Reflection on First Semester of Freshman Year & Freshman Seminar

At first, I thought Howard University would be just a bunch of African American culture shoved down my throat. As a girl who was born in Antigua and Barbuda and raised there for half her life, it was not very appealing to me. In every class I go in all I hear about is Martin Luther King Jr. this, and Barack Obama that; so Freshman Seminar was refreshing. The lecturer’s spoke about Africa, the root of African American culture as a way to describe it. They spoke about the Caribbean, another place that suffered from the triangular trade, and they spoke about European culture in these areas. I thought that the broadened scope was a great angle and I really enjoyed Freshman Seminar for these reasons.

However, more often than not, I found it difficult to fill in the Caribbean and South American parts of my Mbongi form. I do believe there were efforts made to include this other culture but not enough. African American Culture and Caribbean Culture are not the same in anyway.  I would have liked to hear more about dialects in the Caribbean such as Patois, and how they originated from Africa.  I also would have liked to hear more about Caribbean belief systems and how they may or may not reflect some African belief systems. For the most part African American have assimilated to Western belief systems, however there is the Rastafarian belief system that is more parallel to some belief systems in Africa. Despite this lack of diversity, Freshman Seminar was more inclusive of these other cultures.

Reflection on Group Projects

This group project was very relevant and important to complete the lectures we had been given by our professors. It was like coming full circle. I felt my group members as well as the other groups who presented to me put a lot of time and research into their PowerPoint’s. My group decided to focus on the contributions African Americans have made in studies such as Science, Literature, History, and Politics. Another group did it on mental health in the black community, and the other on African American influence on the Arts.

The lectures were representative of the amount of thought that the professors wanted us to put into our own projects. I felt that they prepared me for the amount of research I needed to do. The blog posts prepared me for the level of writing I needed to show. I think this project was necessary to prepare us students for what it means to be a college student because our hands were not held. We were given approximately three weeks to pull things together and some people shined through as leaders more so than others. As freshman our grades are very serious to us so we really worked to pull other students through this project who were not doing their fair share of work. This project was a growing experience and we got t explore many aspects of African American life and history. I believed before this project that many of the lectures were not important but after presenting I can appreciate its importance.

Unleashed: Inventive Explorations and Inhibitions

I absolutely loved the dance showcase. As a former dancer, I know the need for more support in the arts. Most people see those forms of dance as boring or irrelevant. However, I'm sure anyone in attendance at the dance showcase could see how that's wrong. The dancers really painted stories of deep intellectual concepts conceived by the choreographers. The showcase as a whole was much bigger than dance.

My favorite performance had to be the second act, the piece on self-discovery and finding your pwn path in life. The performers moved in unison at some points and went off randomly in others. To me, this symbolized how in life people will try to do what others are doing. Then, they realize that they are meant to something else, so they stop following the crowd. I was also very moved by the domestic violence piece. These are topics that need more attention, and dance is a more creative way to get people to talk about them.

The student choreographers did a great job in pulling the show together. Even though they all focused on an array of concepts, the showcase seemed to all flow as one idea. It was inspiring to hear how they took time, energy, and effort as students to commit to this and schoolwork. I'm very eager to see the next performance in the dance department.

Freshman Seminar Self Reflection

My first semester has been the biggest learning experience. I've learned a lot about time management, motivation, and keeping my priorities straight. When I first came here, I thought I had everything under control and that there wasn't anything outside of general education that I would learn. Consequently, I've learned so much more outside of the classroom than inside the classroom.

Freshman Seminar has taught me the things mentioned above in an interesting way. My first impression of Freshman Seminar was that it would be a crash course in everything Howard. I was wrong. Freshman Seminar focused little on Howard, and more on the concepts of African knowledge and culture as a whole. It required so much more of my attention, and it definitely wasn't a class I could sleep through and blow off.

Along with learning about culture, Freshman Seminar has taught me that I have to put forth effort. It required effort and time management to research and put together an effective presentation. It required prioritizing and motivation to actually get up and go to class in the morning. I learned a lot about just being a good student, and also being a good citizen. The seminars have taught me what is expected of me as a Black student, and what my responsibilities are.

Group Presentations

Overall, I believe the presentations were successful. I didn't feel that any group did bad. It was interesting to see the array of topics concerning African culture and knowledge of that culture. Some of the topics were pretty general, but others were deep and insightful.

