African Burial Ground

Going through my blogs, I realized that I never added an entry about the African Burial Ground. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, so I don't know how I forgot. Before the trip to the African Burial Ground, I was upset that I had to wake up so early to go, but by the end of the day, I was happy that the trip was mandatory. It was so moving to be able to walk where my ancestors had walked. When we first arrived, my group was given a tour of the outside of the grounds while another group was inside. The architecture of the outside of the grounds was so beautiful in contrast to the horrible injustices it sat on top of. We learned a lot about the African symbology on the architecture. When we got inside, we watched a very moving video about how the Africans living in New York during the time lived. Inside the grounds, there were pictures and various objects to interact with. I would love to go back to the African Burial Grounds again in the future and I am thankful for the opportunity I got during freshman seminar.

Alcoholism

The first group to present in my class was the group who decided to give a presentation on underage drinking. It was a great opening to the group projects because it really grabbed the attention of the class. Howard is supposed to be a "dry campus" but I know plenty of people who know how to sneak alcohol in and I've even seen it done. I don't drink, but a lot of my friends do so this issue is very important to me. Just last weekend, my friend from Florida got blackout drunk (on Four Loko) and decided to drive. He ended up crashing his car and got picked up by the police. Overall, I think that the fact that drinking isn't allowed until a certain age, makes it seem like a forbidden fruit to a lot of people, so then they really want to try it.

PWIs Vs HBCU

One of the groups in my freshman seminar class gave a presentation about the differences between PWIs and HBCUs. This was one of the more interesting presentations to me because this was the decision I had to make before deciding to come to Howard. I've attended predominately white schools all of my life, so to me, it was really important to come to Howard for undergrad. One of the girls in the group made a good point that many undergrads at Howard and other HBCUs don't wish to attend an HBCU for grad school, as if attending an HBCU is a fun experience but in order to justify attending one, one must attend a white grad school. For med school, I do intend to go to a white school back home in Florida, but not for the reasons the group brought up. It simply would be cheaper for me to do so and after spending a large amount of money on Howard for undergrad, it would be nice to save money.

Self Reflection

During the course of this class, I have learned many things. Even though I'm not a freshman, I had a lot of fun in this class. My favorite professor had to be Dr. Carr and I even signed up to take one of his classes next semester. One of my favorite moments in this class was going to New York for the African Burial Ground trip. I learned a lot about my ancestors and what they went through just to survive in the beginnings of this country. I also loved the guest speakers. I wouldn't mind listening to any of them speak again.

Faculty Interview - Dr. Eleanor M. King

Why is gentrification such a big issue?

Gentrification is a big issue because when middle class owners start moving into an area, housing prices start going up, often forcing long-term residents out because they cannot afford the new property taxes. These residents will start moving into the city where the tax is lower creating an over population in the city, creating more issues.

Dr. King also provided us with a number of statistics as well as graphs for our research project.

HBCU's vs. PWI's - Jahna Carolina

The group Los Colores did a very informational research project on HBCU’s vs. PWI’s. An HBCU is a Historically Black College or Institution and a PWI is a Predominantly White Institution. They mainly highlighted the many stigmas’ that are related to HBCU’s. According to peers that do not attend HBCU’s, they feel that Black Institutions do not focus their attention on academic but instead on partying. I do not feel that this is true at all. Howard University is a very prestigious University that is very concerned with our grades. They stand as the most prestigious HBCU so that stereotype is far from the truth. Another concept they covered was that our peers at Howard University would not want to continue their education at another HBCU. They want to be able to say that they were a well-rounded student so most of them will further their education at a PWI. Although, I learned a great deal about stereotypes that come with HBCU’s, I felt that Los Colores went into too much detail when explaining their research topic. I feel that they could’ve slimmed down their presentation to ten minutes instead of 20.  I did enjoy the beginning part where they translated their purpose of the research in both Spanish and English. It added a nice touch to their presentation. 

Jahna Carolina

HBCU vs PWI

Over the years I've been spending time at a mostly white school, I have been hearing all sorts of stereo typoes about HBCUs, I knew that they werte wrong but after a while you start to think if they are right. When I came to howard I learned that most of the stereotypes about HBCUs were wrong. The presentation that was done about the HBCUs vs PWIs, was on point to me. Many of the people, white or black, who attend PWI look down upon HBCUs saying that our academics are weak and that we have no diversity. They were all wrong Howard is a fine academic establishment filled with some of the worlds brightest minds, and Howard is very diverse we have students from all parts of the United states and all over the world. One thing thats a testiment to that is that the Howard University Carribean Student Association or HUCSA is the biggest group on campus. The presentation was well done and it covered all of the negative stigmas alot of the people who dont go to HBCUs think aobut HBCUs. This was my favorite project out of all of the Projects that were done in out area.

Christian Nestor