Self-Reflection

Sierra Dennis

Overall, I have enjoyed the Freshman Seminar program. As a person who has attended majority white schools the majority of my academic career, I found it refreshing to finally hear MY history, the history of MY ancestors in Africa and the ancestors that were brought to the United States. Often time the only black history we received in schools is that from the Civil Right’s Movement, which is a very essential piece of our history but I loved hearing stories about Omoluabi and how Afrkaans hieroglyphics had messages that we still believe in today—speech is beauty. The ability to express ones self is “beautiful.”

Though I often had to drag myself out of bed to come to freshman seminar, it was always worth it, because I truthfully enjoyed every presentation. I especially enjoyed the “Eloquence of the Scribes,” where Dr. Benjamin explain to all us students the history of the university that we all chose to attend. Throughout the semester I found myself, when going into buildings across campus giving my friend’s short biographies of the affluent historical figure in which the building was named after.

I believe the African Burial Trip was scheduled at the perfect time in the semester because after hearing all the presentations, we finally had a interact, hands-on situation where we saw pictures and artifacts that were all a part of our history.

The Mbongi forms really helped keep me focus in class because I always genuinely wanted to know how each presenter’s information would relate to my questions, like “what was something new I could learn from their information,” or “what was the contemporary issue that related to their presentation.”

Peer Review #2

Sierra Dennis

The HUHouston2014 group’s presentation focused on how the lack of necessities and unfit living conditions had a negative impact on African slaves health and manifests itself in current health issues within the Black Community.

The thin clothing material distributed to the slaves in the winter caused frequent sickness amongst many slave communities. Many times the thin material for their clothing was simply burlap bags! This was not sufficient clothing for cold days. Slave masters only gave them clothes to determine with the slave’s gender, and often time more clothing was distributed to slaves based on their performance. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs were met but not efficiently. Shelter was provided but they were often small shacks expected to hold several families and often not adequately insolated. This is how sicknesses spread quickly; living in close quarters in cramped houses gave them considerable exposure to other sick people. They were also provided with inadequate bedding—straw beds—which caused them much discomfort at night. As previously stated, clothing was dispersed depended on status, a house slave or an outside slave. They were provided with minimal nourishment, only the scraps of food left over from the master’s dinner. The weekly food rations were often diets high in fat & starch. This type of diet created many health issues for slaves, but the diet has been continued in the modern community. Black people love “Soul Food:” macaroni and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, corn bread, etc., but this causes our community to have a high percentage of people with hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. The group’s solution was to incorporate healthy foods into our diets at home.

Captive in slavery, many slaves lost their sense of self. Due to abuse, ranging from beatings to rapes, many slaves also suffered from anxiety & panic attacks. Children in slavery were dying younger and reaching puberty early, which is what we learned at the African Burial Grounds Musuem. Children at the age of four were already performing adult duties, which wore on their small, undeveloped bodies.

Peer Review #1

Sierra Dennis

The Asunteyanya group in freshmen seminar did their presentation on Race and Education with a focus on the DC Public School System. They discussed how over the past years within the DC school system the standardized test scores have lowered, with scores ranging from 1200 – 1196. The found a correlation between attendance and truancy, as attendance rates increase, truancy rates decrease.

There is a “Race Gap,” and Obama is enforcing the “No Child Left Behind” program in which unqualified teachers are fired and replaced with more qualified teacher. They mentioned how President Obama was so disappointed with the DC school system that he made a public statement saying he wouldn’t send his daughters, Sasha and Mileeya, to any of the districts schools until they improve drastically. Along with President Obama, Mayor Adrian Fenty will not allow his children to attend the elementary schools within the DC school system until the scores heighten.

The Asunteyanya group discussed alternatives for students struggling within the DC school systems. They suggested that these students could transfer to charter school, a primary or secondary school that receive public money but is not subject to the same rules or regulations as public school. Though they receive public money, they are not allowed to charge tuition to their students. The charter school that they suggested was the local middle school, Howard Middle School. Their other alternative was magnet schools, a school system that are public schools with specialized curriculums. Within a magnet school, students can begin a degree in 10^th grade.

Self Reflection

Jazzmin Tennessee

Post 10

Whoa, what a journey. These weeks passed by so fast I didn’t even realize how close we were to the end. As we bring Freshman Seminar to a close I reflect back on the day we first started, thinking that I would only learn a few things, not really thinking that this one credit hour class would do me much justice. Boy was I wrong.

