African Burial Ground Trip

The first thing that I thought when I heard about the African Burial Ground was, “I never heard anyone talk about an African burial site here in America before, and this is new to my ears." I found the location of the African Burial Ground interesting because of the current geographical settings; you wouldn't guess that something so ancient and sacred would found in lower Manhattan of New York. It’s ironic how the African Burial site is located in the same area of the economic trade center of the world.

When we arrived in New York at the African Burial Ground National Monument, Dr. Carr led us into an African ceremony called libation. The term libation refers to the pouring of liquid as a religious offering or in honor of those who are deceased. In urban areas it is common for people to pour out liquor in remembrance of a family member who has passed away or been killed. I was not aware that this practice was an African tradition.

After the libation had taken place we watched a dramatic document on the history of the African Burial Ground and the ceremony that the Africans held for the deceased. During the efforts of citizens, politicians, anthropologists, scientists and historians, there were many people who did respect the rediscovery of the African Burial site and looked at it as if it had no value. I found that it was ignorant of people to not see any value in this African burial site because the ancestors who buried were slaves and struggled for many years to gain their freedom and rights during this time period. It’s bad enough that our ancestors had to deal with the struggles of being discriminated against, prohibited from education, and not gaining civil rights when they were alive, for them not receive the respect and acknowledgment now is just ludicrous.

The trip to the African Burial Ground has helped me furthermore understand the hardships that our ancestors had experienced. As African Americans we take for granted the advantage to bury our loved ones in a proper manner. With that being said, as African Americans it is necessary for us to understand who we are, where we come from, what we’ve become, how did we did get to where we are , and why haven’t we progressed any further as a people?

-Ramona Williams

African Burial Ground

This past weekend, all Freshman Seminar classes were given the opportunity to visit the African Burial Ground Museum located in New York City. This was a special field trip for me, as I had never visited any kind of museum of this sort, and I found the fact that actual slaves were buried within the grounds of the museum quite fascinating. The trip began with us being led into a screening room and viewing a docudrama about the rituals slaves would practice beforing burying a loved one. They would prepare the bodies for burial by wrapping them in linen shrouds with their most prized-posessions. Africans were not able to bury their people in churches with proper memorial services however. Within the museum I viewed a great number of ancient artifacts, the most interesting to me being the cuffs used to enslave Africans and force them on slave ships. This was particularly heartwrenching, as I could not fatham my wrist being bound by the small metal cuffs, and being forced to work strenous labor in a land foreign to me. I also had the opportunity to view historical documents that were ratified during slavery, such as the Runaway Slave Act. The biggest artifact in the museum however, was hanging on a long wall. On the wall was a list of hundreds of buried slaves, and details about their nature of their body and bones during the time of death, age, and gender. What puzzled me the most was the amount of children and babies I saw buried next to their mothers or fathers. The innocence of a child being taken away by the monstrous reigns of slavery deeply saddened me. A lot of the bones also had missing body parts or objects brutally pierced between them. It was crazy to try and understand how people could treat an entire race of people so cruelly merely on the basis of their ethnicity. I was also confounded how these Africans buried here long ago were given no kind of credit or recognition for their feats in helping build many of the monuments and buildings we see in New York today. The trip to the museum saddened me a great deal, but I think that it was a much needed tour for me to realize how far we have come as a race and the journey and struggles my ancestors before me had to endure. I most certainly am grateful for this fact and since visiting the African Burial Ground, I will make sure that I never forget how the bodies that lay beneath me that day helped establish who I am today. I would like to thank Dr. Carr and all the other teachers and assistants who participated in the organizing of this field trip and giving students the opportunity to get a first hand look of their cultural background.