One presentation I thoroughly enjoyed was the group that researched depression in African Americans. That is a topic that many African Americans shy away from, because of shame. I didn't realize there were so many aspects as far as different types of depression and the causes in African Americans. The group presenting did a great job in their research.

I didn't care as much for the group presenting on dance and music in African American culture. They did a good job of picking a few big names in African American music. However, I felt that they could have done a little more research and mentioned names not as well known. It seemed as if their project may have been thrown together at the last minute.

I think my group did well, outside of the fact that we went over our presentation time. In all honesty, we didn't prepare in advance as much as we should have. But given the time frame, I think we pulled everything together nicely. Our research maybe could've been more narrow.

As a whole, the groups presenting with us did wonderful. A lot of people pulled examples from notes we took in seminars, which is a great use of resources. We've learned a lot this semester and we reflected our learning in our work. Hopefully, the skills we've acquired in seminars and while researching will stick with us for the remainder of our time here at Howard.

Extra Credit - Isabel Wilkerson

I had the fantastic opportunity to listen to Isabel Wilkerson speak about her amazing book The Warmth of Other Suns. One of the points that she emphasized multiple times throughout her talk was that the Great Migration was the first time in American history that people of the lowest caste in society realized that they had a choice and took advantage of them so that they could lead better lives. She discussed that Blacks were so limited in the South that even the Bible was segregated: In the court during trials, Blacks were forced to swear on a different Bible that the Whites. And every four days, African Americans were lynched for breeching the Jim Crow Laws of the South. These are just a few things that led the Blacks to leaving the South and moving North.

The Great Migration consisted of about six million Blacks leaving the South and moving the East Coast, Mid West, or the West Coast. World War I had many causalities of white men from the North and caused many of the migrants that lived in the North to move back home to Europe. This rapid population decline opened up many opportunities for Black to get jobs and make money so that they could move their families up North. Of course this movement of the Blacks up North upset the Southerners and they tried everything to keep the Blacks in the South to work on their farms and railroads.

When asked why she wrote the book, Isabel Wilkerson answered that none of us would be where we are now of our parents or grandparents, or great grandparents didn’t migrate. She made the points that those who left were not doing it for themselves, but for their families and their descendents; they left for us, for their unborn children, so that we could have the best opportunities possible. Important Black figures like Toni Morrison, August Wilson, Diana Ross, John Coltrane, and even Michael Jackson would not have had the significant lives they lived if their families did not migrate to the North.

Wilkerson stated that, “we are all products of the Great Migration”, something that I had never thought about until I read her book. I never thought that my grandfather’s migration from Virginia to New Jersey was done not only so that he could free himself but so that he could free his children and his grandchildren. I think the most important thing that my generation can do is accomplish the goals we have and then surpass them so that we can do our ancestors of the Great Migration justice; we owe it to the millions of migrants to be the best we can possibly be.

First Semester Self Reflection

I’d say that overall, this first semester has gone pretty well. It took some time to adjust in the beginning and to really learn how certain professors teach. I think in terms of freshman seminar, classes like English have really reflected a lot that we learned in the lectures. Surprisingly, I have found myself on many occasions discussing the topics that we learned about in our many lectures with my roommate in relation to current events or things that happen to us on a daily basis. I feel that the lectures can be considered relevant to my every day life.

Some of my favorite lectures given by Dr. Carr and Kimberly Worthy have definitely inspired me and made me think more about my role as a student here at Howard University as well as a human being on this earth. Never before have been more inspired to give back to my surrounding community as well as my community at home in Philadelphia. Their lectures really helped me understand the real importance of community service and the significance of getting an education so that I can go back home and share that knowledge with others.

I think it is because of these lectures that I have really begun to find my self this semester; I have started to shape my own thoughts and opinions. My desire to continue my education off of Howard campus and after my career here at Howard has never been stronger because of this course.

Presentation Summary

Though each one of the groups that presented in my cohort these past two weeks were very interesting, I think the one that stood out to me the most was the group that discussed the difference of Black crime in the 50s and 60s and Black crime during today’s time. The statistics that they used were really interesting and very detailed. Their presentation made me think a lot more about the differences between “then” and “now” – they emphasized the fact that no matter what the crime was, the person who was doing the crime was still part of the neighborhood family; the neighborhood always looked out for each other. The other interesting difference was the fact that years ago, people rarely used guns – their intention was never to kill the other person, unlike today. Once again, the Black community was always trying to look out for each other, they were never attempting to kill, just injure.

