Dr. Carr’s lecture was one of the most interesting class sessions I have ever experienced. His lecture on learning, wisdom, and the African world was both stimulating and insightful. When I entered the class my body was awake but my mind was asleep. His lecture woke my mind up and. Three points of the lecture stuck out to me in particular. The first was when Dr. Carr said that “human brilliance must be connected to African brilliance.” The next point that really stuck with me was when he said that “what you say belongs to you, but what you think belongs to the people.” The last point that stuck to me was his explanation of what an mbongi is.
Dr. Carr’s lecture gave a sense of African pride. Growing up in Virginia Beach, I had never really experienced anything that taught or demonstrated African pride to me. I had learned black history and its importance throughout my years of public school, but Dr. Carr’s lecture really put into perspective how important Africans have been to the world since the beginning of time. As Dr. Carr’s lectured, he began to list some of the accomplishments of Africans and the contributions to the world. Africans created the first alphabets and universities. Africans basically a significant portion of the groundwork for today’s modern society. “Human Brilliance, must be connected to African brilliance” because without the contributions of Africans beyond the history taught in most high school textbooks, moderns civilizations would not exist as we see them today. His lectured really began to open my mind to how much Africans have contributed to the world, and also instilled in me a sense pride because they are my ancestors.
Dr. Carr’s lecture also touched on a social concept that I think is very important to understand. He said that “what you say belongs to you, but what you think belongs to the people.” I believe this is very important because if a person understands this concept, they can avoid a lot of unwanted problems. In today’s era, people are using things such as Facebook and Twitter to constantly post what they’re thinking on the internet. Some people do this, but do not understand that everything should not be said because, once it’s said, you can’t take it back. I too was guilty of this at times. Now I realize that what you say and how you say are some of the ways people form opinions of you. Now that I’m becoming a man in the professional world, my image is going to be a very important aspect in forming relationships and capitalizing on business opportunities. I believe that I need to keep what Dr. Carr said in mind so that my public image does not prevent me from accomplishing what I want in the future.
The last point in Dr. Carr’s lecture that stuck out to me was his explanation of what an mbongi is. Basically what I got from this part of his lecture was that an mbongi is group where all inside the group share. Howard University or any other college is an mbongi because knowledge, culture, and many other things are being shared amongst the people. I thought it was interesting how this African concept still has relevancy in the modern world.
Dr. Carr’s lecture was both intellectually stimulating and insightful. His points on the African world, what an mbongi is and how the things we say do not belong to us really stuck with me and made evaluate how they relate to my life.
Works Cited
Carr, Greg . "Learning, Wisdom, and the African World." Just Hall, Howard University. Washington D.C, 31 Aug. 2011.
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