Research & Methodology... As presented by Dr. Dana Williams

This past week's presentation by Dr. Dana Williams was basically a summary of everything we've done in Freshman Seminar thus far. She explained the purpose of Freshman Seminar as being a guide to help students become more independent and realize their true-self and potential to achieve great things not only at Howard, but elsewhere. She explained the purpose of the research we are to be doing in class with the Mbongi forms as a method to help us become more self-aware and informed on issues regarding our ancestors, our community, and our culture. The blogs we write every week are also used as a tool to measure how well retain the information being given to us. Dr. Williams then went on to discuss the research we will begin to conduct now that all lectures have been presented. She informed us on the various research methods we can use to assist us in developing a research question for our group, and creating a research design for our upcoming group projects. This lecture session was very informative because it outlined the course of Freshman Seminar and what we can expect out of it, as well as what is expected of us as students. This lecture session helped me gain a great deal of information regarding the research my group will need to begin and served as a guide to research methods I can use not only for this class, but for any other projects I have in other classes. Concisely, I thought Dr. Williams did an excellent job preparing the class for the weeks ahead, during which we will have to use the information she gave us to present our group projects to the class.

Research and Methodology - by Dr. Dana Williams

The last session of Freshmen Seminar saw the close of lectures, with the last one being presented by Dr. Dana Williams. Looking back, I have to say that I have really enjoyed the lectures that were presented each week. Every presentation was different, and unique. With each lecture, we were taught new ways of thinking, new ways to view the world, and what the “black experience” really meant. We were taught to become stronger. Now that all the lectures have been presented, I realize just how important this class truly is. I am going to try to retain the information that I have learned from our guest speakers and use them in my everyday life.

Dr. Williams’s presentation was very engaging. She explained the importance of research and how to utilize it in our lives. Through research, knowledge is gained, and knowledge is power. From the research that we will be doing in our projects we will not only gain more information for our brains but also for ourselves. Through research we will better ourselves. Dr. Williams also presented many tools that will also aide us in our research.

This week was also the week that my Freshmen Seminar class took the trip to New York to view the African burial ground. This is the site where many Africans who were brought to New York as slaves would bury their dead when they were allowed to. The site was forgotten about for hundreds of years and in the early 1990’s when the construction of a new building was to take place, the burial ground was found. The site was very moving, profound, and touching. It is a very small area, with a large number of Africans buried there. Inside the museum we watched a video that was a reenactment of a slave family’s possible situation in which the mother and daughter had to now burry the father. There were many photographs and historical information posted all over the walls. What stood out the most to me was the screen was that was able to tell you how some of the people were killed from the cracks and bruises in their bones. After the museum we were taken into a memorial outside that had beautifully printed symbols on its walls that everyone could relate to. I found the trip to be very informative and profound.

Overall I truly enjoyed my time in Freshmen Seminar, and I feel as if I really learned a lot in this class. The lectures taught me a lot about myself, my past, and my future.

Safisha Seifullah

Research and Methodology with Dr. Williams

For this past week’s freshman seminar session, Dr. Dana Williams gave a power point on Research and Methodology. In the initial part of the power point reminded students that the purpose of the freshman seminar course is for each student to pursue a lifetime of independent discovery, including the appreciation of research. The primary objectives Dr. Williams’ lecture session was to identify the principle components of research and relate these components to the group project. Dr. Williams informed on the many research methods and approaches we can use while developing our group projects. She underlined the importance of conceptualizing a research design which could be a before/after, longitudinal research design or a research design focusing on a reference period such as retrospective, prospective, or blend. This lecture session was very helpful and informal for me because it gave me a better outlook and idea on how to develop our group projects. I like how Dr. Williams incorporated the freshman seminar course with her lecture session. She used the process of how the students would fill out the Mbongi forms and blogs to help the professors of the freshman seminar course to determine if the goals of fostering independent discovery and of cultivating a commitment to academic excellence were being met. This example was very effective for me because of the fact that in a way I was participating in a research project. I like how Dr. Williams reflected on the course of freshman seminar by showing some of the blog postings from during the course of this class. This was a good way of showing how the student’s thoughts and ideas of the course changed from the beginning of the course until now, and also a good example of how to engage with your audience during a presentation. Overall, this lecture was very helpful and useful for many future researches I may need to engage in.

