Self Reflection

This semester was so crazy and went by so fast, I'm not sure where all the time went. I fell as if I have done a lot of growing since high school and as a person in general. This class was always interesting. Whether or not I wanted to, I always tried my best to come to every class. I can definitely say that I learned a lot, it may not have been academically, but about life. This is a class that is a great way for freshmen and transfers to get to know one another. So far I really like college and all that it has to offer. It's way better than high school, and I feel like I'm doing better. I like being able to do what I want to do and having freedom. My favorite part is not having to ask the teacher if I can go to the bathroom. Plus I feel like we are being treated the age that we are, which is a big step up from my high school. Anyway I'm really excited to see what all will happen next here at Howard and where life is going to me. I think this was a interesting class to start our college career off with and I know that it will only and get better from here.

Peer Presentation #2

The second group presentation was by the "Any and Everywhere's". Their topic was the number of black males incarcerated compared to the number of black in college. This is a topic that is always so interesting to me, especially since the ratio being the way it is here at Howard. The group gave three reasons why this is the case1) poverty 2) child abuse or neglect 3)racial profiling. This is a topic that can be explored and talked about so much because when you think about it, when it comes down to the black community this is a really big problem. More of our men are incarcerated and spending their years behind bars than they are in college. When they come out of prison they usually have a hard time coming back into society. Either because they can't find a job or because they come out and they get right back to doing the things they were doing before they got locked up. so overall this was and really good topic and a good presentation. I wish it could have been a little longer because there is a lot of information to give in just a short period of time.

By: Morgan Nicholas

Peer Presentation #1

This week one of the groups that presented their projects were the Jujubee's and their topic was cyber bullying. This presentation was very interesting. I had always been aware of this being an issue, but I never quite knew how big of an issue it was. In their presentation they shared with us two stories of young girls who had been bullied over the Internet and ended up committing suicide. In one story one of the girls was being bullied by another child's mother, who had created a myspace page just to bully her. in the end the young girl became really depressed and eventually killed herself. I thought the presentation was good, but they should have given more statistics and background information. Overall this was a very important topic because today a lot of people do some kind of social networking online and people should be aware of this issue and how it affects others.

By: Morgan Nicholas

Presentation #2 JuJu-Beans

This week in class one of a my peers presented their research project. They went by the name of the juju beans and their topic was bullying. Which gained my attention because of the fact that their topic was so close to home because I was bullied as a child
The focused on all types of bullying. Their information was good. They talked about bullying in schools, and bullying with the assistance of technology. They incorporated statistics to support their information. I would of like if they had used more examples of specific cases of bullying. I think when students have an example they relate more to the facts being told because it provides a face for the facts. It makes everything more
real and relatable. As for their presentation. I would have to give them a “B” because everything was good but there was one main person presenting. The rest of the group read straight out of their notebooks which to me appeared to be very unprepared. This made the presentation choppy and left the audience unstipulated visually. However the best part of their presentation was the part where they talked about possible solutions to bullying. The boy in their group who i believe is a music or teaching major talked about using the therapeutic qualities that music has to heal the wounds of bullying. I myself am a big advocate of music and feel as though it can have an effect on your mood as well as well being.

Self Reflection: Ashlee White

During this entire semester I’ve learned a lot about myself whether it be from this class or Howard in general. Through out this entire semester you meet new people almost everyday. But I’ve noticed that even after meeting someone the next time you see them they don’t speak so I have been forced so many more times than not to play off me speaking to them and finally I just started speaking regardless and by that I couldn’t help but notice outgoing and friendly I am whereas before I thought I was really shy and timid. More often than not you hear that Howard is a networking school and its not about what you know but who you know. Well this has honestly helped me to see that I am a strong
genuine person because I was truly shocked by the attitude here. While we have lots of fun with one another at the end of the day the relationships aren’t real they are more or less circumstantial than anything for lack of better words and honestly I don’t like those types of relationships so I am nice to everyone while keeping them at a distance.
While doing these blogs and other class work I realized honestly how much of a procrastinator I am and while it isn’t a good trait I do think it’s good that I realized it early on so that I can make the necessary adjustments. I also realized that I have a short attention span so whether it be studying, to writing a paper, to doing my math homework I easily get distracted; I swear I got on Facebook at least five times while writing this very blog.

