Practices of Freedom and Justice: Representative Thinkers

Civil Rights, Hip-Hop and Hope: The Power of Young People by Alton B. Polard, III.

What better way to start the lecture with photos attached with 1,000 words. Wichita, Kansas Sit in, Greensboro Sit in, and Nashvville Sit in. Then transitioned to The Elders. The Great, Martin Luther King, Jr. ,Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Fannie Lou Hamer, Myrlie Evers, Betty Shabazz, Rosa Parks, joann Robinson, Coretta Scott King, Queen Mother Audley Moore, Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Sekou Toure, Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, Huey Newton, Elaine Brown, Erika Huggins, Frances Beal, David Hilliard, Francis Carter-Hilliard, Assata Shakur, Frantz Fanon, Cheikh Anta Diop, Mari Ecans, Ed Bullins, June Joradn, Miri Barakka, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye Stevie Wonder, The Last Poets, KRS-One, Chuck D, Biggie, Tupac, Salt-N-Peppa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Missy Eliot, Lauryn Hill, Common, De La Soul, The Roots, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez, Nas, Tribe Called Quest, just to name a few! Legends from African Independence Leaders to the movement of Black Power; African Scholars; The Poets; The Music; and Hip Hop.

The one thing I surely remembered about the lecture was the last song, Anthony Hamilton featuring in Jadakiss song, called “Why”. This song meant so much to hip-hop because it exposed all the cruel things that hurts our race and community. The power of the expression of words is so important and Jadakiss took advantage of just that.

Continuing the Legacy of Howard University

The history of Howard first started with General Oliver Otis Howard, who believed, “The rights of the freedman, which are not yet secured to him, are the direct reverse of the wrongs committed against him. I never could detect the shadow of a reason why the color of the skin should impair the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Then you had Mordecai Wyatt Johnson who was an American educator who served as the first black president of Howard University, from 1926 until 1960. He received his B.A. from Morehouse College in 1911, and second Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago two years later. 1917 he was the First Baptist Church in Charleston, West Virginia. He later founded a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. His building is known as the Administration Building across from the Main Gate.

School of Social Work is here at Howard University because of Inabel Burns Lindsay, who worked to establish the school and become its first dean in 1945. “She was a champion for social work, civil rights and social work education for all people”.

On our beautiful and historic campus we have, Founders Library, Carnegie Building, Alaine Leroy Locke Hall, Lulu Vere Childrers Hall, Douglass Memorial Hall, and many more.

Check out the list of: The schools and Colleges from which Alumni-Scribes have graduated in Howard’s 143-year history.

· College of Arts and Sciences

· School of Business

· School of Communications

· College of Denistry

· School of Divinity

· School of Education

· College of Egineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences

· Graduate School

· School of Law

· College of Medicine

· College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health

· School of Social Work

“The Eloquence of the Scribes” : Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery

New York Times,” Diversity in Higher Education”. Throughout the beginning of the lecture, we had the opportunity to explore and apprehend our well-known Howard University history. Ronald W. Walters, one of the country’s leading scholars of the politics of race who was a long time professor at Howard University; writer and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins said, “He was a man who used his intellect and wisdom to make this a fairer and culturally richer country than the one we were born into.” Then you have 2004 Tony Award Winner, Phylicia Rashad, the onetime “Cosby Show” star.

We went through the imperative museums that have a lot to do with our history as well, for example, the Smithsonian: Anacostia Community Museum. Going through the Gullah Images, and reading through all the portraying of the photos were quite breathtaking. Then we had the honor to go through the literature written by Toni Morrison.

You can’t go anywhere without knowing your history. Which is very important in being a student at Howard University. We all should know the history so we can understand it and follow on and uphold it in the future.

Before we got into learning our history, we learned about Ancient Scribes such as the Egyptian Scribe with papyrus scroll. Also, the medieval scribe, jean Mielot, a European author and scribe at work, 15^th century.

