African Burial Memorial

The African Burial Memorial was a very significant sight. I felt closer to my ancestors as Dr. Carr did his speech. I also developed a better understanding from the tour guide. All of the symbols and the pyramid contributed as a visual way of understanding. The Pyramid was not completed and the opening was faced towards Africa. There was something important every step of the way. Although I was under the impression that I would not be attending due the malfunctions with the bus, I am happy I was able to join the others in this memorable experience. The movie, after the tour outside, helped me to connect on a more personal note. It was the fact that the movie was a first hand experiment for how slaves buried their loved ones.
Harlem was exhilarating. The New York night life was wonderful. The store contained cheaper items, but their food wasn't so good. The trip in general was a wonderful idea. Even though I found myself being frustrated because of the pase of the bus driver as well as how many times we were lost, I still looked at the bright side that I was fortunate enough to even be accepted to Howard to experience the African Burial sight.  Some of the quotes that surrounding picture captured from the movie grabbed my attention. One of the quotes was "Some of those bones are my fathers' bones And some of those bones are mine.." This specific African Burial ground provided me with information that was hidden from me and I appreciate being able to experience this, especially at Howard University, which contributed to looking at the bones of the bodies.

The African Burial Ground - Kayla Blackburn

I went to the African Burial ground this past weekend on the 23 of October.  I almost didn’t make it on the trip. My roommates and I woke up late at 5:30, took a quick shower, and arrived outside of Crampton right before the buses were pulling off. To my amazement, there were two seats left on the 4^th bus right across from Dr. Carr and Dr. Dana Williams, my two favorite lecturers.

Before arriving to our destination, my mind wondered what waited upon our arrival. I figured that it wouldn’t be a graveyard with tombstones because the graveyard consisted of unmarked graves. But I knew that there were many of our ancestors still buried in the site. When we arrived I saw that it consisted of a memorial and a museum. After passing through the metal detectors, the first thing I saw was a group of about four people standing around two tombs. As I walked closer to the scene I slowly began to realize that the group was not real people. I really liked the exhibit because it looked so realistic. I saw the pain and sorrow in the statues faces. The sorrow that they expressed was sorrow that had been passed from generation to generation. Sorrow that I knew of, but had never felt. One of the speakers summarized what I was thinking when he said that my generation was not one that was close to the African American battle; meaning that we were born too far away from the Civil Rights Movement to fully comprehend the African American struggle.

The African Burial Ground - Tammy

      My experience at the African Burial Ground in New York City had a major impact in how I viewed slavery in relation to modern day times. Usually during history class, one only hears about slavery in the south or mid-atlantic states; however, the African Burial Ground enlightened me about the treatment and jobs of slaves in the northern territories. Although the wind was whipping and the temperature was around 55 degrees, I gained a lot from my experience in New York City.
      The first thing I did when I got the Burial Ground was go inside the museum and watch the documentary about how the Burial Ground came to be. It was amazing to see how so many people around the country, not just blacks, gathered as a united front against the desecration of this historic cite. I couldn't believe that the government was actually going to build over the Burial Ground and actually tried to defend their actions in court. All I could think of during this scene was how differently the government would have reacted if they would have found the remains of Europeans instead of the remains of African slaves. Despite the government's insistence to build a building over the cite, people from across America rallied together and got their sentiments heard in court. They made everyone realize the significance and importance of these bones. The bones were then taken to Howard and scientifically analyzed here. I find it fascinating that Howard seems to play an integral part in major issues in America. If I would have known just how great the legacy is at Howard, there would have been no debating as to which university I was going to attend.
      During the second part of my trip at the African Burial Ground, I listened to the guide as he gave the historical background of the monument built to the slaves buried there. As I walked around the bottom half of the monument and looked around at the various symbols from the different African languages, I was in awe at how beautiful yet literal some the symbols were. Symbols like the Sankofa appeared throughout multiple symbols because Africans and now African-Americans stress the importance of learning for our past and building a better future. Towards the end of our trip our tour leader asked all of us to stand inside of the monument that was built to look like a ship in order for us to understand what it was like to be on a slave ship and feel the lack of space. This was a very powerful experience because it allowed us to get one step closer to our ancestors and feel what they felt as they made the journey to America. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at the African Burial Ground and would love to come back some other day.