Another presentation that I really enjoyed was the group that focused on the field of the dramatic arts and the importance that the musicians and actors had on the rest of the Black community. While I’ve always been taught that the arts is crucial in everyone’s life as either a source of inspiration or an outlet for emotion, I never thought of the strong impact that the Black artists had on the art world. 

It was nice to see how much work people put into their projects and to see how each group interpreted the freshman seminar research question; I liked learning about what discipline or field of study each group focused on in order to answer their specific research question. I liked seeing the similarities that each group’s question and project had with my group’s project. Overall, I’d say that the presentations were very interesting and the project was a very tedious but rewarding process.

Freshman Seminar Revisited

Freshman Seminar is a mandatory course that is only worth one credit and holds a pass/fail status. From the first few lectures, most students cannot see the greater message the class holds. But looking back, I could now see the pattern each lecture furthered; the main point being the empowerment of black academics and the society as a whole.

The course also acclimates students to HU living and being a part of the "chocolate city", meaning the amount of issues facing blacks in all different circumstances could be studied and experienced at Howard. Other courses like Intro to Humanities and the Black Diaspora also look at the black academia, which is unique to most schools, even some HBCU's.

Freshman seminar also specifically applies history to current culture; it looks at the struggle of African Americans, who were not given anything, to gain equal opportunity for all minorities today. But through education we must now see that the struggle is not over and the battle needs to be rejuvenated by our generation.

Miss Evers' Boys

Although I was not pleased I needed to pay $5.00 and spend my Friday night doing school work, I am absolutely glad I did attend this production. The story was about a nurse named Miss Evers who was treating four black men who contracted syphilis. However, due to some corrupt and completely unethical government policy, the nurse was instructed not to treat them correctly. Syphilis, which is a bacterial sti, which presents in four stages which could lead to serious neurological or cardiac symptoms, including psychosis and heart failure.

This play reminded me of a case I learned of in a psychology class, known as the Tuskegee Study, where men who sometimes had and sometimes did not have syphilis were contained and "treated" for the disease. However, the directors, just like the government in this production, kept the actual cure from its patients. This is completely illegal and unethical, and seeing as again these patients were mostly black men, it seemed racially motivated, which shows the exact status of America during these times.

Luckily now there are ethical codes in place that will never allow for this to happen again. But, it is a reasonable theory that if these were not, black men would still be the guinea pigs in the United States.

The Entire HU Homecoming Experience

As a third year student, Homecoming has become mainly about seeing old friends and having family visit rather than scoping out celebrities and spending hundreds on tickets, outfits and alcohol for the week. I did attend Midnight Madness however, which happened to end early because of fights. This is also what Homecoming as grown to become; violent that harms the student body.

During the week of and the week following Homecoming, there were 5 separate incidents in which people were stabbed, shot or held at gun point. The week after Homecoming, when I was sick at home, I heard sirens 4 individual times in one day. In my own building my neighbours were held at gun point and robbed of thousands of dollars in valuable items.

There was a saying going around that, "the locals [were] going crazy". All of these crimes were committed during the day, which is extremely disturbing to me. But what I will never understand is why HU is allowed to host this week of events, without added security or monitoring, and the Caribbean Carnival is threatened annually because of its "increased crime enabling" tendencies. Vendors stand outside of Subway with "perfume" that are actually harmful toxins used to rob students, not to mention the gang activity happening right by the McDonalds. An event that was always supposed to bring the university together, promote school pride and explore DC's unique attractions has become associated with mindless killings and bold faced robberies. It's not even safe on our campus!

My First Howard Homecoming 2011

Though this week wasn’t my first Howard homecoming, it was my first one as a true Howard student. While I knew how influential Howard has been on many significant figures in our society, it did not hit me until this week when I got to see how many important people graduated from Howard. Even people who didn’t graduate from Howard, like Diddy, come back year after year just because they are proud to have some sort of affiliation with the school. Until this week, I have never been prouder to be part of such a large and loving community, such as this one.

It was great to have my parents come down and I loved being able to experience my first Howard homecoming with my sister, who is a graduating senior. Being able to share this experience with my family and my friends’ families was amazing. I feel as though homecoming is the true orientation, the real welcoming that says, “you are finally at Howard University”. I feel lucky to have experienced this homecoming because it makes me feel as though I really belong in the Howard community now. I can’t wait to experience the different events in the next three years here as a Howard Bison.