Freedom and Justice

Two words from Dr.Felder's lecture still reflect in my mind: freedom and justice. These two words are very simple in their forms, yet they pack so much power that human beings continue to fight for it. Since the beginning of time, inequality has been a serious issue for African-Americans. Our past generation worked hard for the equality of my generation today. Now we have the power to find for the rights that we should be guaranteed. Dr. Felder's message came quite clear to me. I saw it as a call to action. He wanted to show us that we have the power to accomplish anything that we want to accomplish. There was one thing I did have with the speech that took away from his overall effect. He kept mentioning his book. I hate when I feel like I am being marketed, and Dr. Felder solidified that feeling within my mind. I feel as if that is what Howard tries to do to me. It keeps me cynical and alert to the distress signal of someone mentioning their book. For example, my Pilates teacher had me buy her book as a requirement for the class. Or how everything here is Howard edition meaning that it was probably written by Howard professors. Don't get me wrong I love the close connection to our books. I'm getting taught by people who know the book. But when I am already paying $30,000 dollars to come to the school, the last thing I want to do is take money out of my pockets and put it into someone else's. So going back to Dr. Felder, there are other words from his speech that reflects in my mind. They came at the end when he ran out of time. I don't remember exactly what he said, but Dr. Felder said something that he continually said in his speech. He said pick up "my book" to find more information about this stuff. Dr. Felder's speech was intriguing, but I don't like appreciate him trying to sell his book.

Human Genome

“Dislocation and separation from our African roots led to a forced but temporary abandonment of a focus on wisdom is the ultimate goal of learning”. This lecture was simply informing us about what Howard University represents. That Howard is responsible of reawakening the legacy of learning. The lecture focused on the history and legacy of Howard in the pursuit of wisdom in the 21^st century.

We learned about the sequencing of the human genome, which introduces us on why knowledge revealed on the nature of life, biology, and human identity.

We learned about the genome-based knowledge and that it challenges current concepts of health, life, and human identity, and in the process informing and facilitating human transformation.

I came to the realization that the human genome-based knowledge revolution is not only social, but it’s also a scientific importance with goals of disease prevention, health promotion, and the elimination of health disparities.

What’s most shocking to me was that scientists reported that the broadest spectrum of human genome sequence variation is found in African people. This is extremely important because they’re saying that we are the natural resource of human genome-based knowledge and we will be the ones helping the current research efforts to decode the “Language of Life” rooted in the human genome.

Dr. Carr Lecture One

Dr. Carr’s went over the discussion of learning, wisdom and the African human experience. The comparison between Africans from Continent and Caribbean to those from the U.S. was discussed as well. The first topic explained was the importance of leaning and acquiring academic knowledge; learning the definition of Abstract. The reason why the lecture was taken place was because the significance of the threat to African dignity which was the lack of intellectual ability.

“The two streams in opposition to that charge may be called the ‘champions of African Deep Thought’ and the ‘authentic African philosophers."

We took time to learn about the African Deep Thought. We refer it today as “academic” [school] work. Discussion was related to recovering African Deep Thought through their historical African background. When we were also learning the Intellectual Genealogy we noticed where it said, “Africans Create: Writing, Counting, Sciences, Arts, Spiritual Systems, Formal Teaching”. It shows the timeline of events of the remarkable events Africans made possible. From 6,000 years ago where Kemet begins to 1900s where Africans in U.S. free slaves and built institutions.

In conclusion, we learned how to access the texts that link us to the Long Genealogy of African Deep Thought. For example, “Following the ground rules of intellectual work and by re-framing our movement work in the Longview of remembering”. Also their preaching was about our history never perishing. Basically telling us that the culture is alive and it should be kept alive as well.

Howard's History? Not Precisely..

