Self Reflection

Throughout my time in this course I found myself confused because I wasn’t sure exactly why we had to sit through these presentations. I also didn’t understand why we had to fill out forms that required us to pull out references to Africa and other places when some of the material had nothing to do with specific places. I often wondered why we were unable to take the forms home if we were required to blog about the presentation I took notes on. At the end of the course I realized the purpose of the presentations were to assist us in our research projects. I did learn a lot that I had not known prior to attending the class; history about Howard University, how Africans were really the creators of the things most people attribute to Europeans, and our role as human beings. I learned how to do a well put together research power point and to work effectively with a group. I do however feel like it is a lot of work for it to only be worth 1 credit. As freshman we want to start off strong and we have 3 credit classes that are very challenging so to have us doing blogs every week and a large research project is just added stress on top of everything else we have to do for, once again, just 1 credit. I personally feel like we deserve 3 credits for all of the work that had to be done I this class.

Erin White

HU Boys

The HU Boys

·         Why does the female population outnumber the male population at the school?

How many freshman males/females are enrolled at Howard?

·         1052 women 429 males

Female to male ratio increases each year…13 percent of 37 that graduate actually go to college.

Parents can’t afford to send their children to college or some end up in jail

We need to encourage the youth to go to college…men of Howard can encourage guys from home to attend Howard and just college as a whole.

The majority of black males do not have a drive to get an education; they are lazy; they want money the easy way….sports, rap, selling drugs

Black males feel they can be successful w/o going to college b/c college is a waste of money and time and why do something they’re not interested in…black men feel if they make it to 18 w/o being shot or killed that is enough success.

The media needs to show a more positive image of black men…portray those who have actually been successful and have acquired degrees.

If a young man’s parents did not attend college that wont encourage him to go.

65% of black families are single parent families…they can’t afford to send their children to college.

We need to inspire our black males to attend college.

Erin White

African American Burial Ground

I had the privilege of visiting the African American burial ground in New York with my freshman seminar class this semester. The experience was very enlightening and I attained a lot of knowledge I lacked prior to the experience. I had no idea the burial ground existed until it was presented to the seminar class and I was eager for the trip. I must admit, however, I didn’t have such a great time traveling to New York. The bus ride was very long and exhausting and we were only in the city for a short time and turned back around. I learned that in 1991 the construction of a Federal building was scheduled; during construction remains were discovered of hundreds of African slaves. African-Americans from all around came to NY to protest the continuation of the construction over the remains. Ultimately the community got their wish and the Federal building was constructed across the street and a museum was built to house the remains and inform the public of their history. The remains that were discovered were those of African slaves brought to the once country in the city of NY. They were some of the first to arrive in the country and were the builders of the city. The original burial ground was where the Africans paid their respects to their loved ones. As time continued and the city expanded the once burial ground was covered. I learned history from Egypt to the present time outside of the museum by a very knowledgeable speaker. After the tour we were able to go on our own. That part of the trip was very short and a little disappointing being that it was my first trip to NY.

Erin White