Multimedia project

Have you ever noticed the change in setting when you cross from Georgia Avenue to Columbia Heights? Well I have. I decided to do my multimedia project on the striking difference between the two places that are literally five minutes from each other. Many have made the commute to Columbia Heights to visit the Target or the other shopping centers in the area and many have taken a walk down Georgia Avenue. The change in the setting is appalling and abrupt. I wonder why is it that I go to one of the most prestigious black colleges and right outside of the campus stands the degrading Georgia Avenue. It’s sad to see the many homeless people on Georgia and then to cross over to Columbia Heights and find that the streets are cleaner. One of the reasons for this is the result of gentrification. Many blacks have nearly been forced to the streets due to raised taxes and then to fine that their homes have been torn down to be replaced by newer homes for whites. Howard is the mecca of black culture and intellectual development in the black community. Its campus has seen some of the most influential people in the community. It is not acceptable for the campus to be in the condition that it is in. My question is what can be done to alleviate the issues right outside of our campus?

Georgia Ave. vs. Columbia Heights

Letter to Raise Awareness

Dear Dr. Andrees:
I urge you and the West Bloomfield District School Board to find other alternatives to the job cuts of the teachers. Not only do the job cuts affect the children in high school but also the kids in elementary and middle school. Cutting teachers from all three levels I feel won’t resolve the district’s financial situation. Teachers are an essential part to the learning process and for them to be limited and cut doesn’t make sense. Cuts should lay elsewhere, not the teachers.
I am a recent alumnus of West Bloomfield High School and have received the best education I could ask for. I feel that the generations coming up should have that same opportunity as I did. Without the qualified teachers this cannot be achieved. The staff and teachers are vital to the educational diversity in which West Bloomfield carries successfully. Along with the diversity that the teachers contribute to the school, they are the ones who sponsor many of the clubs and after school activities that enable students to become well-rounded. I feel the reason that I have been a successful student is because of the different programs and classes that I have taken in school. Without the same opportunities, the future students coming up will lack some of the skills that I have developed through my years in schools.
I understand that the district is undergoing budget cuts, but perhaps the board could look elsewhere to cutback. Teachers are key to educational development of students. As I’m sure the student voices of West Bloomfield have spoken and maybe there can be a PTO meeting where you may receive suggestion from parents within the community to help lighten the cuts on the teachers.
Thank you for your consideration. Although I am a first year student in college, the concern for the other students in the district is as much as a concern for me as it is for them. I hope to be in touch.
Sincerely,
Aisha J. Brownlee

Environmental Justice Symposium

Did you know that 1 in 9 people of color used to live in toxic neighborhoods? Now the ratio has changed to 1 in 4 people of color in live in toxic neighborhoods. This ratio is not only appalling but shows the lack of concern for the environment and mother earth herself. I went to a symposium on environmental justice, before this symposium I didn’t really know about environmental justice and what it stood for. It’s basically policy, and big businesses use policies to attack peoples land and build factories that hurt the land and the ecosystem. Here in America our social life is on a high past system, we require fast production of things we use daily, for example fast food, clothing, and even electricity. Meat production is responsible for 51% of greenhouse gas production. If didn’t have a demand for meat this percentage could be lower. By painting the roofs or even the streets white, there could be a 20% reduction on AC cost. We have such a high demand for produce and energy that we are the ones keeping these factories that hurt the environment running. However, not only are we hurting the environment, but we are hurting ourselves. Due to the high demand for fast food, most of the things we consume are toxic and grown with steroids and just think about it, if we could learn to eat organic, natural foods, how much that could change the ecosystems. As Michelle Roberts said, “there needs to be a conscious awareness of the way we live”. I completely agree with that statement. In order to save the planet we need to make adjustments in how we live. But how many people are really willing to do that?