Coming into Freshman Seminar, notable upperclassmen described the class as “The History of Howard.” For some reason, I took the connotation of those four words negatively. In fact, they were right with their choice of words. Every lecture I have heard somehow ties to the history of the school. That is what separates Howard University from any other school. Many schools have their form of freshman seminar, but none go so in depth to assimilate their freshman into the school as Howard does. Monday’s lecture that focused on the history of Howard was very intriguing. The buildings I passed every single day and marked off as a bricked structure with the ability to hold human beings were much more than that. The names of the buildings symbolize African American prominence. I never stopped by the College of Art and Sciences building to notice that it was named after Alain LeRoy Locke, “The Father of the Harlem Renaissance.” I never stopped to realize that the name in front of the auditorium was Crampton. It was named after Louis C. Crampton, a Michigan Congressman. Phyllis Wheatley, Harriet Tubman, Lulu Vere Childress, George Washington Carver, Charles R. Drew, George W. Cook, Mary M. Bethune, and Frederick Douglass are other prominent African Americans who names have graced the title of buildings. One name that I’ve always wondered about and that caused me to do extra research was the Carnegie building. I had come to find that the building was named after Andrew Carnegie, a white man. It shocked me, but as I furthered my research, I had come to find that he was very strong about promoting African American education. He helped Booker T. Washington with Tuskegee Institute, another historically black college or university. He also helped Washington create the National Negro Business League, an organization to help “promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro.” This just shows how rich our history is. There is no reason why we shouldn’t fiend for more. There is no reason why we shouldn’t know our history.

Scribes

A scribe is person who writes books by hand. Modern forms of scribes are journalists, lawyers, typers, and government officials. In a way, every student is a scribe. We have to write papers, take and make notes, type, and the most active student scribes are those who produce the school news paper. All of us don't have to write for the masses but we are still scribes non the less. We have to make sure that everything is accurate and done properly or else we fail. Failure is not an option for a scribe most importantly because you have to give correct information to get the correct results. If there is a miscommunication who know what will possibley go wrong. Scribes are not only people who write, but people who are advocates. The buildings and residence halls of this campus are named after famous advocates. These include Lulu Vere Childress, Alain Leroy Locke, Phyllis Wheatley, and Harriet Tubman. These people made it possible for African-Americans to be recognized as human beings and show that we are just as talented as any other racial group. Also, to show that we are not only entertainers but also have the gift of thought. Zora Neale Hurston, a Howard graduate and founder of our school newspaper "The Hilltop", became a famous author and wrote a novel called "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Phyllis Wheatley was a slave but was recognized as a poet and author. Her and Zora Neale Hurston's works are still loved and cherished today.

Tour of Howard

Many of the freshman seminar discussions have heightened my awareness about Howard University and its past alumni. This week I learned about the buildings that collectively form the Howard University campus. What were most appealing to me were the names of the buildings. At other schools you may see buildings titled: Building B, Building C, Building D, etc. However, at Howard University, we have taken enough pride in our ancestry to incorporate their historical names with our historical buildings. This is a unique quality that separates Howard University from most schools around the United States of America. While listening to this week's freshman seminar lecture, I could not help but to recall the times I visited the Howard University campus prior to picking the college of my choice. When I first arrived on campus, the first thing I noticed was the names of all of the different buildings. Fredrick Douglass Hall and the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle were the buildings that stood out to me the most. These buildings are what made me realize that all of the buildings at Howard University are named after influential African Americans. Furthermore, the buildings whose African American names were unfamiliar to me motivated me to learn more about my African American history. I felt as if I could not reside in the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle's Baldwin Hall if I did not know anything about Harriet Tubman or Mary Baldwin. This attitude was transferred towards all of the buildings that surround me on this campus. These unique qualities that are embedded in the Howard University campus allow its students to maintain an immense amount of pride towards their school. This pride is seen around campus every time I walk through the yard and I see everyone wearing their Howard University clothing and discussing how Howard University was the perfect college choice for them. This also motivates Howard University students to seek excellence and represent their alma mater to the fullest extent. Who knows, maybe we will all have buildings named after us one day.