Howard Homecoming Freewrite

In the beginning, I wasn't too excited about Howard's homecoming. I was more concerned with my schoolwork and going to all my classes. I felt that Howard celebrates so many different things, and that homecoming wouldn't be as exciting because of this. However, during the week, I've started to get more into the school spirit. Seeing so many people come together in celebration of our school made me more excited and more willing to be a part of it.

The most fun I've had so far was definitely at Yardfest. I enjoyed spending time with my peers and so many others. I couldn't afford to take part in any of the other activities, so I was glad that Yardfest was free. Yardfest brought people of all ages together. There was Big Daddy Kane for the older crowd, and Young Jeezy for my generation. There were also artists for the Caribbean demographic, as well. Everyone was included in the celebration of Howard University.

I'm also really excited for the game today. Whether we win or lose, I'll still be proud of our team and our school as a whole. Every day I am glad that I came to Howard University. I've met so many positive and bright people here who have influenced me for the better. I can honestly say there is no place else I would rather be.

My Initial Misgivings about Freshman Seminar

For the first few weeks of Freshman Seminar I did not understand why this course was mandatory. To me, it seemed like just another Black History course at Howard University. As the weeks progressed I began to learn things, however, I still did not understand the significance of this course in my life; I was beginning to think it was just another ploy by this HBCU to turn us into militant Black leaders. However, as I became more acquainted with Howard University, I realized that everything about this school is about Black history and in order to make it successfully you have to know a whole lot about Black history—Black people in Germany, Russia, China, and finally Africa.

I discovered that Freshman Seminar’s purpose is to prepare you for the Black History you’re going to get in your History classes, English classes, and even German classes. I even find that the presentations that are mandated like Miss Evers’ Boys to be quite interesting. Despite my initial misgivings I am beginning to quite enjoy Freshman Seminar.

Free Write: My Feelings About Freshman Seminar So Far

So far, I am enjoying the lectures given in freshman seminar. Through all of these blog posts I have been able to make connections between each lecture which will definitely help me as I start trying to answer the question How have scholars across the various fields of study advanced and transformed academic knowledge related to enduring problems of the human condition?. Especially after hearing Dr. Dana A. Williams speak to us about how to properly conduct a research project and paper, I am not feeling as overwhelmed as I was in the beginning of the semester.

I am hoping that once our group gets our research under way, I will be able to come up with helpful information in order to answer the question given. I hope that while answering this question I will be able to learn more about myself as a student and a scholar. Hearing these lectures have inspired me to learn more about the history of Howard University as well as the history of my family and ancestors in this country. I have learned more about myself in relation to what I want to do in my future and what I would like to do when I graduate from Howard University.  

I am really looking forward to the researching process that we will be starting next week and I hope that I can use the information gathered from these lectures in a useful and productive way.

miss Evers boys

Miss Evers’ boys is a story about a horrible situation that took place over fourteen years. Before going to this play, I thought I have heard it all about how cruel the American government could be. But to my surprise, I didn’t.

This story is about Nurse Evers, who wants to rid the world if diseases. She mets these four men who all have syphilis and they don’t know it. Miss Evers persuades them to participate in this study that would cure them of the disease. But after some time the government declared syphilis as a black mans disease. Miss Evers is forced to lit to the men and tell them they are being cured but in fact they are not. They are frd arsenic and rubber tainted with mercury.

Miss Evers formed a close bond with the four men, but overtime they friendship was broken due to lies and fear. This story is a prime example of how the American government can justify anything they want to make is seem as if they were trying to do good. America makes exceptions for what they want to. This was a medical experiment for them, but in another country it world be considered and attempted genocide.

This was a gripping story and I am truly amazed at some of the things that went on that I never knew about,

LEAP

Dr. Kimberly worthy’s lecture was very interesting. She Introduced the LEAP Math and Science school of South Africa to us. She showed us how dedicated to education the children of South Africa are. I never knew they had institution of that sort in South Africa.

Dr. Worthy showed us videos of how the students bonded in song and dance. During apartheid Africans were not allowed to keep their heritage or culture alive. So I found it interesting that they are allowed to be “free” and they chose to do things that represented their culture.

We were asked by Dr. Worthy to define freedom, freedom to me is the progress of your desires. Fredrick Douglas said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress” I totally agree with this. There must be a struggle to gain freedom in this world. The students at leap are truly amazing, after this lecture with Dr. Worthy, it made me realize im not living up to my full potential at Howard University. 