Dr. Segun's Lecture #5

Dr. Segun's main idea was Ma'at. Ma'at is a goddess and is also considered an ancient concept. It can be found in the coffin texts and tomb texts.Today there are well over fifty principles of Ma'at. As the basis of ancient Egyptian social life, Ma'at ws consdered very important. Moses and the ten commandments is a considerably similar and embodies simial principles and aspects of the concept of Ma'at.
After todays lecture we went to cramton for a gathering that pertains to the african burial ground trip. He also emphasized how t do group work as well as how to study properly. Time management was also another key point that waas addressed during this short gathering. This portion of the lecture was very influential in my endeavors here at Howard. Today I came to the conclusion that in this class it is imperative to know where you came from to know where you're going. Learning about time management as well as practical studying habits is helpful to the overall achievement of my goal: to become a speech pathologist. Freshman seminar is one of the classes that I can count on to encourage me as I go along. I am grateful that i could take this class fist semester of freshman year. This class was a helping hand along the way. The new information about Howard and getting to meet and hear the professors speak was a great opportnity. Dr. Seguns lecture was truly exceptional. And I appreciate the freshman seminar team taking the time to organize a pre-African burial ground trip meeting. It was very informative.

Dr. Felder's Lecture #4

Felder's lecture was has been one of my favorites. He spoke about religion in the African community. He embraces the rich culture in which we come from and emphasizes the fact that we did not COME from slavery, "we are the children of before yesterday and after tomorrow," he says. It is evident that "yesterday" was slavery and "tomorrow" is the advancements that have yet to come. In the Bible, it is stated that "we" came long before slavery. The people of Mesopotamia were people of African descent and the civilizations that flourished like Rome and Greece were of African descent as well. We were NOT MEANT to be slaves. He also spoke about Sojourner Truth and her impact on the black community. His display and soliloquy of her was one that embodies wit as well as acuteness. Today's lecture was indeed inspirational and this freshman seminar class helped me learn about Black History. What needs to be done now is working towards the advancements and changes that we always talk about.
We as a people need to stick together in all aspects of life to make anything work. The schisms in the black community are prevalent and is causing a severe stagnation that we do not need. Time is of the essence and if we want change, we have to start with ourselves.

Self Reflection:: Crystal Fraser

The semester flew by and I made it. I learned about the ins and outs of Howard. I've learned about such a rich culture and that I'm honored to be a part of. At first, I didn't know what to think of freshman seminar. I'm not a fan of lectures in any subject so I wasn't the best person to attend a class such as this. However, over time, it took its toll on me and it started when we had to make groups for our presentations. I had fun at the African Burial Ground but being a part of a group that wanted to learn about the same things I wanted to learn about was absolutely intriguing.
Partaking in research regarding the Black is Beautiful campaign made me feel a lot closer to my African American counterparts. At first, I didn't associate with "them." But now, especially after being at Howard for over four months, "them" became an "us" as well as a "we." My sense of belonging formed with the help of this class because I honestly wasn't sure if I could fit into the environment that Howard offered. With some luck, inevitably, I was able to associate, NOT ASSIMILATE, myself with black Americans. After all, I've been living in America for the majority of my life.

Presentation: #2

The Jujubees... I remember their name but I also remember their project because they spoke about issues that are always swept under the rug. Their project was about cyber bullying and its effects on the community. I remember them stating that over forty percent of young adults were victims of cyber bullying and then when into stating what bullying INCLUDES which is: Intimidation, Blackmail, Posing as a threat, Identity theft, Posing as a friend, Unknown bullies and known bullies. I feel as though kids should be more open with adults and not worry about what the consequences will be because bullies keep victimizing until something is done.
The after effects of bullying consist of suicide and self hatred. But one of the main points of the presentation was the shed light on the fact that if you are a victim of bullying, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. They also gave tips on what to do if ever in a situation. If its an act of cyber bullying, save all messages as a form of proof, tell an adult and GET OFF THE INTERNET! The group also did interviews ith professors here at Howard who stated that being able to identify a bully is the first step.

Final reflection

Overall I did enjoy freshman seminar. However there were times where I felt I was being asked to do too much for a 1 credit class. Despite that I do appreciate the knowledge and experience I gained from this project. I met new people and learned new things about the University. Also, I got an opportunity to hear Dr. Carr speak.

My favorite part of the class was definitely the trip to NYC. I am from New York and loved being home again. Unfortunately, even though that is my home, I did not know anything about the African burial ground. Ironically, I am the one who in turn told my friends about it. Afterwards walking around Harlem, I was bored. As a result we ended up talking to a man on the street who sold jewellry. We began talking about Africa and culture and he began to tell me about Ma’at. Amazingly from Dr. Seguns lecture I was able to relate and talk to him. If not for that class, not only would I have not been in Harlem but I also would not have not about Ma’at! Now that freshman seminar has come to a close I can say I did appreciate it for all the stress it gave me. When I complained to my older sister about all the worker they make us do I this class, she actually told me “that’s what college is all bout. Doing work that you may never get written credit for, but you walk away from with invaluable experience. It’s better that you learnt that lesson freshman year..” So thankyou freshman seminar for a wonderful semester!