Blog 5- Midterm

In most of my blogs, the focus is usually blacks in America and how we function in contemporary society. My blogs reflect a cause and effect structure and offer solutions for certain issues that affect African Americans today. The blogs normally look at past events and how the results of those events are still current in today’s society. A recurring theme in my blogs happens to be African people and the retrieval of historical memory. Not coming from an educational background where black history and its importance are stressed, I feel the need to share things that I have learned while on campus with others. Half way through this semester I have come across some very educating conversations with scholars on this campus about issues that I’ve never thought to address. Being on this campus gives everyone a chance to think about issues from a global perspective and I felt the need to express everything that I have learned in each blog.
In high school I don’t remember doing too many research papers. The papers that we did were mainly impromptus, where we would write a paper on a given topic on a book that we recently read. This experience with research papers isn’t completely foreign but I believe that I could use practice. I feel that at times my paper is repetitive due to the vagueness of my thesis. Once I learn to develop a well written thesis then the paper would flow better and have a higher level of sophistication. Since being in this class I have learned the different types of strategies in writing research papers. In the past I get the impression that my papers had no order to them, so these different strategies will help structure my paper and make it more organized. What helps me to improve papers and organize my thoughts is feedback from teachers and others. To continue my success in the class and further improve, I need to utilize the writing center and speak with my professor more often.

The African Burial Ground

Last week I went with the freshman seminar class to New York to see the African Burial ground which was in many ways breath taking. Before this freshman seminar class I never heard of this story and the findings of Africans beneath Manhattan. I find it so incredible how before people were just building and building on top of the ancestors without knowing. The findings of these African people are so essential and have made a vital contribution to the historical memory of this country. I cannot fault blacks for the protest they held, and wanting other black scholars to research the African people. When the debate aroused of who should be the ones to handle the ancestors, the people turned to Howard University. I think what the students at Howard did in recovering the bodies and placing them back into the ground was the greatest honor to the ancestors and I am proud to say that I am attending the school that helped make such a profound contribution to history. I connected deeply to the first part of the trip where we poured libations, paid respect to the ancestors. Africans are the ones who built this country and to be in the presence of those who made many sacrifices was moving and a very powerful moment. I think it so beautiful how after the research was done on them, the researchers put their bodies back into the ground and held a traditionally African burial for the ancestors. The only thing that I can say disappointed me was the fact that I wasn’t there to witness such a breakthrough in not only African history but American history as well. The trip to New York was such a remarkable cultural experience and the African Burial ground is a historical monument that should be visited by all.

Symposium- Politics of Black Identity of the Age of Obama

This week I went to the symposium for A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller. Along with discussing his play there were panelists there to interpret the meaning of many complex ideas that the play addresses. The people on the panel included Jules Harrell, Lorenzo Morris, and Greg Carr. Among the many topics that each panelist brought up, all were centered on the idea of the play which was defining black identity. As described by Charles Fuller, the theme of the play was how blacks and others who have been enslaved or oppressed behave like their oppressor. This expression made me think how in today’s society this is still a recurring theme. Not to say that there is anything wrong in wanting what’s best but without historical memory we allow racism and white supremacy to shape our identities. In Dr. Carr’s speech he brought up how the challenge for Africans is defining us as a group. Once we answer the question of group identity then we should think about how we as blacks move forward as group. I agree with this because today many blacks question their identity and make the mistake of disconnecting themselves to the African race. Instead of trying to succeed as individuals, blacks need to acquire a group mentality meaning that not only are they representing themselves but representing a whole race. This can be achieved by blacks reeducating themselves on their origins and gaining historical memory in order to move towards the future.

Blacks and Swimming

Friday I went swimming in the Burr building where I met Coach Fogan. For those who don’t know, Coach Fogan is a swim instructor at Howard University. As my friends and I were swimming he came over and asked where we were from and where our parents were from. After telling him, he began telling us of his research. His study was on blacks and swimming. By telling him our hometowns and our parents’ hometowns he got an idea of whether we could swim or not and why we couldn’t swim. Because swimming is a high class leisure sports, many blacks weren’t allowed to indulge in this activity due to racism or socioeconomic status’s. After asking us our origins he then asked if either one of our parents knew how to swim. As said many older generations did not learn how to swim but because many of our parents migrated from their original birth places, many people from my generation were taught to swim. The talk with him in the pool made me think of why many blacks don’t know how to swim. Could it be because our parents never learned, you lived in a state that wasn’t big on swimming, or for the women, fear of getting their hair wet. Whatever the case, I found his research intriguing and essential to the black community. He plans on furthering his research and using the origins of blacks to assist his study. I think it’s important that in African American communities swimming is taught to all children to break all stereotypes and judgments about how blacks can’t swim.