LEAP Maths and Science Programme

During this week's class, Ms. Worthy from the LEAP Maths and Sciences middle school came in to give an educational introduction into the programme, its goals and accomplishments. She explained that growing up being educated in the Roots programme and participating in protests for further rights of all, in hind sight, she realised her true calling was in education. As a result, she has been named "Teacher of The Year" in every school she has taught in, nation-wide. These are high feats, especially as she taught children that the system would simply give up on.

Ms. Worthy explained that she uses the African teaching system as a model for in her class, where the relationship between her and the students is amplified, a holistic approach is used to apply what is covered to the larger scheme of things and education is more than a grade; that a students more than a score on a SAT exam. When visiting Johannesburg, South Africa, Ms. Worthy touched base with her teaching model at their LEAP Maths and Sciences school. There was no drop out rate and all students graduated, although, she explained, the programme was so vigorous and demanded so much of students. Students went to school everyday, and when I spoke with Ms. Worthy on a one to one basis, she explained that even if the bus breaks down, these students will walk miles and miles to go to school.

As my father is from Mali, I was also exposed to a similar attitude towards education, but what he most emphasized was its importance. As he walked 5 miles every day to and from school, paid for his own uniform and books through out high school and graduated from medical school without any debts, his words meant a lot. He explained that your education is your own, it distinguishes you from other intellects, and from common people. You can literally show what you have achieved, but it must always be for yourself, just as all accomplishments.

Ms. Worthy's speech relates to the broader Freshman Seminar's mission of using educational to further the intellect of future generations. And as with all the speakers, the Black community is emphasized in their need to empower themselves to better America for all. In comparing the speeches, education is the determining factour in who will lead and when this revolution will come.

LEAP Science & Math's School

Dr. Kimberly Worthy opened my mind this week. She introduced the LEAP Science and Math’s School and how the children in South Africa are excelling. I was unaware of the educational opportunities in Africa before my Tuesday Freshman Seminar class. It was inspiring to hear of the kind of work these children do seven days a week in school and the conditions they then have to go home to at the end of the day.

Dr. Worthy said that the children who attend the LEAP Science and Math’s School “are simply allowed to be.” Their culture is very much a part of their education. It seems to actually help them open their minds. When Europeans came to Africa, colonized, and built their schools they would not allow Africans to practice their traditions and culture when in school. The LEAP Science and Math’s School is a victory for Africans proving their resilience at maintaining their culture.

Dr. Worthy asked us to define freedom. I would define freedom as the ability to pursue what you desire. Dr. Worthy introduced us to a book called Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freine where he defined freedom himself as “the struggle for humanization. I do believe a part of being human is to have freedom and an aspect of freedom is to be able to practice your religion and culture freely and wholeheartedly.

Ubuntu is a Zulu proverb that says “a person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others” (Worthy). This is a code that the students at the LEAP Science and Math’s School follow. I promise if the students of all schools followed this code then our relationships as well as our grades would be greatly improved.

Works Cited

Worthy, Kimberly. “Practices of Freedom & Justice: A Charge to Keep.” Howard University, Washington, D.C. 4 October 2011. 9 October 2011.

Miss Evers' Boys

Just when I thought I’d heard the worst of the Black struggle in America, I see "Miss Evers’ Boys." I’d never before heard this story and upon going to see the show I didn’t know what to expect. At first I really wasn’t that interested or concerned with it; I was just doing it for Freshman Seminar.  However, I walked out of the Ira Aldridge Theater with my eyes opened. I was appalled. It’s so hard to believe that a people could endure all these injustices and not go absolutely crazy. The story of Miss Evers surely should have been the tipping point.

The government took this town of 80 percent blacks and exploited their men into thinking that they were treating “bad blood.” Instead the black men who took part in the experiment were being denied treatment of their syphilis. They were fed arsenic and rubbed with mercury. The government took advantage of sick and uneducated share croppers. Basically, a Jim Crow society created these black men by denying them education and opportunities, and then killed them off. What took place was an attempted genocide. Slavery didn’t work so the next step is to kill blacks off. This injustice took place for decades then finally it could not be justified by the government anymore. The surviving blacks and their families who had been affected by this cruel study were given a few thousand, and long denied treatment.

Decades after that there is finally an apology by Bill Clinton. No one is arrested and no one faces any serious consequences. I thoroughly enjoyed the play and was happy I invested five dollars to see it.

