African American Burial Ground

Let me begin by saying I love my Howard University. If I had not chosen to attend such an institution in which tradition and history were the focus of the core curriculum, I would have never gotten the opportunity to visit such a historical landmark. When I was initially informed that all of the fresman seminar classes would be visiting the African American burial grounds in New York City, I was overcome with joy. I'm not going to lie, I was mainly looking forward to the free trip to New York. Being from the south, the opportunity to travel to New York does not come up very often so when I heard about the opportunity I was ecstatic. On the way to New York, I had a lot of time to contemplate on the experience I was about to encounter. When I think about slavery, I envision whips, chains, shackles, and large, dry plantations with hundreds of colored people working their lives away. Yes I know it is a terrible vision BUT travelling to the African American Burial Grounds enstilled a sense of pride in my past that I hadn't acknowledged before. The African American Burial Grounds became a national historical landmark because of the important impacts slavery made on our country. Had my ancestors not gone through the hardships they encountered during slavery, African Americans may not be where there are today. The imprisonment of slavery led to resistance and from this resistance came progress. I appreciate the hardships my ancestors had to endure in order to create a brighter future for people like myself.

Group Evaluation #2

The group whose topic was History of Poverty did a very nice job. They spoke clearly they knew what they we talking about. I learned more about poverty in less than an 20 minutes than I have since I've been in school. I was shocked to learn that 1 out of 3 kidss in the DC area are living in poverty. People are getting paid billions of dollars per hour yet the less fortunate have to scramble around just to find food.
I think it's funny how our government can go overseas to help third world countries bet we won't help ourselves. After hurricane Katrina hit it took weeks to get people government assistance, but when the earthquakes in Haiti came it took no time for us to go help them. Why is it that we can help someone else but won't help overselves? We have poor, starving people over here as well as other countries. If we don't help ourselves how can we help others? The higher class citizens have jobs being created nonstop while the lower class has to wait in lines at the unemployment office or a temp agency.
If we as a nation would come together, we could possibly get the less fortunate out of poverty. There is no reason why children have to go starving. Some circumstances may be different from others but no child should go unfed. We have all this money and resources but we throw it away on useless things. Maybe one day America will get its' act together.

Self Evaluation.

I am a stubborn person and I'm very guitly for that. I know I didnt participate to my best ability and I felt like I held my group back. Some of them might agree with me. I'm a close minded music nerd that only has one thing one her mind and I've always been that way. If it doesn't have anything solely based on music then i wouldn't do my best in it. In this semester, and every other semester to come, a majority of my classes will be music based. Unlike some, I'm already starting classes for my major which is Music Ed.
My performance was less than satisfactory and my attitude towards the class was very unnecessary. It has taken me too long to get myself together and get my work done. I wouldn't have gotten a U for my midterm grade if I would have only been compliant and got the job done instead of waiting until the last minute. I've very disappointed with myself because I know I can do much better than what I have done.
This class has truely been a learning experience for me. I still don't understand the class, but it made me look at myself, at what I've done/haven't done, and what I've become. I really need an attitude adjustment, but I'm really giving myself one as I evaluate myself. Maybe somewhere down the road this class will actually help me. Who know's, but I'll keep you posted.

-Faith Cooper

Group Evaluation #1

I enjoyed one groups presentation about the effects of music on kids and teens. Music is my passion so I made sure to pay close attention. i agreed with allt he research and what they had to say. Music has a large impact on the mentat state of people, especially an immature mind. Plenty of research has been done to support this.
Centuries ago, certain styles of music were thought to have a different affect on people. Of course, like today, some music was played mroe often than others. Young boys weren't allowed to listen to slow, sad music because the society thought it wasn't masculine enought. The boys were to carry on their family's name so they needed the most aggressive, most harsh music they could find. No one wanted a weak-ling to carry on their families name. It was said that some Greek kings would have musicians play soft musice to ease the minds of their soldiers before a battle.
They had a chart that showed the SAT scored of people who listen to certain music. The people who listend to Beethoven scored the highest. I felt proud because I'm one of thos people. I lkke some music of my generation, but I think the rest of it is garbage. Nowadays, everbody can be a singer and rapper whether they can sing or not. Electronics have taken the place of actual instruments and the quality of someone's voice. Everything sounds the same and there is no variet. I'll stick to Beethoven, Chopin, Robert W. Smith, and many other great composers.
I feel more stimulated when I hear the actual music. Sometimes I just get the instrumentals of music to bob my head to because I could care less about the words. The music of my generation has really fallen off. Every other song i hear has a ripped verse or music from old songs. Where is the originality?!!!!
Overall, the group did a a wonderful job. I enjoyed their presentation and it was nice to know that their discussion was on one of my favorite topics.