Learning Wisdom and the African World Experience

    With the title of this lecture being Learning Wisdom and the African Experience I immediately suspected it was about slavery (again). When Dr. Carr began his lecture I realized he was taking us all the way back before slavery. He was showing us the importance of the African decent. He began the lecture with how Egyptians created writing, which as I began to think I realized that there are way more things that originate in Egyptian that the public may be unaware of. This lecture created in sight on the something more important than slavery, in my eyes, instead of talking of the Africans demeaning slavery experience, he spoke of their accomplishments. African contributed, but the Europeans fought to dehumanize them and make them feel as if they had no history, so they could expose it as f it were their own. In result to this may people may believe the Europeans are to thank for the Africans work.
     Dr. Carr was also a good lecturer. As he spoke, the enthusiasm in his voice caused me to become more attentive. Although he did a wonderful job of getting through as much as the presentation as possible, he spoke very fast and I was unable to write a complete thought without missing something else of the same of more importance. I am not sure what is left to come, but I am more than sure this was the perfect lecture to begin with. It gave me the mind setting of time before slavery which is not a setting my mind was prepared for.

Abandonment, Dismemberment, and Reawakening:The History and Legacy of Howard University

    Dr. Georgia Dunston, located in the Microbiology Department,  began and ended with her introduction slide. She never reached the other slides in the power point. As I listened I felt more connected with her than the previous lecture due to her giving knowledge that wasn't scripted. The lecture was still organized and I would have picked this lecture before the original power point slide.
  When I first heard Dr. Dunston speak the word genome I pulled out my phone and looked the work up. I figured it had something to do with genes, but I wanted to be sure.  When I looked this word up I came with the sum of all information contained in DNA for any living things. Dr. Dunston mentioned genome holds knowledge and that human genome holds energy. The energy disturbance tells us our destiny. This lecture lead me to understand that everyone contains their own genome, which also make people unique in their own way.  She also mentioned that all people derived from Africa stating that it was the motherland.  This point goes back to my blog from last week of stating more this was created in Africa than people are lead to believe. Another thing she mentioned that I touched on last week was blacks within history not knowing their history, which makes it difficult to obtain the truth of their own people. As I watched a clip of a video by Shakbeezy, for a different course, he also stated that the Europeans erased African memory, suppressed African culture, taught white supremacy and controlled institutional socialization to prevent African from educating their children from sending their messages through media. This video actually helped me to understand this lecture so much more. Thank you Dr. Georgia Dunston.

The Final Lecture - Ilesha

This Weeks Lecture was entitled Research and Methodology : Inscription as a Liberating Practice. The lecture was given by Dr. Dana Williams and she was explaining to us how the lectures were given to us relate to our research and how we were to construct our project.

Honestly I never knew how these lectures would relate to our research so I never found the point of sitting in class and blogging other than getting a grade. Dr. Williams cleared that up for me.

Not to my knowledge and the other students as well, we were actually part of a research project that was being conducted by the COAS department. The primary objectives were for us to identify the principal components of research and to relate these components to our group projects. The related objectives were to show the relation of the previous lecture to our group projects and to review the previous weeks' lectures to reaffirm this relationship. They were trying to find an effective way of giving us information and for us to be able to retain this information for future knowledge .

Dr. Williams reminded us of our research topic which was In what ways is knowledge generated by various fields of study used to develop solutions to human social problems and challenges? Then she went on to explain to us the basic components of research which are as follows:
1. Statement of The Problem or Challenge
- Consider the purpose
 Consider reasonable questions


2. What is the Current State of Your Research
- What has already been said
- What is new
-What information is needed to complete the research


3. Methodology (how we approach our research)
- Conceptualize a research design
- Determine a method of collecting data
- Disciplinary approach


4. Frame Work
- How will we structure our projects
- How will we display our data


5. Development of our thesis


6. Conclusion


I can see that just like in English, we have to develop a thesis for our project.
Then Dr. Williams explained their research to us which gave us an example of what we should do for our projects. These six components will definitely give my group as well as myself an outline to follow when we conduct our research to find out how our majors will help solve problems in the future.

Freshman Seminar - Ilesha (10/6/10)

The lecture from October 6th, was entitled Omoluabi: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility and was given by Dr. Segun Gbadagesin. Dr. Gbadagesin started off his lecture by paying homage (or ijuba) to certain people before and after him. For example as young adults we need to pay homage to our parents because with out them, we wouldn't be the young adults we are today. Furthermore, Dr. Gbadagesin suggested we pay homage to the people in ours lives and each other more often.