The Importance of Culturally Relevant Teaching

This week, the lecture was given by Kimberly Worthy. Ms. Worthy has played a major role in the development of students at LEAP Science and Math Schools. The LEAP Science and Math Schools are placed throughout South Africa and give the students their a chance to shine through their circumstances. Ms. Worthy's background at a school centered on the African approach to education has helped her to relate to her students and their struggle.

Ms. Worthy discussed the Five Tenets of Culturally Relevant Teaching as proposed by Dr. Nichols. The first tenet was African Logic, which is focused on teaching subjects as a whole instead of dividing it up by minute details. The next tenet was African Epistemological Styles. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, and one of the main facets of African knowledge is nature and symbols. The third tenet is African Axiology, or values. The top African value is relationships with others. Cultural Visibility is the fourth tenet, which is the impact of culture in the curriculum and at school. Social, Emotional, and Political Responsibilities is the last tenet.

A culturally relevant teacher must be a master of all these things. In my opinion, the third, fourth, and fifth tenets are the most important for the success of the students. Being that the top African value is relationships, a teacher has to connect to the students and let them know that they are important. Ms. Worthy stated that grades are not as important at LEAP, but there is an increased focus on teacher-student relationships. Teachers must also be able to incorporate cultural knowledge into the curriculum. This way, students from a different perspective of mainstream society, as Ms. Worthy said, will be able to achieve some form of academic success. Culturally relevant teachers finally must impart knowledge of social, emotional, and political responsibilities by influencing students' relationships with other students, with themselves, and with their outside community.

Culturally relevant teaching has the power to boost student learning. Students learn better when they feel that they are safe and they are important. The students at LEAP are often surrounded by poverty and their safety is jeopardized. The tenets of Culturally Relevant Teaching are guidelines of ensuring a student is successful despite their living situations. A proper education serves to free the students from the binds of the world around them.

The New York African Burial Ground: Symbolism

Visiting the New York African Burial Ground was an experience that made me feel more connected to my ancestors. I learned many things about the customs and ways of my people. One thing that caught my attention during the visit was the mass amount of symbolism throughout the exhibit. There were symbols that were easily recognizable, and some that took time to understand.

The entrance to the map of the world was, itself, a symbol. It could be interpreted in a number of ways. There was its triangle shape, signifying the formation of a pyramid from one side. The relevance was the structures that only Africans built during the start of civilization. As you enter the triangle, it narrows to the end. It gives a you a sense of a claustrophobic feeling, similar to the one Africans must've felt as they voyaged here during the Middle Passage. And finally, the other side of the triangle resembles a ship itself, going through the middle of the map from Africa to the New World.

Around the map were many other symbols recognized around the world. There was the cross, the symbol of European Christianity which Africans were forced to adopt. There was also a dreamcatcher, to symbolize the Africans' involvement with the Native Americans. The most interesting symbol to me was that of the Akoma. The Akoma is in the shape of a heart. I found this interesting because a heart is usually said to symbolize love. However, this symbol is said to mean endurance, patience, and tolerance.

This meaning of Akoma is more powerful to me than the shape of a heart meaning love. I believe that Africans had to have much endurance, patience, and tolerance to remain in the conditions they did. Africans proved themselves to be stronger than their captors by transforming this country with their presence instead of destroying it. However, I feel that the meaning of love applies here as well. The Africans had to bind together in love, endure many trials, have patience with their white counterparts, and tolerate the level of disrespect until it was time to act. The trip to the African Burial Ground made me proud to be a part of such a strong people.

The Impact of Miss Ever's Boys

"Miss Ever's Boys" was a powerful and touching play. Prior to seeing it, I had only heard a little about the story. I knew it had something to do with the Tuskegee syphilis study, but that's all I knew. I was so glad to be in attendance and given the opportunity to learn the full story.

Nurse Evers is a young nurse, whose goal is to rid the world of diseases such as pneumonia, which robbed her of her father at the age of five. She meets four men; Willie Johnson (Stanley A. Jackson, III); Caleb Humprhies (Jeff Kirkman, III); Hodman Bryan (Edwin Brown, III); and Ben Washington (Adarius Smith). The men all unknowingly have syphilis. She persuades the men to be a part of a study that can cure them of their disease. Over the course of her time with them, she becomes very close to them. They come to call themselves Miss Ever's Boys. Although she forms a close bond with them, her co-workers are solely focused on the study. After the government dubs syphilis the "black man's disease", funding is removed from the study. Nurse Evers is forced to lie to the men that they will be cured, and the study continues for fourteen years. In the end, she loses their friendship due to suspicion and fear. The true goal of the study was to prove that black men and white men got the same diseases and could be treated the same, which was successful. However, its success was at the expense of thousands of lives of black men; including two of Nurse Ever's patients, Hodman and Ben.