Presentations #1

One group did a study on the number of black males in the prison system and compared it to the number of black males in universities. There were astounding numbers that stated that 200,000 men were incarcerated and well over 80,000 of them are black. the group then went on to explain that racial profiling, negligence and impoverished conditions were what led to most of these imprisonments. Racial profiling has always been a problem and one of the most recent EXTREME acts of racial profiling was the Rodney King story. However, I don't think that poverty should play a role because growing up, a boy doesn't have control over his surroundings but he can try to make his situation better. Turning down the alley of selling drugs and stealing isn't something that should be necessary for a black man who wants to change his life. I feel as though hard work and perseverance will help and not always wanting a "break".
It is evident that negligence plays a role because several of these men did not grow up with father figures and more than likely had mothers who worked hard just to make ends meet. Most times, there is a false sense of belonging as well as brotherhood when young boys aspire to be like the men in the streets who sell drugs and participate in illegal activity. In order to change this, there has to be more programs in which young, African American males can go and learn how NOT to be a part of the statistic.

Self Reflection: Ashley D. Lewis

Okay, here I go. As of now, I feel that I’m doing well for myself but I could be doing better. My grades are very good almost perfect but I don’t think I would have an excuse not to, seeing that my course load is about as heavy as a twig. College thus far, is great. Although everything I love about college is not what I came here for, I learn everyday and everyday that I learn I become a better individual. I started out with the good things now I guess I can explore the not so good. I know in college you’re supposed to have an open mind, sometimes I struggle with that. I noticed during our group project that I really wanted to do everything my way, not because anyone was doing anything wrong but because I like things the way I like it. Now, not to say that I make apologies for having preferences but I know that I need to remold that mindset so that I can get ahead not only in my career but life itself. I cannot live life doing everything my way and expecting to get positive results. So with that said, I’m working on that. Also it’s been brought to my attention that I’m obnoxious. Outside of joking, I wouldn’t think that but my friends told me that I like that outside of joking at times. The sad thing is, I fail to know when I’m doing it. From now on, I’m monitoring what I say so that people understand where I’m coming from and know that I’m not mean or rude. The last thing I want anyone to think is that Ashley D. Lewis is rude. Well, that wraps up myself reflection.

African Burial Ground

I'm from New York. And the African Burial Ground is one of the places in the city that I've been to several times. However, I didn't think it would have so much more of an impact on me because I was with my school. I was greatly mistaken. Being at the Burial Ground signifies a struggle of African Americans as a people. Consider this, They were going to build a skyscraper on top of it! Not realizing that there were historical agents in the ground.
Also, watching the video about Amelia shed light on the entire Burial Ground and why the people of African descent did what they did. One criticism that I have is, there was never any statement of WHICH African countries the symbols and majority of the names had come from. I happen to know because it's from my native land of Ghana.
The ideologies of Sankofa, which almost literally means "go and fetch it" is present throughout the burial ground and there are several other Adinkra symbols present such as Gye Nyame "the supremacy of God" , and Fawohodie "freedom". It was an awesome experience being with THE Historically Black University learning about the American portion of my culture. After all, being an African, Caribbean and Afro Latina female, the comes a time where I have to embrace the culture of the land in which I'm living now.

Presentations: Any and Everywheres

This group did their presentations on the number of black males incarcerated as opposed to the number of black males in college. They stated that out of 200,000 incarcerated males 81,000 of them were African American. They also went on to say that the three main reasons for the large number of black males being incarcerated were poverty, child neglect, and racial profiling.
I agree with child neglect because I feel that children young boys especially find a false sense of comfort and brotherhood amongst other young men in the streets that don’t have father figures at home to guide them. I also agree that some of the older men incarcerated and maybe a few young men are incarcerated due to racial profiling. I say older because I believe around the 1980’s when the number of black men incarcerated tripled., it was because it was during a time where being openly racist was still okay and black men were usually targeted by racist officers. However I do not fully agree with the poverty reasoning, In the presentation they stated that black men don’t have the basic necessities so they get it by any means necessary. Personally I disagree, I feel that black men have basic necessities but they feel that basic isn’t enough so they sell drugs and steal so tat they can get what they want fast without having to work too hard for it. I know this doesn’t pertain to all black male but poverty is an excuse for those who do steal and sell drugs to get ahead instead of working hard.

~Ashlee White~

Presentation 2

Presentation 2 Presentation 1

On Thursday December 2, the "Jujubees" presented a group exhibition on “cyber bullying.” There are seven broad categories Intimidation, Blackmail, Posing as a threat, Identity theft, Posing as a friend, Unknown bullies and known bullies. Over 40% of teenagers tht use the internet have experienced cyber bullying. A majority of that number are girls. Cyber bullying is not a joke and those experiencing it need to understand that they are not alone. If you experience cyber bullying there are some steps you can take to get help: Tell an adult, Get off line and Do not delete the message it can be used as proof. An example of racial profilig is the case of phoebe prince and Megan Meiers. Briefly, Pheobe had issues with some girls over her relationship with two highschool boys. This led to her being bullied by her classmates. On January 14, 2010, after an entire day of harassment and taunting, followed by a final incident in which a student threw a can at her from a passing car as she walked home from school Pheobe committed suicide by hanging herself.Another example was the case of Megan Meiers. Not long after opening an account on MySpace, Meier received a request from a 16-year-old boy, Josh Evans, but actually sent by Lori Drew using a fake account. Meier and "Josh" became online friends, but never met in person or spoke. Meier began to exchange messages and seemed very happy.