The Human Genome

As a medical student here at Howard University, I found Dr. Dunston's speech greatly inspiring. Most often when we discuss the inheritance of our African ancestors, we focus mainly on the historical context of it all. I personally am not greatly intrigued by most historical lectures so the demonstration of the scientific connection between my ancestors and I was quite engaging. Dr. Dunston explained that we are innately "phenomenal" due to the genes that naturally occupy our bodies. I find this important because our genome expresses our history, our struggle, and our story and is something that cannot be altered or taken away from us. Most often, historical stories are altered to favor the views of the victor or cover the lies of those who were in the wrong. Scientific evidence of our inheritance however serves as exactly that, EVIDENCE. African Americans should pride themselves on the qualities which occupy them and make them different from everyone else. We are unique, unlike any other, and this a possession that we can always declare as our own. Our genome originates us back to the deeply rooted past of our African ancestors which demonstrates that their stories still lives on and will continue to live on as we produce offspring of our own. Knowing that we innately posses such a wonderful quality, we must all conduct ourselves with a sense of pride and strive to positively represent our people. Furthermore, such scientific knowledge offers further evidence to the confusion of life originating in Africa. Our genome is one that cannot be falsified so when it is traced back to Africa we cannot deny these origns. Instead, we should pride ourselves on having found the origination of the human species.

Dr. Dunston's Speech

Dr. Dunston's speech was both liberating and confusing. I understand knowledge/thinking and I understand genomes, but I don't understand how they completely or somewhat tie into each other. Maybe it's just me. The genome is the "most sophisticated knowledge system known to man", and every cell has the same genomic makeup. This part is where the knowledge aspect of the lecture comes from but what exactly does it have to do with Abandonment, Dismemberment, and Reawakening? To me, it was a biology lesson that somehow sunk it's way into the lecture. Her speech was very powerful and she was passionate about what she had to say. I'm not sure what was going on with my thought process that day but I just couldn't comprehend what was going on.
I think maybe if I was more focused on what Dr. Dunston had to say, I probably would have understood the lesson. My focus was somewhere else which really didn't help because was already confused. What she had to say was very deep and made me think (even though I was confused). If i could hear her speech again I probably will game more knowledge about the subject, but as of right now I'll stay a confused person for quite a long time. The topic was verying interesting and maybe if I do a little research I'll have and epiphany and completely grasp the concept about how knowledge/thinking and genomes has to do with Abondonment, Dismemberment, Reawakening, and Learning for the Purposed of Wisdom.

The Human Genome Project

Dr. Dunston’s speech about the human genome project was more than just inspiring. Inspiring lacks movement. Her speech was liberating. Not only did her speech make me as a young African-American research it more, but it also filled a void in my mind that questioned my role in this world. I learned that it was embedded in my genes from my African ancestors to become an innovator. My history, from the prominence of my race, to the road bump of slavery, to our continued success is all embedded in my genes. Dr. Dunston used words from Dean Donaldson to describe our class as “phenomenal,” an adjective that is defined as “remarkably and impressively good or great.” We as young African-Americans have to live up to the description because of the opportunities that have been given to us. Everything that we need to survive and prosper is within us. It’s within our DNA. Our culture has achieved excellence for over 12,000 years. There is no reason that we can’t. Because we have an innate connection with our African ancestors, it’s our job to continue to turn the pages of prosperity that has been set forth as a bare minimum for our race. The human genome project solidifies the notion that civilization started in Africa, and none should take more pride in that than my own race. In closing, I relate my ancestors to my father teaching me how to play basketball. With direction, and with the prior knowledge of my father’s success in the sport, I had an incentive to excel in the sport. I will take the prior success of my African ancestors in all areas unbounded, to excel in the sport of academia at Howard.

Genome Progect and Dr. Georgia Dunston

The Lecture by Dr. Georgia Dunston about the Genome that is in all of us and how we as the next class at Howard University need to carry on the Legacy was very inspiring. Ever thought she was not able to move around the room and illustrate her points due to technical difficulty's she was still able to show us how the genes that originally belonged to our ancestors in Africa still affect us today. She referred to our class as being a "phenomenal" group and told us that we had come to Howard at the prime time to help cure prominent diseases that plague society today. Also she mentioned how all the knowledge we would use to accomplish there tasks had been passed down through our genes. The knowledge and intelligence of our ancient African ancestors is now being used on contemporary problems. If our ancient counterparts had not been as proactive in there discoveries and been content to just exist and not to learn then much of the knowledge we have today would be lost. Also not only the African Americans in the world owe there knowledge to ancient Africans. All races can trace their genealogy to Africa and its knowledge. therefore all the advancements we see today by any race originated from the black origins in Africa. Many people fail to give the Africans respect and credit the discoveries of the world to either the Asians or the Europeans. thought both these groups were very influential, none of there discoveries would have been possible without the genes that were passed down to them from there African ancestors. Because of the continuing legacy of there pioneering individuals we are able to be here today attending Howard University and attempting to solve some of today's most pressing issues.