The performance struck me more than I expected it would. As a Nursing major, I know the thin line between helping the patient and staying true to the oath "First Do No Harm". The oath can often be overlooked and ignored when it comes to government affairs or scientific research. Also Nurse Evers had to swallow the fact that her people were being treated as science experiments. She couldn't save them or interfere because she was forced to believe that what the government was doing was for the greater good. Unfortunately, that was life for African-Americans in that time. We had to take whatever was fed us by our government, and we couldn't fight to protect our own people. Times are different now, and "Miss Ever's Boys" was motivation to me to provide care and support to my fellow African-Americans as a nurse or in any way I possibly can.

Miss Evers' Boys - My Reflection

Having never heard of the play Miss Evers’ Boys, I was very anxious to see what it was about. I barely knew the basic story – the play was based on the United States Public Health Service’s “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” – but what I didn’t know was how race really tied into everything.

Throughout the play, Miss Evers’ (Mary Miller) has a brief monologue, giving the background and context of what is happening in the story. We meet four men – Willie Johnson (Stanley A. Jackson, III), Caleb Humphries (Jeff Kirkman, III), Hodman Bryan (Edwin Brown, III), and Ben Washington (Adarius Smith). These men are quarantined in an old school house when they meet Nurse Evers, a black nurse that has been sent by doctors at Tuskegee who decided to conduct a study on men with Syphilis. The men were persuaded into participating in the study because they were offered fifty dollars towards burial expenses when they died. They received arsenic shots and mercury back rubs for months, but once the funds ran low, Dr. Eugene Brodus (Henian Boone) and Dr. John Douglas (Eric Humphries) told Miss Evers that they had come up with a new study to test on the men. Dr. Douglas believed that if they created a study that showed the affect of untreated Syphilis on black males, they government would give them funds and it would encourage more money flow. Miss Evers reluctantly agrees, as she was promised that these four men would be the first to get treatment after the test, not completely understanding the dire consequences that lay ahead. Even after the cure, Penicillin, is discovered, Miss Evers is forced not to tell the men about it, for the Doctors must finished up the fourteen year study and have accurate results.

Seeing the story come to life was a fantastic way for me to understand the pain that the four men and Miss Evers went through. Being able to watch the story be acted out helped me see how influential race was, though it seemed not be strongly emphasized until towards the end of the story. What I found interesting was the fact that in order to get any kind of attention from the U.S. government or Public Health Service, these four black men had to suffer through this disease for years. I kept thinking about the fact that if these were four white men, they would have been treated first after the study was conducted, like the black men were promised. This is just another piece of evidence that proves that blacks were seen as inferior beings that did not receive proper treatment, medically or otherwise. After seeing this play, I have realized that it is my responsibility as a person of this current generation to make people aware of the injustices that went on, especially in the medical field that no one seemed to want to stop. I encourage all who haven’t seen the play yet to go see it to not only support our fellow Bison, but to learn more about our history as African Americans in this country.

Liberate and Empower: the Importance of Being a Culturally Relevant Teacher

Besides hearing Dr. Carr speak, this week’s lecture, given by Kimberly Worthy has to be my all time favorite lectures in this course. Titled “Practices of Freedom and Justice: A Charge to Keep”, Worthy discussed her work with the LEAP Science and Math Schools in Cape Town, South Africa. She gave a brief overview of her background and how she became a teacher. She attended an African-centered school that taught based on the African paradigm and educated the students on the importance of exalting their heritage and culture. Her parents took her to protests every weekend as a child, teaching her how to use her voice and the responsibility that each person has to give back to their local and global communities.

Worthy then talked about the 5 main tenets that are crucial in becoming a culturally relevant teacher. African logic is diunital, and interdisciplinary; African teachers and teachers that want to be culturally relevant much teach in a way that emphasizes the whole before breaking it down into sections. African Epistemological Styles include symbols, images, spirit and nature. African Axiology is the number one value – relationships. Cultural visibility in the curriculum and in the school is important as well as the last tenet, social, emotional, and political responsibility.

The way Worthy described culturally relevant teaching included teaching students from a different paradigm or perspective to make sure of their academic success; making sure that students understand that there is more than one way to see and understand things in the world (interdisciplinary). This style of teaching also includes validating and exalting the African heritage, culture, and scholarly contributions. Every student at the LEAP schools in South Africa are learning these things thanks to teachers like Kim Worthy and the teaching styles that she used.

