Saturday, September 3, 2011

Embracing the Mbongi

This week's Freshman seminar was a powerful and very meaningful session. We were graced with a very inspirational speaker by the name of Dr. Carr. Dr. Carr used his knowledge and passion for the African culture to spark a interest within the entire class. Eyes were glued, heads were nodding in approval and "oohs" and "ahhs" slipped from the mouths of my classmates as Dr. Carr spoke his words of wisdom.
The lecture started off with the explanation of the term "mbongi". The term means room with no walls. While in the auditorium from freshman seminar, we are part of an mbongi. That is a place where no one is to hold back on what they need to say and a place where there are no limitations as to where your mind can go during this hour. We explored the mbongis that we, as Americans, come across everyday. This includes gatherings as big as parades and sweet sixteen parties to those as small as a study group. We then explored early African language and early words like "sedi" and "sankofa" shaped into the language that we use today. We ended the class on a mission to trace the history of Africa as far back as 1.5 million years ago. The timeline included the times when Africans created writing and counting and when they created pyramids.
My favorite part of the lecture today was learning new terms. I love the fact that I can enrich with vocabulary with such terms. Hopefully as the course proceeds, I will be able to use some of these words in context. With that, I will be able to enlighten others who havent had a chance to take this course.

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