Kristpher Sorhaindo's commentg on group presentation 2

 The second group I saw present talked about the Genocide Intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Genocide is the systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire race or religious group. In the Congo they killed a lot of people for a silly reason; it was for some type of mineral. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the world’s second-largest peacekeeping force, MONUSCO(google search) the peace keepers who were a part of that group have failed to bring peace to that area. Civilians were tortured and there was a wide spread of rape. I feel like people should not have to suffer like that. They were suppose to have a group that stops it but they apparently made the situation worse.

Kristopher Sorhaindo's blog on The Research and Methodology Lecture

Dr. Williams's lecture explained you should do research for a purpose, like for a certain productive reason. I liked this lecture because she was right. Nobody wants to do research for no reason. This might have been one of the realest, down to earth lectures I have heard all semester. The research me and my group did was on how HBCU’s benefited African American student then PWI’s. The research that we did was pretty interesting and fun. I learned how much some HBCU’s benefited blacks. HBCUs are institutions founded primarily for the education of African-Americans, although their charters were not exclusionary. Most HBCUs are 50 to 100 years old; the oldest HBCU dates back to 1837. Of the 105 HBCUs, 17 HBCUs have land-grant status. About 214,000 or 16 percent of all African-American higher education students in the nation are enrolled at HBCUs, which comprise 3 percent of all colleges and universities nation-wide. (HBCUinfo.com)

Kristopher Sorhaindo's Self Assessment

Freshman Seminar as a class has taught me a lot more new things about us as African Americans, but I must admit I didn’t think the class would have been about African American history so much. I didn’t think I would like this class. Because I thought it was going to be like some boring orientation class. I am glad I took this class though, because like I said be for I learned a lot more history about our race. I also learned a lot about Howard’s history, like the history of the founder and the buildings on campus. I didn’t like doing the research project and I don’t like doing the blogs, because we don’t get an actual grade for this class. I feel like we deserve an actual grade and not a pass/fail, because we work so hard on our blogs and always listen to the informative lectures. This makes me believe, it is not an important class, because I mean we are not given credit for the class. It really pisses me off.  I am actually one of the few who take this class seriously, so I feel like I should be rewarded for it.

Kristopher Sorhaindo's blog on peer presentation 1 (Group Stampede)

The group Stampede’s presentation discussed the topic of suicide among African Americans between the ages of 15-24. To me it is necessary to talk about this subject, because a lot of teens and young people are committing suicides everyday. They explained unemployment is the main cause of suicide today. I believe they feel like they are helpless and can’t support themselves or their family, so death is the only way out of their suffering. Other reasons why people commit suicide are due to stress, incarceration, and family problems. One thing I found very interesting from their presentation is that more than 30,000 African Americans commit suicide annually. There are more than five African American suicides per day, and for every successful suicide the ratio is four to one, men to women. You should be aware of people who talk about death towards themselves and show major signs of depression, because they might be the ones who are going to commit the horrible act. Suicide is a horrible thing to hear that somebody did to themselves, so you have to be careful and aware what you do and say to people. I enjoyed this presentation and really liked their outside information sources.

Keeandra's blog on presentation #1

Code Red Presentation

Code Red presented on how effective the current institutional practices were here at Howard University. They interview a teacher and then a student to get both aspects of the education here at Howard. The First teacher they interviewed was Dr. Gordon. He suggested that the students take advantage of his office hours. He always challenges his students with pop quizzes to make sure they stay challenged with their education. When teaching he uses lectures and transparencies. With all of this he believes that Howard’s education is one of the best and is up to par with white schools. The student said that the teacher is good for an auditory learner and he forces you to become excited about class. The next teacher they interviewed was Dr. Turner. Dr. Turner always fully engages his students in his classes. When Dr. Turner teaches his teaching method reflects the voice of the students. The last teacher to be interviewed was Dr. Hounai. Dr. Hounai is a visible and audible teacher and he uses lots of clear examples. He lives by the principal of leaving no student behind and that students who feel behind are always open to office hours. He loves to teach by example and has flexible hours for those who need it. Their interviews were a success and overall they learned about an education from the real HU.

African Burial Ground

African Burial Ground

The African Burial ground was an exceptional experience. As a group we were able to learn and get an understanding on how our ancestors were treated when traveling over to a new land. The outside of the Burial ground consisted of bodies buried for miles and miles all around the area, a concrete built boat that signified the circumstances of their living space while traveling to America, and a great deal of African symbols that the Africans lived by. A small detail that Dr. Carr pointed out to us while examining the symbols was that a lot of the symbols consisted of a four- way cross resembling the different pathways of life. While outside at the Burial grounds we learned that students from the great Howard University received the honor in examining the bodies that were being buried at the site. Then once we went inside the museum we watched a video vividly discussed the hardships the slaves went through and how they lived their day to day lives. The inside of the museum was beautifully set up with statues that were showing a burial. The statues were created with human sense to them, which stood out greatly. I also loved this experience because it showed me more than just the usual history that we learn about the 60s and the 70s it went all the way back to what my ancestors did in Africa.

Kyle Burton's Perspective on African Burial Ground Trip

The level of ethnic pride possessed in a culture seems to be in direct correlation with the success of its representatives. My parents have taught me the great successes of our ancestors who have achieved status as some of the most influential staples in American history. However, I never expected to appreciate the work of those I descended from like I did when I visited the African Burial Grounds in Manhattan, New York. No matter what historical elementary books try to persuade, Blacks did not lose their civilization when they were enslaved. They did not lose their humanity even in the violent and radical environment of racism that they resided in. During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, free and enslaved Africans paid respect to over 15,000 of their deceased in a 6.6 acre burial ground. It is important that urban Blacks pay respect to our elders like those before us did to their ancestors. The African Burial Ground had a monument that resembled a pyramid and a ship. These representations were of our Egyptian architects and the struggles endured in coming to America. Encircling a ground globe were numerous symbols of the African culture that represented characteristics that were encouraged to have. “Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu” is unity and diversity. “Dwennimen” is humility and strength. “Hye Won Hye” is imperishability and endurance. “Yowa” is continuity of human life. I plan to live by these virtues throughout my life. And I will always cherish the opportunity, experience, and knowledge gained from receiving Dr. Carr’s tour of the African Burial Grounds.