On October 15, 2006, the tone of the messages changed, with Drew saying (via the account) "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends". Similar messages were sent. Some of Megan's messages were shared with others and bulletins were posted about her. The last message sent to her was: "Everybody in O'Fallon knows who you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a bad rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you." Meier responded with a message reading "You’re the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over." She was found later in her bedroom closet she had hung herself. Despite attempts to revive her, she was pronounced dead the next day. A major consequence of cyber bullying is suicide. This group did an inerveiw with Dr. Helen Declerco a Professor in chemistry. She advises children to take self defence classes and has a child who has experienced bullying. Kids should also be able to accurately identify a bully. They also did a second interveiw with Ms Paulette Porter who felt that in order to combat bullying "someone should be made an example of." This case of Megan Mejers was seen in the media. Tyra banks show in particular did a bullying episode and had many stories on this situation. the groups general opinion was that the consequences should be more well known.

Presentation 1

Presentation 1

On Thursday December 2, the "Any and Everywheres" presented a group exhibition on “black men and incarceration.” There are four major causes that contribute to the high rate of incarceration amongst black people. they are: Poverty, racial profiling, Neglect and child abuse. poverty is the state of being extremely poor. Racial profiling is the practice of substituing skin color for evidence in order to explain the suspicion of law enforcement officials. Approximately 4919 blacks compared to 717 whites were incarcerated in 2004. An example of racial profilig is the case of Henry Louis Gates jr. Briefly, on July 16th 2009 Henry Gates returned home from an international trip to find the door to his house jammed. A passer-by called police and reported a possible break-in. Gates was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Later the charges were dropped. one of the consequences of racial profiling from the black point of view is feeling insulted and embarassed. As for the police they feel embarassed as well and underwent much criticism from the black community. This group did an inerveiw with a licensed clinical social worker at the university of california, Deborah raphael. The summary of her interview was: If the child is shown neglect, it will take away his childhood. As a result the child will look for outside “familial ties” and in the case of children living in the projects that outside family might not be the best and as a result they are caught in a bad position. This case of Henry Gates was seen in the media. CNN in particular had many stories on his case. the groups general opinion was outrage over the treatment of Henry Gates.

Group Presentation #2

This group looked at the issue of Black Males and Incarceration. I was kind of envious because I wanted to do that topic but our group went with another topic. It wasn’t surprising to learn that of 200,000 America facing time that 81,000 are African American. It’s sad that the numbers for African American males has Tripled between 1980 and today. The group then continued to explain that there are three main reasons that black males are more likely to find they behind bars opposed to a college classroom; they listed poverty, child neglect, and racial profiling. Like I thought, most causes brought up against African American males are drug charges. However I was surprised to learn that 79.8% arrest for use of crack/ cocaine cases are African American. Not to be racist or biased, I would have thought that it was equal. They brought up an example of racial profiling. The used Henry Louis Gates Jr., a professor at Harvard University. Although he showed his Harvard ID and state ID, the police continued to arrest Gates. They said he was arrested because the same day of a chain of robberies, neighbors reported Gates as the robber. They interviewed a Sociologist in California she said she thinks that a lot of black males go to jail because of low income homes are most likely to be harmed or suffer from child neglect and blacks make up a big portion of those that fall below the poverty line. She also stated that the lack of education would cause people to look to illegal sources of income.

The African Burial Ground

The trip to the African Burial Ground was a lot of fun. In the beginning I wasn't sure about how the trip would go because we left the campus really late, but after that every thing was on a much better note. Once we arrived at the Burial Ground we went straight into the tour, visiting the memorial that is now built right on the grave site. We learned about these seven symbols that were in graved on the walls at the memorial and we also paid homage to those who were buried there.

Then the tour continued on into the museum that was built right next to the site, in the neighboring building. Once inside the museum there were all kind of exhibits to explore. One of them was a life-like statue that was re-enacting a funeral that was shown in the movie we watched inside the museum as well. There also was an interactive exhibit that had a barrel, and we were supposed to try an push the barrel up the incline, the significance was to show what kind of labor the average slave did back then (by the way the barrel was very heavy). Afterwards we got a chance to visit Harlem, there we went shopping, ate food, and experienced the city a little bit, this was my favorite part of the trip. Overall the trip was a nice break from DC, it was also an educational experience.

By: Morgan Nicholas