African Burial Grounds - Jahna Carolina

The Burial Ground was established in 1991 during the construction of a building. While building constructers ran across remains of people’s bodies, which caused further inquiry. They quickly found out that Africans were buried in this location underneath the ground. This served as a cemetery for the enslaved Africans that once lived there. The trip to the African Burial Ground in Manhattan, New York was inspirational and I am grateful that I was granted the privilege to see this museum. By walking into the museum you could instantly feel your history and roots all around you. I was moved by the passion that everyone who worked in the museum had. By the pain in their voice, it was almost like these people lived in this time period themselves. We were given a small tour of the museum with a brief film introductory. The film was entertaining and it explained to us why the African Burial Ground holds such significance. We were then taken to a room where any questions were asked about how we felt about the film and if there was anything we wanted to know about the actual museum. Our speaker had us huddle near her stating that she was a former Howard University student and that we are all family. She also mentioned that in one way or another we have all been affected by the burial of these Africans. After we finished, we were taken outside where another speaker told us about the different symbols that were outside of the museum. He, too was very passionate.

Jahna Carolina 

Dr. Dana Williams - Jahna Carolina

Dr. Dana Williams is a great speaker. Something about her presence makes you want to listen to what she has to say. By her demeanor, it is obvious that she is intelligent and knows exactly what she is talking about. She is definitely a professor that I feel that I can trust. Although her topic wasn’t necessarily interesting she made us want to listen to what she had to say. We learned the six basic components of research. Component number one is to identify the problem or challenge. State what the main goal is for the research and what you wish to accomplish. Component number two to identify your current state of research. How much do you really know about the topic that you wish to learn more about? You have to know where you are to know where you’re going. Component number three refers to the methodology of the research. This relates to the analysis of the paper and how you choose to conduct your research topic. Component number four refers to the framework of the research you wish to conduct. How are you going to present your research in a way that you will be able to fully understand topic and get your message across clearly and effectively. Component number five is the development of the thesis. During this stage you must gather your research together to come up with a well-constructed thesis that you are able to write research paper on. Component number six is the conclusion of the research. What have you learned from the research that you have conducted?

Jahna Carolina

Dr. Williams

This week we had the beautiful Ms. Dana Williams speak to our class. I was kind of surprised when she stood up after Dr. Doku gave her introduction because I never knew her name but she was always in our class and I just wondered what she did. After hearing the introduction I was just thinking “wow” this is a very accomplished person, and then the familiar face stood up. I was glad to see her stand up because I was expecting this boring looking person in the corner to be the speaker. I enjoyed Dr. Williams lecture. Unlike some of the other speakers that came in and spoke to the class I noticed that she made a point to not stand in one place the entire lecture. Dr. Williams was on her feet the whole entire time it made it very easy to pay attention to what was being said. The fact the she had a visual aid (PowerPoint) also made the lecture much better. Dr. Williams basically gave us information that would help us do our paper for our group project. She basically talked about stuff that we learn in English, thesis statements and body paragraphs and stuff. She also went over some of the blogs that some of the other students had completed some of them were funny and it was interesting to see what other people beside the people in my group were thinking about the lecture and what they were taking in from the lectures.

Dr. G

This week speaker was Dr. G. Dr G was a very interesting person. Some of the things that he spoke about I didn’t understand but I think it is a good thing that the things I did take in was something that I feel was very good and something that I never knew before. I like the lectures that we have been sitting through each week because each week I’m not learning about anything that I’ve learn in the past. Each week, especially this week with Dr. G I was able to learn something new and something that I will never forget. The main point to me with this lecture was the lady name Iwa. I feel like I Iwa was the main topic of the discussion. He talked about living a life like Iwa. Iwa was the daughter of patience and the granddaughter of pain. That right there was something that just caught my attention and it seemed very interesting. After the lecture I feel like I don’t take things for granted any more. I really appreciate all that I’m fortunate to have and will work for the things that I don’t have that I want. Dr. G also mentioned the Ten Commandments and how it was copied from another form of something from the Africans. I never knew that and it was something that made me think. All in all I was truly enlightened by Dr.G’s lecture and would go to hear him speak again any time.