-Ramona Williams

A Lesson on Good Character by Dr. Gbadgesin

Dr. Segun Gbadgesin presented to the class, a lesson on good character. I found his presentation to be very interesting and engaging. His use of the drums to illustrate that words can be spoken with a particular connotation, even with a drumbeat, was very clever and a pleasantly suprising shift from the usual lecturer's presentations. He told us the story of Iwa, the beautiful wife of Orunmula, the God of wisdom. Orunmula mistreated Iwa so she left Orunmula and he lost everything he had. In desperation, Orunmula spent years in search for his beloved wife Iwa, and when he finally found her, he developed a new sense of appreciation for her. The moral of this story is: Don't ever loose your character. In this case, Orunmula lost his good character, which in turn made him loose everything. The nature of your existence and character is very important so you cannot afford to loose it. If you do, you loose your being and who you are. The story of Iwa and Orunmula set the tone for what would be the rest of the class discussion, good character. Dr. Segun stressed the concept that being a good person is the only way one will be rewarded in life. He told us about how the Ancient Egyptians from Ma'at learned and practiced truth, justice, and maintained order, balance, and harmony. He pointed to these characteristics as being the key to good character, which is a key to success. Dr. Segun ended his presentation by uttering 2 phrases in Ancient Egyptian language saying, "Iwa Iewa and Iwa Iesin." Which means good character is beauty and good character is the essence of religion. After his presentation, I certaintly believe this to be true. Overall, I was enticed by Dr. Segun's rhetoric and inspired to make a change in myself and my character so that I can perfect my own Iwa. I believe that if everyone had this attitude, and took care of their Iwa, the world would be much more peaceful and joyous.

Spiritual Awakening with Alton Pollard

This class discussion was a very spiritual one. Our orator was Dr. Alton Pollard, dean of Howard University School of Divinity. He stressed the need for young African-Americans to not settle in the progress and achievements of their predecessors but to strive to make achievements of their own. He stressed the need to have self-worth and said that by having spirtual wellness we attain our true self-worth. He discussed illustrious black pioneers such as Sojourner Truth and W.E.B. Dubois. By referring to them, I understood his inference that if these leaders before us managed to make a substantial change in society during times of racial turmoil, so could any one of us now. This gave me a great sense of empowerment in not only the abilities of African-Americans, but my own abilities and the strides I can make in my community as an individual. One person he discussed interested me particularly, however. Gerina Lee, the first African American to write her autobiography. Her story gave me great inspiration as a young African American woman. Dr. Pollard told the class how she once tried to committ suicide in the wake of the racial oppression of her people before the Civil Rights Movement. Luckily, she had a spirtual awakening and during this awakening, she began having mystic visions about social change. Thus, she committed herself to ministry and because of her sense of righteousness she was dubbed "God's Minister" amongst her followers. Gerina Lee's story demonstrated the power of the African-American spirt and just how far we can go as a race if we remain spirtual and maintain a sense of righteousness. His last words during his lecture will forever resonate in my mind... "Always know theyself, if you know thyself you will know your God." This is remarkably true. To know and understand thyself as a child of God, one has spirtual wellness and can accomplish great things through faith and committment to God. When one is close to God, one feels a sense of empowerment. With this sense of empowerment and self-worth, we can accomplish all things.

Principles and Good Character

Last Tuesday in freshman seminar Dr. Segun Gbadgesin came before the student body and presented his lecture on self actualization and communal responsibility. Dr. Segun shared with the students the principles and commandments of African culture. The principles and instructions all focused on morality and maintaining a good character. Dr. Segun also shared with us "The Story of Iwa". The moral of the story is to respect women, don’t take anything for granted, and don’t ever lose your being, character, or existence. He discussed how Africa’s view of morality is not recognized in other cultures even though these same laws and principles are used in today’s society. These principles and instructions built good character which was important because as Dr. Segun quoted from the instructions of Ptahhotep, “A man of good character is a man of wealth”. I got a lot out of this lecture because it reminded me that not only is it important to have an education to succeed but it is also important to have good character because that’s one of the ultimate things that can open many doors for an individual. You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you don’t carry good characteristics your opportunities may be limited. One thing that Dr. Segun continuously repeated throughout the lecture was, “to create oneself you have to apply education”. This quote encourages students to add on to their characteristics by taking what they learn and apply it to themselves. You should always be able to take something you learned in the classroom or in a text book and apply to yourself to help shape and mold you into the person you’re destined to be. This lecture was rather interesting given the fact that he used spoken word to define the topic of his lecture. I enjoyed this past session altogether and will definitely continue to build good character.

-Ramona Williams