Group Presentation 2

Recently in the news there has been a trend of bullying. This might explain why two different groups decided to give presentations on bullying. However, it’s not your father’s story of “losing” his lunch money. The current news stories involve the recent but ever growing problem of cyber bullying. One of example of this is the college student who committed suicide because his roommate put a video on the internet of a homosexual encounter. Popular television shows such as degrassi have depicted the horrors associated with bullying. Some schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy towards bullying and the result of being caught bullying is explosion. In the group presentations the members of the group made a concerted effort to demonstrate that bullying involves much more than the physical.

Historically girls are known for being aggressive through non physical bullying. IN modern times however, with technological advances everyone can be a victim from the non physical bullying. Texting, social network site, photos, and videos can all be used to bully students. Some affects of bullying can be poor grades, depression, becoming a bully yourself, and lashing out. One group explained the extreme example of the Columbine High school shooting which really put bullying on the map. At the Columbine students who were constantly bullied actually brought guns to school and shot their peers. The basic message of the presentations was that bullying comes in various forms and not merely that of the physical. The way bullies bully has changed and we need to be aware of our actions and how they affect others.

By: Stanford Fraser

Group Presentation 1

The first waves of research project presentations were interesting but didn’t truly relate to me. The subject matter was well put together and the presenters seemed to be well informed in their field of research. However, topics such as kidney donations and nutrition don’t relate to my everyday life. So as I planned to bored and braced myself for the longest 50 minutes if my life something happened. I became interested in a presentation. I was drawn in instantly just by their title. Are HBCU’s still necessary, are they accomplishing their mission, and is it time for a new mission. As a Howard student this type of presentation affects all of us. These may be the type of questions PCAR asked themselves before they started their presentation. Their presentation began to answer some of these questions.

One of the main sources used in this presentation was an article that stated HBCU have served their purpose in the past but they are today ineffective and unnecessary. These institutions were the result of racism and raised a generation of black professionals but today African Americans find success at numerous institutions and HBCU graduation rates are declining as well as their facilities. That statement angered me. It discussed nothing of the Eurocentric culture of education. The sense of disconnection from the black community these African American graduates gain. Moreover, as the presentation continues the audience is informed of the fact that 82% of African Americans with PHD’s graduated from HBCU’s. It is true that HBCU’s need to “step up” their graduation rates and facilities but their commitment to education and he community is as strong as ever.

By:Stanford Fraser

African Burial Ground Trip

The African Burial wasn’t what I expected but was more impactful because of that. I was expecting something like a cemetery that had military guards and a somber environment. That was nothing of the case. It was a relatively small ode and section of the City in comparison to the giant skyscrapers. The fact that I didn’t have a good night’s sleep accompanied by the cold weather made me feel like the trip was in lack of a better word “the L”. However, when Dr. Carr took off his hoodie proclaiming its not cold ad began his libation series it immediately gained my attention. I too no longer felt cold. Moving my body I attempted to gain a better view of Dr. Carr performance. His voice was powerful and sorrowful at the same time. It compelled my soul and connected me to my African ancestors. Last year I saw the video of Dr. Carr giving libations at the burial ground but it wasn’t anything in comparison to being there in person.

As the day went on a man began to speak to us about how the Burial ground was established. This man was white and I was turned off at first by his usage of the terms we, us, and our. Then I heard it in his voice. His skin might have been white but his mind was black. He understood our struggle and as I listened to his voice I heard our paradigms. One of the most interesting elements of the burial ground was the African symbols. I was exposed to a different Sankofa symbol. I was always familiar with the one of the bird but never seen the heart shaped one before. All of the other symbols present were also informative and impacting. Some of them I knew and some I didn’t. I realized the advance nature of our symbols and technology. Overall, the burial ground trip was an amazing experience that was even worth waking up at 5:30 am.

By Stanford Fraser

The Genome System

This honestly has had to be the most boring presntation in my entire life. The hardest part about it was staying awake. She is a very intelligent lady and knows what shes talking about. The only problem is that shes talking too much. It took all period for her to do her introduction. Once she started I already knew that this was going to be the longest hour in my entire life.

However she did have some great facts about the genome system and DNA. DNA is the universal code of life. A genome is the total inhertaince for both your parents. Meaning that whatever words you use to describe is only 1/10 of what you really are made up of. I think that is so cool because people often ask "which words decribes you" and the true answer is more than what you can possibly think of. Africa is the orgin of life and had it not been for our ancestors there would be no life on earth.

She also dicussed how we are the future and that her life is on our hands. That we are soon going to be the doctors, lawyers and future politician. That made me think that we can change the world. Whether it be discovering the cure to AIDS or inventing flying cars. Its up to use to decide what were going to do with it and to me thats the best part of it all.

The Lanuage we all speak

It is very common that young African American adults use slang in almost every occasion that they talk in. Whether there engaging in a conversation with their friends or texting. Slang is often not used in the right way, spelled correctly or pronounced in the correct form. Where do we get this "broken English" from and how come we use it?

The reason why we make up our own slang and words is to be able to communicate with others. What interest make it up is because its in our blood. It has been proven that language was first started in Africa. We figured out a way to communicate with others in a way that we could all understand. Whether it was written in symbols such as , Khemet, which means knowledge and wisdom. Or talking with each other. The sankofa bird and mahat were also very vital forms of communication.

I honestly believe that this presentation was not that interesting. It was very hard for me to stay awake and take notes. It was way too long and I feel as though he was rambling on to find things to talk about. I don't think anyone was very much interested in this weeks presentation. However Dr. Carr is an excellent speaker and speaks very loudly so that no one can fall asleep in his class.

The Importance of Ancient Scribes

Today in freshman seminar we learned about the importance of scribes. It wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. I learned a lot of cool information and facts. It makes me feel good that my ancestors not only were kings and queens but they also invented different forms of writing. The Ancient Egyptian civilization impacted the world and makes me proud of my African culture.

This lesson was based off of the scribes in ancient Egypt and its importance to today society. The scribes in ancient Egypt were important because back then most people could not read nor write. The scribes were often found at places like temples, cities and right beside the king. The wrote down the daily routines from every part of modern life. Scribes did not have to do the hard work that most of the Egyptians did and were exempted from slavery and other sorts of jobs.

Scribes were found in most areas of Egypt and even in Europe. The Cuneiform was one of the first forms of writing. It was founded in the city of Mesopotamia and is a vital place in the history of writing. The French Pose style was transformed from ancient cuneiform writings by the famous scribe Jean Mielot.

Overall, I believe that today lessons was very influential to me and my peers as well. It feels good to know that the ancestors before has had a huge impact on the world and the present. If it was not for them then society as we know it would not be the same.

The Bond Between Hip Hop and the Civil Rights Movement

Whenever anyone mentions hip hop it automatically starts a debate. Its a very controversial topic and interesting topic and it amuses me. As soon as he started and mentioned the word "hip hop" the class suddenly arose as we were all waiting on the tip of our seat to see what the speaker had to say.

With past generations the youth were bold and ready to fight for civil rights. They marched and protested and participated in rallies. They sparked many colleges and universities to look into the civil rights and taking it seriously by showing that they were tired of being pushed around and were no longer going to stand for it.

With this launched a bunch of civil right groups like the Black Panther, who fought hard to get justice for blacks by any means necessary. Groups like this opened up the door for many more to come and furthermore lead to artist that begun expressing their feelings through their music. Artist like James Brown and the Last Poets. And their music lead to the birth of hip hop. A place where people could come and express their creativity and their emotions and have an influence on the world. Just like the civil rights movement