Dr Felder

Dr. Felder lecture was yet again another lecture that I really enjoyed. He is a very influential man and after the lecture I was very inspired. I wasn’t really in a good mood coming into class in the beginning and he really opened my eyes to some new things that I have never been exposed to. During the lecture he pointed out a couple people while they were talking while he was speaking. I respect him a lot for that because that shows that he is really into what he was teaching to us. He was personable person and made it easy to pay attention and listen to what he was saying. What I took out the most from the lecture was the freedom and justice that he spoke about and the Black Diaspora. I think that freedom was what the main point of the whole lecture was. During the lecture he made several different references to biblical characters. Through the lecture he explained that we basically have no freedom. What we consider freedom is not freedom at all. The people that brought us over here from Africa determine what we considered to be freedom and it is technically limited to what they say it is. During the lecture Dr. Felder kind of got personal and spoke about the history of his name and told how his mother was raped by his father’s brother. He talked about how he and his brother was Cain and Abram and he always wondered why.

Freshman Seminar Lecture 6 (10/7/10)

Dr. Dana William’s speech on October 7^th was the last speech that will be given in my Freshman Seminar class. This speech was very different from the other speeches that haven been given, probably due in large part to Dr. Williams being one of the professors conducting the seminar. I am sad for the speeches to end but I knew this day was coming. Dr. William’s speech was more of a presentation that would enable the class to get back on track for the group projects we have to do. This is the part of Freshman Seminar I was dreading. I absolutely hate group projects, but I am glad that Dr. Williams spent the time to go over the project again. She also went over the grading rubric again. I’m glad that the project doesn’t count for the majority of the grade. I never like relying on other people for something that I need to get done. Although Dr. Williams said that they decided to break the class structure up to help us learn better, I think it would have been best to keep it as a lecture class. The main people who enjoy group projects are the slackers in the group because they know that someone else will pick up their slack so the group grade won’t drop. I like to be accountable for myself and nobody else. Something I didn’t like was that Dr. Williams read some of the blog posts out loud. It’s unlikely, due to the large size of the class, but I always get a little anxious about a professor potentially picking my work to read aloud. Thank god she didn’t.

Monique Smith

Freshman Seminar Lecture 5 (9/30/10)

On September 30^th, it was Segun Gbadegesin’s turn to give a speech in Freshman Seminar. His speech was more on religion that anything else but that is not what I focused on. In his slideshow, as well as in his speech, he gave evidence on how many things attributed to Europeans or the people of the Middle East should really be attributed to Africa. He showed that the 10 Commandments, as well as many other texts, have been copied form Ancient African documents, with the 10 Commandments plagiarizing the Principles of Ma’at. I knew this already, but many of the other students probably didn’t. Many people think that the Bible is a completely original document. If Mr. Gbadegesin would have clarified what he was talking about a little better, more of the class could have followed his speech a lot easier. What I found interesting was that Mr. Gbadegesin said that he didn’t learn about Ancient Africa until he came to America. That is just amazing to me and this could have been a separate speech altogether. How can one not learn the history of the place one is living in? I would think that Africa is where one could learn the most about Ancient Africa. It just seems strange that he started learning about Africa here when American school systems are always criticized for being Eurocentric. According to Mr. Gbadegesin, all he learned about in African schools was Europe and Christianity. This is sad and it needs to change.

Monique Smith

Freshman Seminar Lecture 4 (9/23/10)

On the 23^rd of September, Dr. Cain Hope Feldor gave a speech in my Thursday Freshman Seminar class. Before Dr. Feldor’s speech, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that he was a minister and I hoped that he didn’t spend the entire time talking about God. I can go to church for that. So, I wasn’t exactly excited for Dr. Feldor’s speech. To my surprise, Dr. Feldor spoke on a variety of topics from religion to race. On of my favorite things that Dr. Feldor said was “many people who go to church leave their brains at the door and bring only their emotions.” Something I appreciated about Dr. Feldor was that he found a way to criticize European civilizations without being hurtful and alienating the handful of white students in the classroom. Dr. Feldor demanded respect while he was speaking at the podium. During his speech, he would point out somebody in the audience who was talking or sleeping. Most people would say something about a student talking during a speech but would ignore a sleeping student. Silence was not enough for Dr. Feldor. Dr. Feldor also gave the origins of his name. Long story short, his mother was raped by his father’s brother. Even with the name Cain, Dr. Feldor has seen lot of success during his lifetime. He has an enlightening view of the world and has been one of my favorite guest speakers to date. I must remind myself to buy one of his books sometime.