Next Dr. Gbadagesin told us the story of Iwa. Iwa in yoruba means existence and character. In the story Iwa was Orunmilas wife. Orunmila in yoruba means the god of wisdom. The story of Iwa tells us how Orunmila mistreated Iwa by putting her down saying she could not cook well or sweep well. He stressed out Iwa and in turn, Iwa left. When Iwa left, everything Orunmila had, he lost because of the way he treated Iwa. In Despiration, Orunmila looked for Iwa. When finding her, Orunmila begged Iwa to come back and he gave her a second chance.

The Moral of This story is if you lose your Iwa (your character), you will lose everything. In other words, if you lose you character or your being you lose your materialistic things as well.

Dr. Gbadagesin then goes on to talk about some religious figures we know like Socratese, Plato, Moses, and Jesus Christ. He said before these figures there were The goddess Ma'at, Vizier Ptahotep, and Pharoah Amenemope. In relation, before there were the 10 Commandments, The Sharia or Kents Groundwork, there were Coffin Text, Principles or Ma'at, The book of Instructions, and The Pyramid texts.

The Principles of Ma'at tought ancient Egyptians truth and how to maintain justice order, balance, and harmony. These codes that the ancient Egyptians lived by helped form and shape their society. It also could be considered the confessions of the innocence of people.

Coffin texts told of the principles of reward and punishment in the afterlife and were written in the tombs of nobles. Coffin texts were said to give moses the inspiration for the 10 commandments.

Dr. Gbadagesins whole lecture was to teach us that our character and being is very important in our lives. Furthermore that our wisdom should be to benefit others and not just ourselves which was stated in a previous lecture given by Dr. Carr. I know from experience in my 17 years that your character is important not just for yourself but for others around you. The way you carry yourself is very important and if you do not have good character and carry yourself well you will lose everything and there have been times where I have lost myself but I to catch it and turn it back around. Dr. Gbadagesins lecture was very informal and i enjoyed it.

Freshman Seminar 10/6/10 - Tammy

This week in Freshman Seminar Dr. Williams taught us how to conduct research in order to prepare for our upcoming group presentations. She told us that there are six components in conducting a formal research project. The first step is the statemen tof the problem or challenge in which the researchers narrow down what their research topic is and what challenges are facing their topic.The second step is teh current state of the research. This means that researchers must find out what research is already available about their topic and figure out what new research they need to find out about it. Third is the methodology which includes, how the researches will get information about their topic, what design they will use and what discipline will they focus on. The fourth step is the Framework in which team members discuss how they will present their data and how the project will flow. The members construct the outline of the project and what is necessary in order for the project topic to be presented clearly, efficiently and effectively. This also goes along with the fifth step which is the development of the thesis where group members use the data and relate it to the thesis and then come to a conclusion which is the final step.

I was very surprised that Dr. Williams told us that Howard University was the leader in interdisciplinary research. Of course, Howard is world-renown for its leadership in African-American studies (i.e the African Burial Ground); however, it is good to know that Howard goes beyond just African-American topics. I love the fact that schools that are considered to be better than Howard, look to us on how to conduct proper research on a particular topic. Although, I learned how to conduct a formal research project in high school, Dr. Williams helped clearly defined what it is our group needs to do in order to answer our group project question. Our group will use the process outlined by Dr. Williams and hopefully do a good job in answering how we will use our degrees to help out the community. Too often black people who graduate from college, forget about the community from which they came. Our group wants to be a part of the few people that go back and use what we have learned in college to help out the black community as a whole. Hopefully, next week during our group meetings we will use Dr. Williams's powerpoint to help direct our project.

Research and Methodology

  This particular lecture was dedicated mainly to the six components of research. Which were: Statement of the problem/challenge, current state of research methodology, framework, development of the thesis and, of course, the conclusion. She also stated there needs to be  goal of the lecture was to pursue a lifetime of independent discovery importance of research. Within all of these categorized she gave key things that would help to describe the category. These six components were unheard of until now. These are new steps that I look forward to using to improve the research I engage in. The objective was to identity the six components and to relate the components to the group projects. Lastly we going to relate the previous lectures to the up coming group projects. Then she stated there was a rotation of memory, historical memory, awareness, memory or knowledge that has been institutionalized, and vision, imagined or unimagined.
  These six component definitely will help in y up coming research paper in English 002. I know that they will contribute in all my research assignment so I will be keeping these notes even after graduation. The presentation was well put together and Dr. Dana Williams spoke loud and clear. The six lectures this semester were very insightful. I can now understand why they all are combined into the final project. I also appreciate the structure of the class. There was a plan and I followed along with in and now I feel on task with everything. Thank you Dr. Carr and Dr. Williams

Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility

  When Segun Gbadegesin began his lecture I was not following along due to not being able to follow along with his accent. It was very difficult for me to understand him. His presentation brought forward the emotional connection that was needed for me to engage. I thought it was brilliant telling the story of Iwa. The story was a good way to understand the definition of Iwa. The statement Gbadegesin made saying that without existence and character one may lose everything, made me take a second to think of my own life. I related this lecture to my life in a way that helped me to understand that this was indeed a fact. There has been times in my life where I was confused of my character and as a result I was lost.
  He also list the principles of ma'at which he then went into description of learned and practice, truth, justice and maintained order, balance and harmony. He then spoke of the coffin text in which was written by nobels and put in their coffins. In that time everyone were strong believers of the afterlife. Which even today there is a form of an afterlife that people believe in.
  I also enjoy the him giving us the definition of the names in the story in advance. It was a lot easier to follow along with. The father was patience, Iwa was existence/character, and Orunmila the God of wisdom. Overall, besides the accent, it was a well put together piece of work.

Civil Rights, Hip Hop and Hope- The Power of Young People

   This title helped me to engage in this lecture. I feel that because young people are the future that we need some guidance and support. We also need acknowledgment for the routes we have taken to better our future, such as attend Howard. We all have goals of becoming more and making our society more. In this lecture there were a lot of different names mentioned that I have and haven't heard before. We talked of people that made a difference in different categorize from African Independent Leaders, Julius Nuerere and Nelson Mandela, to Black Power, Angela Davis, and Frances Beal, to African scholars like Chancellor Williams, to poets like Muhammad Ali and Maya Angelou. Then we touched on music, which is involved in all African American (blacks) lives. The artist that I was most happy to see posted was Jill Scott. I think many artist, in one way or another, is teaching viewer of their history. Whether it be due to the way they dress, do their hair, or their lyrics, there is a message that is given within the performance.
   There were many messages within the lecture that was very meaningful. The message from Ella Baker, which was that we all are leaders. As well as we should always ask why, how, what and where. We should never settle for less because corruption is everywhere and asking these questions can get you further. The last thing I noted was it is because of faith of ancienty we are here today.

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

   The Eloquence of the Scribes lecture taught a lot about Howard and the founders of all the different buildings. It was very interesting learning of these significant people that contributed to Howard's sterling name. As the lecture continued I found myself enjoying the thought of being a student at Howard because of all the people that contributed and struggled. Knowing the background behind the halls and other building will make my experience more intriguing. I learned that the Founder Library in 1938 became the world largest library with documentation about African American decent. 

   She also mentioned the history of scribes and that they were around since ancient Egypt. The only reason why scribe were being used less and less was because of upcoming technology. Since scribes were people manually write books and documents, when typewriters came out more people began using those instead. Their jobs were in every field and they could be used just about anywhere. One thing that did catch my attention was that there were women scribes. I know that women weren't rewarded for things they accomplished compared to men, but I really liked hearing that some of the buildings were named after women as well.  

   I was unaware of all of these peoples significance before attending this lecture. I was aware that General Otis Howard was how Howard University, but I was unaware of his accomplishments.  After every lecture I feel I always leave with more than I come in with. Knowing the history of your surroundings is always a plus.

October 6, 1010 Kayla Blackburn

This week’s lecture was “Research and Methodology: Inscription as a Liberating Practice.” It was given by Dr. Dana Williams. Dr. Williams caught my interest from day one. She caught my attention by the way she carried herself. She portrayed herself as an intelligent sophisticated African-American woman.  These are traits that I wish to gain during my years at Howard University and embody upon graduation.  

When Dr. Dana Williams was announced as the speaker, I was really excited and anxious to hear what she had to say.  However, I was quite disappointed when I learned the topic she was discussing. I believe she said that she was in the English Department of Howard University so of course it makes since that she discuss research methods with us, but I would have liked her to give a lecture with more of her own personal touch. 

Dr. Dana Williams’s objectives were to identify the principle components of research and to relate these components to the group project.  There are six components of research. The components of research are …

1.       Statement of the problem/challenge

a.       Consider the purpose of research           

                                                                                       i.      To advance knowledge

                                                                                     ii.      Solve a problem

                                                                                    iii.      Inquire

b.      Consider the reasonableness of your research question

                                                                                       i.      Is it specific enough

                                                                                     ii.      Do u have enough time to address it

                                                                                    iii.      What skills and/or skill levels does it require

2.       Current State of Research

a.       Consider what has already been said

b.      What new info will your research bring

c.       What info will u need to complete your research

3.       Methodology

a.       Create research design

                                                                                       i.      Before and after approach

                                                                                     ii.      Retrospective

                                                                                    iii.      etc

b.      Method of data collection

                                                                                       i.      Secondary          

                                                                                     ii.      Primary

4.       Framework

a.       How will you structure the project?