At the LEAP schools, each student is given the most important opportunity every day – they are given the freedom to just be. At these institutions, students are completely trusted and they are respected, which gives them this sense of freedom and safety inside and out of the classroom. Culturally relevant teaching takes place when the men do boot dancing, based off of what their ancestors did when they were enslaved in parts of Europe. These students are taught to acknowledge and to be proud of their history. The idea of wholistic learning can be seen with the use of axiology and relationship building. UBUNTU, which means humanity, is strongly taught to the students so that they understand the importance of kindness, honesty, punctuality, never giving up and admission of mistakes and learning from them. Students that are oppressed are given the opportunity and freedom to speak up and release their fears, which affirms their humanity and their existence as humans.

I believe that if we embrace all of these things, we will have the ability to be truly free and humans. I think the reason why this lecture was my favorite was because over time I have had the desire to become a teacher. Hearing first hand the experience of teaching with these values has truly inspired me to learn more about taking a culturally relevant approach to teaching. I think hearing this lecture really taught me the importance of community responsibility in that teaching really is the strongest way to give back to the local and global community. As worthy said, being a teacher is true liberation, and as a teacher, it is her purpose to liberate and empower.

The Eloquence of the scribes

“The Eloquence of the Scribes Expectation and Mastery – Continuing the Legacy of Howard University” this was the title of this weeks lecture by Dr. Alvin Thorton.  We were asked to redefine our liberty, happiness, and most focused on redefining our citizenship. When I heard this question, I really had to think to myself and wonder what he meant.

As students of the best HBCU, Howard University, we must constantly strive to be the best at anything we set fourth to do. We are the privileged few allowed to be here. We must constantly set the bar and surpass it once we do.

We must use the education we have gained to define new ideas and teach the world. We need to have educated question about war, peace, public education, and jobs and income in this society. We need to learn and know our history to be able to power our future and out children’s future, without knowledge of you past, you have a blind future.

To become the “Best and brightest” at Howard University I refuse to settle for anything less that what I know I deserve. I will not accept a “No” when I know I want a yes. I will work hard in class to get and maintain a high G.P.A. If Dr. Martin Luther King settled for just anything, I probably wouldn’t be typing this blog right now. “Those who settle for less, gets less than what they settled for”.

I identify Ralph Bunch as a historical inspirational figure of Howard. He mediated conflict between Israel and Palestine and won a Noble peace prize. Not many schools can say they have had someone on their faculty who has accomplished that. He inspires me to go beyond my measures of reach to accomplish what I need to do.

The Eloquence of Scribes

Dr. Alvin Thornton brought up a very important topic this past week in freshman seminar; his speech called “The Eloquence of the Scribes” touched on many things; however, I believe the most important questions were asked of the Class of 2015. We were asked to redefine citizenship, and we were asked to think about the great questions of our time, and we were asked what it means to be happy, have liberty and due process.

As a student of Howard University I understand my responsibility to constantly ask and answer these questions after the lecture Dr. Thornton gave. This responsibility is a part of being the “intellectual vanguard’s” Dr. Thornton spoke of. At Howard University, an HBCU, we have to reach new levels as a whole.

The very first step to being the “best and brightest” at Howard is to ask these questions mentioned above by Dr. Thornton. The second step is to answer these questions after thinking about them long and hard. From there I must ask these questions of my peers aloud in classes and stir up discussion on these important topics. Once I hear the answers of my peers I must open my mind to these different ideas and broaden my perspective to allow these different ideas into my own.

I believe that being a citizen of the world is very similar to what I stated above; it’s all about service learning and communal responsibility. Dr. Gbadegesin said it best a few weeks ago in our second lecture “the good of your existence is that it matters not just for you but for others as well.” Before being a citizen of the world you must be a citizen of your nation and then spread yourself outwards by being informed of the things going on in the world and involving your community in the solution to the world’s problems. So by making sure that others are informed about these questions and know how to reach the answers I am being a citizen of the world as well as the “best and brightest” of Howard.

I consider Ralph Bunche to be a very important figure at Howard University, where he taught for six years. Bunche was the recipient of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation between Israel and Palestine. The fact that he is a part of Howard University’s history is wonderful because he was such an impeccable intellectual and person. Bunche allows me to dream bigger because he opens up my mind to where a Howard education can get me.