            Freshman Seminar is a great opportunity to learn things you never even thought about. It was so fulfilling and so insightful and I enjoyed oh so much. Freshman Seminar has changed my views on a lot of things; it helped me to grow more into the heritage of my African ancestors. It boggled my mind left me wanting more, left me in awe over the things that I always longed to know.

            Through the presenters I was feed the life of the many glorious people who came before me I was intrigued and impressed. I have always been proud of my race and the people who sacrificed themselves to make sure I had a better life, and this class just gave me a deeper pride of the African Diaspora.

            I came to Howard University to learn more about just not my ancestors, but about my self and over the past weeks I have learned more than I ever would have at any other university. I take pride in myself and my culture, I love myself and those who paved the way for me to be here today. I am growing more and more everyday and I am glad that I was given the chance to take pride in my heritage. Freshman seminar was a great experience for me, but now it’s the end of the semester which means it’s time to go home NEW ORLEANS HERE I COME.

                                                                            Thank you for everything,

                                                                                  Jazzmin Tennessee

We Are Change

Jazzmin Tennessee
Post 9

How does gang violence effect inner city high school students in Washington, DC?

            Another fallen victim, another life gone, innocent or not who’s to say, but it shouldn’t be put in to the hands of a 13 year old who stole his mothers gun to get revenge or 16 year old who bought one off the streets so he could “handle his problems.”

            Gang violence has been going on for years and it’s not just a teenage thing, but for the most part this is the majority. Also, the group brought up the point in which males tend to join gangs more than females. People have been trying to find ways to end gang violence for years, but without anything else to do young people flock to gangs because they think it’s cool, or because it gives them something to do, some even join because they feel that it is some kind of brother/sisterhood.

            Gangs not only effect the crime rate but it also has many other effects on the community. This group brought up some very good points, even though they talked about the crime rate, and the violence, they also talked about the educational side. They spoke about the drop out rate and how it effected the graduation rate, which since 2006 has gone up.

            Some solutions that were put out were to involve students in extracurricular activities, create and enforce programs to improve education, fieldtrips, sports, academic organizations, and mentors. The group also felt as though if the mayor was to let them know that he cares, show them that they don’t have to do this that would make a difference.

            I just hope that one day everyone will see that gangs are not cool, that taking someone’s life is not their job to do, I just hope that the young people will wake up and see that they can be so much more if only they let the gangs go.

INTERVIEW BLOG

When we began our project, we knew that we wanted to focus on the environmental harm that the lack of recycling has placed upon the New Orleans community. I interviewed my senior year environmental science teacher, Bill Wallace, and he enlightened us on the long-term affects and the future health issues this presents for the community.

What are the long-term affects this lack of recycling will have on the community?

“Truthfully, I can only reiterate what various environmentalists have discussed. Lack of recycling impacts the community and the world. Lack of recycling creates pollution, excessive CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere, which affect the global warming. In communities, trash littered in oceans and local bodies of water can affect the aquatic life, and if oil spills have not done enough damage to the aquatic life, residents who don’t recycle don’t want to add to this issue…Also lack of recycling paper now, can result in tree reduction at great rates in the future.”

How does the lack of recycling affect the health of the residents in the community?

“One of the major issues with recycling is landfills. The waste is buried now, but if recycling continues to decline at this rate, the landfills will one day be full, and where will the trash go? In the ocean? In the streets? Garbage just being dumped anywhere. This is the same issue that America encountered during the urbanization period. Sanitation was a huge issue, when trash was littering the streets and houses…it will be difficult for residents to stay healthy in such conditions.”

HUHouston2014

Jazzmin Tennessee
Post 8

How does lack of necessities and unfit living conditions have a negative impact on African slaves health and manifest in current health issues within the black community?

            African slaves were treated like they were less than human, they wee feed scraps, they were beaten and raped, they were given scraps of clothing, and infected with many diseases.

            In my opinion this group presented very well, they dug down deep and pulled out the things that we already knew but also some things that we did not. Knowing that slaves were treated so poorly was always something we all knew, but to think that many of the diseases and conditions that the black community suffers from today all started from the mistreatment of slaves is enough to make you rethink everything you do in life.

            Slaves were awarded according to performance; their clothing was better depending on how they performed. It also depended on status, the house slave would usually get better clothes, live in the house even though conditions were harsh and space was cramped. The field slave on the other hand lived in huts with no heat, very limited space and inadequate sleep habits.

            The lack of nutrition caused for many complications with slaves. It caused stress, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, all due to the foods that they consumed.

            So as a community we should learn to eat healthier, our community is know for the foods we eat but we are also the top runners for diabetes and obesity. It’s time for a major change and we should all be apart of the solution.