Monique Smith

Freshman Seminar Lecture 3 (9/16/10)

On the 16^th of September, Dr. Eleanor Traylor gave a speech in my Freshman Seminar class. I really enjoyed the intro of her speech because I could really relate to it. It was exactly how I felt when I got to Howard. I was actually very disappointed when I first stepped foot on Howard’s campus. While that feeling hasn’t changed much, that’s a story for a different day. During the course of Dr.. Traylor’s speech, she added several new words to our vocabulary including “bisonage,” HUSAD, and “bisonish.” I learned several things during her speech including facts about Ernest Everett Just as well as the fact that Newsweek considers Howard to be the most diverse college in the DC area and perhaps in the entire nation. From here, Dr. Traylor starting giving the class “assignments” to do. While most of them seemed like they would be enlightening and fun, students have lives and work to do for other classes. I could see where she was going though. If I had more free time, I would have done most of her “assignments.” When Dr. Traylor started assigning her projects, she started losing most of the class. Instead of focusing on her speech and the information that she was giving us, most of us were worrying about how to get this extra work done. She should have explained that none of these events would actually count towards our grades. Because she didn’t, many of the students started talking due to their surprise. This was rude but it could have been avoided altogether.

Monique Smith

Dr. Gbadegesih

This week in freshman seminar, we received a lecture from Dr. Segun Gbadegesin. He is a professor in the College of Art and Sciences, who came from Africa. He gave us a lecture in which the contemporary topic was paying homage. In the lecture, he introduced us to an African story named Iwa.Iwa means existence and the character we have become. The moral of the story was to treat others with respect and to appreciate what we have. In doing so, we are paying homage because we are not taking anything for granted. Dr.Gbadegesin also talked about his early education.. He said he has learned a lot about influential philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle however, he has not heard about the Ancient Egyptians. Although, influential philosophers got many of their ideas from the Ancient Egyptians but gave them little or no credit. Before these philosophers, there existed the Principles of Maat, The books of instructions, the pyramid texts, and the coffin text which laid the foundation for modern day morals and customs. Ancient Egypt was also influenced by other regions of Africa. Throughout many times of the year, there occurred many migrations in Africa. This caused cultural diffusion to occur, which is how Ancient Egypt was influenced by the rest of Africa. Dr. Gbadegesin’s lecture taught me to pay homage to those who laid the foundation for me.

Christian Nestor

Dr. Gbadegesih's Lecture - Jahna Carolina

Dr. Gbadegesih’s lecture was extremely influential. I enjoyed his lecture in Omuluabi, which means good character. Dr. Gbadegesish made self-actualization the main topic of his lectures. He made it a point to place strong emphasis on this topic. I really enjoyed listening to him speak and it was definitely a lecture that I will remember. The points that he made will forever stay in my memory. I now have a better understanding of the purpose of man and what we were set on Earth to do. He told a story about a woman named Iwa who was very beautiful. Along with Iwa, there was a man named Orunmila, who is the God of Wisdom. In this story Iwa was the daughter of patience and the granddaughter of pain. The point of this story was to warn us that if we indulge ourselves in fraudulent businesses, we will lose our character, which will in turn, cause us to lose everything. He also told us that there is an African thought that that believes everyone has his or her own destiny. We are all placed on this earth to achieve a goal, no matter how big or small that goal may be. Dr. Gbadegesin also talked about the writings before the 10 Commandments. The Principles of Ma’at are based upon truth, justice, order, balance, and harmony. Ma’at is the daughter of the Sun God. Although Ma’at is the Sun God she is still required to abide by Ma’at, along with the other Gods.

Jahna Carolina