                                                                                       i.      Report

                                                                                     ii.      Presentation

                                                                                    iii.      Scholarly paper

b.      How will you display your data

                                                                                       i.      PowerPoint

                                                                                     ii.      Graphics

                                                                                    iii.      Video

                                                                                   iv.      Handout

5.       Development of the thesis

a.       Articulate the thesis

b.      Provide supporting details

c.       Structure the research findings/ questions logically

6.       Conclusions

a.       What new insights?

b.      What limitations did you have?

c.       What should future researches consider?

Dr. Dana Williams’s six components of research will be very helpful to my group and I when we began our research.

Freshman Seminar 9/29/10 - Tammy

      This week's lecture was given by Dr. Segun Gbadegesin and the topic was OMOLUABI: Self Actualization and Communal Responsibility. To start off Dr. Gbadegesin's lecture he the Yoruba story of Iwa. In Yoruba, Iwa means character and she gets married to a man that treats her very poorly even though good things happen to while she is around. Eventually, she decides to leave this man and he searches everywhere for her. Bad things begin to happen to her husband until he eventually finds Iwa again and begs her to return. This story symbolizes what happens to a man when he loses his character. Dr. Gbadegesin's main point of his lecture rested in this opening story. He told that without character we are nothing and have no sense of self. Fame, fortune and reputation may come and go but one's character should always remain the same. We should remain humble and not let our accomplishment's or life ruin our sense of character. This by far was this most important aspect of the lecture because it's a point that most of us need to hear. While at Howard, many of us will begin to discover what our true character is but it is up to us to define what our true character will be. Instead of focusing solely on popularity, money or even grades we should remember to also focus on ourselves and not forget that type of person we want to be and the person we wanted to become before we arrived at Howard University. 
      Dr. Gbadegesin also talked about the goddess Ma'at who was the goddess of truth, justice and harmony and gave set of principles to live by that preceded the ten commandments. The ancient Egyptians lived by these codes that helped form and shape society. He also talked about coffin texts which contained themes of reward and punishment in the afterlife. These texts were thought to be the inspiration for Moses who delivered the ten commandments. The point Dr. Gbadegesin also tried to make with these ancient texts and goddesses is again never to forget the importance of one's character and one's sense of self. Also he was not allowed to learned about these ancient beliefs in his school, he still ventured out on his own and decided to learn more about his culture and found that the ancient texts were in fact still relevant and good. One may seek many avenues and still find that the preservation of one's character is still very important in the development of self. 
      Finally, the most inspirational part of the lecture that Dr. Gbadegesin left us with was the Yoruba poem which said:

"Honor may vanish from your house

Cosmetic beauty may fade

Iwa is what endures even into the grave

Take care of your iwa"

An important lesson for all...

Kayla Blackburn

The lecture on September 29, 2010 was given by Segun Gbadegesia. He started off by giving homage to certain things and people. Some of the things that he paid homage to was the creator and the created, ancestors, giants before him, giants after him, and the class of 2014.  After giving homage to several other things, he told the students attending the lecture that we should thank our parents for putting us on the right path.

After that, Mr. Gbadegesia told us the story of Iwa. According to him Iwa, is our existence and our character, but in the story it was portrayed as Olounmila’s wife. During the story Olounmila lost his wife, thereby he lost his existence and his character.  The story ended with Olounmila desperately searching for his existence and character (his wife.) Like many African folklores this story had a moral. The moral is you can’t lose Iwa because if you do you lose everything.

Mr. Gbadegesia also said, “Wisdom is how you use your knowledge to benefit others.” I completely agree with Mr. Gbadegesia, I feel like there is no point in having knowledge if u aren’t sharing it with others. I personally strive to learn as much as I can from people with a lot of knowledge. Sometimes learning from someone else about what they know personally can be more rewarding then learning from a textbook.

Mr. Gbadegesia also introduced the class to what some may consider pagan religions. He stated that before Jesus, Moses, Sophocles, and Plato, there was the Goddess Ma’at, Vizier Ptahhotep, and Pharaoh Amenemope. He also stated that before the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, there was the Sharia.

Overall, this lecture was interesting. I learned more about African beliefs and traditions.