People easily forget that Africa is the motherland. They forget to give the respect and recognition that Africa deserves. Dr. Carr showed us plenty of examples of the origination of thought and knowledge that took place in ancient Egypt. They were able to build these amazing monuments without all of the modern technology we have today, and they're still standing after thousands of years. Africa is the most influential country in the world. So many things can be traced back or has ties to some type of African culture. I think Africa is overlooked now because of recent and ancient events that led to it's downfall. In this world, the bad out weighs the good and nobody even thinks about the good. All they see is the war and hatred and forget about the once great nation that Africa used to be. We are the product of thinkers, believers, and achievers and we always will be.

Issues

I cannot access the document and I have no idea why.

The Lecture: Dr. Carr Lecture One

The copy and past on this computer isn't working so I'm going to past the hyperlink to this blog.
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1pRosCipUiOfMvXXg67m_BVj0LEy9gv3_Uyl8KgFbOyg#

Learning, Wisdom, and the African World Experience

As a fellow African American survived by a culture enriched by the struggles of my ancestors, I am empowered by the knowledge of my past. African Americans are constantly left to wonder about the true contributions their lineage has made towards their progress, however, we are constantly misguided by the modernized stories of history that have been preached throughout our educational careers. Without the proper guidance towards the accurate account of our history, we will unconsciously encourage the blinded ignorance that others have predestined towards out culture. Dr. Carr's explanation of the origin of knowledge, wisdom and learning has led me to ponder these ideas. How can the African culture be held to such low jurisdictions--encouraging others to believe that such a historic continent made no positive contributions towards the American dream that is taken advantage of daily? Do others really think Africans roamed the earth aimlessly for thousands of years before they were captivated and forced to become civilized under the standards of a people who proved to be uncivilized themselves? Are Egyptian hieroglyphics not associated with the origins of writing, the sharing of ideas and hence the development of education? Is Egypt not an African country? No! When people envision the African culture, the image of slavery and captivity overpowers that of African royalty and the origination of an educational system. Such ideas are encouraged by the way history has been perceived and lectured throughout the world. In order to attain the truth of our culture, we must primarily understand that the dignity of the African people has been altered to satisfy the many lies that have been encouraged within the modernized educational system. We as African American people must explore the truths of our ancestry with the aspiration to educate ourselves and keep their stories alive. We must show the world that we, African American people, remain advantageous through education.

Dr. Carr's Lecture...I am an African American

     I am an African American. This make me an American of African decent. My ancestors are Africans. I am here because of them and I am one with them. When I strive, we strive. When I fail, we fail. But through their prolonged prosperity and their "road bump of struggle," I gain knowledge through every beat of my life. How they were makes me who I am today.

     Dr. Carr's lecture brought forth a new viewpoint in my mind: "Africans are originators." We were never anything else. It's a notion in the African American community that we took what was originally made for other people, and used it to better ourselves. I say "we" because I myself once thought that. I thought that areas of academia were first used by Europeans. That was what I was always told. But what Dr. Carr explained to us was before the rise of Europeans (what we know as history today) Africans had been living and striving in the world for many years. Africans invented math, writing, natural sciences, and even social sciences. History taught in our elementary, middle, and high school classes tell us that the Greeks are the inventors of many of these things. There is scientific evidence that ancient Egyptians were the first ones to invent and use these natural sciences. Its enlightening to discover that my culture are not only innovators, but also inventors. We all come from African ancestors. Whether it is accepted or not, that's on the individual. But I am glad to say that a come from very intelligent ancestors.