Research

Quite honestly, I feel the last lecture should have been the first. I was confused as to what the purpose of the class was until the last lecture. If I would have known this from the start I would have taken this class more seriously. The thing that really blew my mind was having to write a blog about lectures that really had nothing in common. I tried to have open mind but if I'm not convinced from the beginning, I sure won't be in the end.
From what I gathered, the class is supposed to help us better ourselves in research skills. I don't recall researching anything until our groups came together to work on our projects. If the blogs had something to do with research I would have done my stuff on time. It didn't make sense to me why we had to make blogs. I shouldn't be close minded but that's just how I am, I can't change that.
I understand that we all have to do things in life that we don't want to do, but I would rather do things that make sense to me, and if I don't get it right away hopefully I'll have an epiphany. I did learn more about my culture than I have in elementary-high school but it didn't really click. The first lecture went back to our ancestors, then it jumped to thousands of years later and the topics got stuck in that era. But in the end, I did receive good tips on how to do research.

Justice or Just Us?

Some say that freedom is not always free. Only certain groups (races) are allowed to be free while the others fall by the wayside and don't get the freedom they deserve. Doctrines and Constitutions have been written to ensure "Freedom" but failed to include, "To certain people." The Declaration of Independence was a written statement TELLING King George III that he was no longer in charge of the colonist. They TOOK their freedom. So why is it that when any other racial group tries to do the same, White America goes insane?
The Constitutuion was great for the rich white land owners but had nothing to do with slaves and women. They were deemed unimportant in society, yet they were the most important factor in their civilization. They wouldn't have been successful without slaves doing their work and taking care of them, and their wives to have babies. Slaves started revolting against their masters and mistresses and running away. They too wanted to claim their freedom but were forced to be treated like 3/5ths of a person.
Abraham Lincoln came along with the Gettysburg Address to announce that slaves were to no longer be slaves. this filled their heart with so much joy, but they would learn that their freedom wasn't free in any way, shape, or form. White men did whater they could to make black's lives miserable. They did everything they cold to hinder them from gaining true freedom. It became so bad that they added amendments to the Constitution, but that didn't make much of a difference either. The government came after that a made Jim Crow Laws. This made voting even harder.
This so called "Justice" is only a political term. Yes, you can go to courst and pass all these laws and add amendments, but if you don't carry it out to all people it's a completely useless piece of patper. There are always exceptions to the rules. So Freedom isn't free, and Justice is only for Just Us.

Dr. Dana Williams

The last freshman seminar lecture was concluded by Dr. Dana Williams. Her lecture was mainly on research! Which is perfect because we have to do our group presentation all off of research. Our topic is Rwanda Relief Efforts, and how was our major here at Howard, relevant to our topic.

Introduction of Dr. Williams lecture was specifically on the six components to research. I'm sure we all know about the six components of research because the topic was stressed on us during our years in high school. However, she stated the problem, or challenge that they were trying to find a solution to for freshman seminar. She noted that the one thing that needs to be fixed is us being "miseducated", mainly on our African American history. Which I honestly agree and understand. It's imperative for the future of our culture understands and comprehends our rich and everlasting culture.

Then she spoke about the next four steps: Methodology, Framework, Development of Thesis, & Conclusion, of research. Dr. Williams overall wrapped up the meaning and reasonings of all the past lectures we have received. Definitely appreciated the conclusion and all that I've learned through this course.

African Burial Ground Review

This is one of the most interesting and historic stories to ever come out of NYC. Unfortunately there's nothing historic to see here (as it's obviously all underground) but there are a number of plaques explaining the history here and the monument is interesting (though far from interesting if viewed from the sidewalk). The place is a National Historical Landmark and is run by the National Parks Department. I think it's ridiculous that they would close the little outside monument during daylight hours (5pm). It would be easy to step over the low metal bar they put up to keep you out after hours but as you're surrounded by Federal Buildings (including the FBI) and guards steps away checking all cars going on the street you're on, that's a risk I don't think anyone wants to take.

So here's the amazing history of the African Burial Ground:

In 1991 as they were excavating the area to build another Federal building the developers unearthed skeletal remains of a long lost burial ground. In all they removed 419 bodies and upon research they discovered that they were among approximately 15,000 bodies in a 6.6 acre plot in the area. Upon looking at a 1763 map they found this to be the sacred African American (both free and non-freed slaves) burial ground (which was used between 1690-1794). On the map it was labeled "Negro Burying Ground". At that time the burial ground started New York was actually still a small colony and the burying ground was actually outside the wall of the town. It wasn't long after the discovery in 1991 that the site was called the "most important historic urban archeological project in the U.S." and became the 123rd National Monument. In 2003 all 419 bodies were reburied with all artifacts that were found in the exact area and position they were found in. A search for a monument design started and was chosen in 2004. In 2007 they held the Dedication ceremony for the finished monument with Mayor Bloomberg and Maya Angelou. Recently they also opened a visitor's center at the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway.