus far, I find Dr. Carr and Dr. Thornton's lectures most interesting. I leave having a feeling of wanting to be something bigger than myself. I really enjoy that feeling. :-)

Jesseca Farr

"The Eloquence of the Scribes": Initiation,Expectations, and Mastery-Continuing the Legacy of Howard University

First and foremost, I just want to say that I’m honored to be apart of Howard University. There are several people that wish they could be where I’m at, but couldn’t because of personal reasons. What I can do to be apart of the “best and brightest” of Howard University is study and to be involved. I understand that studying is the most important thing in college but being involved lets you loosen up a little bit. I take pride into studying because it makes me feel like I have a certain strength that I know no one can take away from me. One of the best things about Howard is that there are several different programs that keep students active in the important things that go on in the community. Being a citizen of the world means being apart of the world. Not only do you worry about what’s going on in your community but also the importance of the world. My citizenship is important to me because I’m given certain freedoms to do things in the world such as voting. Not everyone in the world has that opportunity.
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

African Burial Grounds

This week's lecture dealt with the African burial grounds in New York. Dr. Mac talked about how the gravesite for these Africans have been violated and disrespected; how Howard University was tasked with taking care of the remains. I believe Howard University was chosen to restore and preserve the remains because of our historical background, as well as the fact that we had competent, passionate students and faculty more than welcome to take on the task.

The bones were in bad shape, but the Howard students revitalized them and did the remains justice. During the lecture Dr. Mac discussed the various rituals that our African ancestors had. These rituals ranged from teeth filing, to ceremonial beads. These types of rituals were viewed as rites of passage, and were very important to their culture. It was amazing to see how much information could be gathered simply by studying the remains of these Africans. Each set of skeletal remains told a story, and displayed the struggle and pain that our ancestors had to go through. It also showed their pride.

I liked how importantly Dr. Mac viewed these remains, and stressed that they should be given as much respect as you would give someone living today. His pride and passion for the preservation of these African remains was inspiring, and I feel that his presentation displayed that. I know that my fellow Howard students are excited to view the African burial ground for themselves, and learn even more information about our ancestors.

Opening Convocation

Opening convocation was definitely an experience to behold. This was my first time going to convocation, and I didn't really know what to expect. I was moved by Dr. Lomax's speech; he talked about how we are the future, and that He also hit on several points, stressing on the fact that we as a university have to come together to work as a cohesive unit in order to continue to succeed. We hold a responsibility to our community, our legacy, and those to come later to be the best university that we can be.

Dr. Lomax also touched on the importance of HBCUs as a whole, and what they mean to our community. HBCUs need to be preserved; they provide outstanding institutions for us to be educated, not only in the conventional sense, but about our own history. Howard University as well as other HBCUs aren't just learning institutions, but launchpads for us as african-americans to strive and thrive in the world that we live in. HBCUs not only stress advancement, they also stress giving back and paying homage to those that came before us.

Dr. Lomax's message motivated me to look at my tenure at Howard University as an honor and a privilege, something that shouldn't be taken for granted. I also left the auditorium feeling that I owe it to myself, to Howard, and my community to strive for excellence, and to reach a hand back to those coming behind me to help them better themselves.

Opening Convocation

At first I really didn’t have any idea what was “Opening Convocation”, until Dr. Lomax started his speech. First off I think this was one of the best opportunities that I’ve ever had. What Dr. Lomax stressed was the importance of historical black colleges and universities. At first I was struggling to adapt to the college life but with this presentation it gave me an opportunity to get a broader understanding why African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans should seek accomplishments further than a high school education. The importance was that most people who don’t have a college degree seem to struggle more with keeping a job and surviving. Another thing that was important that Dr. Lomax said was that we need to work on getting more males into college. I think it’s important because we have more males in jail rather than out in the community doing something positive.
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

My overall impression of the lecture that Professor Mack brought forth to the class of 2015 gave me a vivid understanding of the African Burial Ground. From the lecture I learned that many Americans didn’t know or didn’t want to know how important the sacred grounds were to the African American culture.

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

 This weeks lecture was both visually and intellectually pleasing. It's focus was the African Burial Ground which we will be visiting in the upcoming weeks. This lecture began with Professor Mack addressing the four research questions which are the origins of the remains, the quality of life of the people, the biological and cultural transformation, as well ass the modes of resistance.
  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.