Jael's post: Asking Questions

Dr. Alvin Thorton spoke on many different topics but he would continually come back to what seemed to be the heart of his lecture; it is our responsibiltiy as Howard University students to question our nation. This goes back to an earlier lecture on how all of our acquired knowledge should be made relevant to solving the problems in the human condition.

Dr. Thorton compared us students to the "talented tenth". The talented tenth is the idea formed by W.E.B DuBOis that in every group of people there is a minority that has been called to lead. DuBois spoke of the talented tenth to assert how the talented tenth in the black race was just as capable as the talented tenth in any other race and to propose how the talented tenth should be trained for their leadership positions. However, it must be remembered that the talented tenth is only a tenth, and their talents and resulting positions of authority are not any more important than the talents and positions of others but they serve as a different function. Also, I think that it is even a smaller minority that is called to address more than one problem in the world and the majorit of the talented tenth may have only a calling toward one specific area.

Growing up I might have been recognozed as a member of the talented tenth. My test scores would often cause me to be isolated in "gifted" classes and I later graduated salutatorian of my high school. But I dissappointed many when I chose my field of study; music (music therapy). Some people, especially my counselor, thought that I was wasting my talents by not committing

my energies to becoming a doctor or lawyer (stereotypical positions of the intelligent). But I was called to ask a different question that is asked by few. The question is whether the practice of music being used as organized therapy can be used in the mainstream. It is a good question because we now live in an age where people are constantly being diagnosed with more diseases than ever before and the drigs being used to treat these illnesses are becoming more potent. I believe that the American population could very well be overmedicated and alternative therapies should be the big talk.

My music therapy teacher is a good thinker. Her teaching style involves her asking us questions that can not necessarily be answered by the book. She has inspired me to put myself in the position of a potential patient and imagine what they might be feeling during an excercise.

Convocation

On Friday I attended an event called Convocation. I really did not know what to expect prior to attending. Once I got seated inside the auditorium, I was immediately reminded of my high school graduation. There were important people in color robes and also an orchestra. I was excited about the song the orchestra preformed because they played a song I recognized. Once the colors were presented and the performance was over, or schools president spoke. He introduced the guest speaker. The convocation orator was Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. Dr. Lomax . He serves as the CEO and President of the United Negro College Fund. His main message to everyone was that we all must give back to the university’s that helped us. He said that only eleven percent of graduates give back to the hbcu they graduated from. He also said that as students, we are customers of the university. As customers we also have the right to take our business elsewhere. After his speech I felt motivated to continue on my college journey.

Convocation & Black Community

In freshman seminar the speaker went a totally different direction than i expected . In all the years i have been alive my parents and elders have told me about the dark days of segregation and how it impacted our people. I have been told how key people pioneered and made a way for our people. However , in all that talk of how we worked to get out of the situation no one ever told me about the benefits that segregation had.  He explained how it bought a sense of community to black people and how we looked out for one another. How we were each others teachers and motivators , how we stood by each other. However once segregation had ended , we lost that sense of togetherness that we once had.
In convocation the speaker spoke about the importance of black people and college being in one sentence. He made a few points that really made me ponder. He spoke about how our black men in particular need to be in college. Many people associate black men , with a a negative connotation . However our generation can be the ones to change that . If more black men and women alike would motivate themselves based on role models they see everyday , they too could be attending the greatest hbcu. The way we can make a diffrence is to be those teachers , pharmacists , biologists , and preachers that they see on a everyday basis. Soon the mindset will change and they will want to be like their role models and pursue higher learning wether it be this instiution or another. The future of african americans can very well be in our hands , and the question being posed is will we accept the responsibility,

Practices of Freedom and Justice

This week’s Freshman Seminar topic was practices of freedom and justice. His lectured told the class of tradition of learning for service to the black. The pursuit of freedom and justice has been a rallying cries of the educated in this oldest of traditions. Three main points that captured my attention in this lecture were the use of education for liberation, the topic of being an irrelevant intellectual, and Howard’s history of student activism.

Throughout history, blacks fought for the right to receive an education. . During the lecture I learned that W.E.B Dubois educated himself while enslaved. He later became an advisor to the president. Because he was educated, he was able to rise above the limits black men in society had during his time. The resonated to me because it made me think of my college experience. Having a college education will liberate me socially and allow for myself to benefit from more opportunities. This is why college is so important. His lecture reiterated the importance of being education.

Another point in the lecture that stuck out to me was the section about being an irrelevant intellectual. According to Dr. Wright, an irrelevant intellectual is an educated person that does nothing to help their community. This stuck out to me because it made me think about the true purpose of college. Coming into college, my main reason for pursuing higher education was to benefit myself solely. Dr. Wright made me realize that this was selfish. I should not only use my education to benefit myself, but my community as well.

The last part of his lecture that stuck out to me was Howard’s history of student activism. Prior to the lecture, I did not know about the Malcolm X debate or Stokley Carmichael. Along with those two stories, he also told us of a time where the student body took over the A building and changed the curriculum. His lecture really made me feel like I have the power to change things here despite being a student and its legacy. My voice and opinion have the power to make a difference.

In all, Dr. Wright lecture stressed the importance of education and the black community, like previous lectures.

Jael's blog: Convocation

The convocation on Friday was interesting. Because I am a fine arts student the musical portions of the convocation were most fascinating. But at the same tme I took interest in the speaker who graduated from Morehouse and recieved a honorary doctorate from HowardUniversity that day.

I recieved an opportunity to hear Dr. Anthony Randolf play the organ. However, I neither saw the organ nor him and just figured the organ was placed somewhere backstage. I thought the orchestra and the choir did a great job. I had heard the choir practicing the negro spiritual in the recital room in the Fine Arts building for a very long time. I like how the choir frequents negro spirituals done in a classical format. It allows them to learn and perform with proper vocal technique while honoring their culture. The other song they performed somewhat confused me though. I thought a gypsy themed opera was very out of place. Perhaps it did have a place but on the speaker neglected to give the audience the background information on how the gypsy song related to Howard's convocation.

The speaker who recieved an honorary doctorate spoke about a lot of interesting things. One thing in particular was when he was speaking on how alumni ought to donate to the school. That lead me to think on a couple of things. I was awarded a donor scholarship which really helped me make ends meet and so I am very grateful for the alumnists who do give to the school. But I imagine that the 89% of alumnists who are not giving probably do not have to give. My mother is an alumnist of Howard University and she is still paying off her student loans and recently went into more debt when she took out the Parent Plus Loan for me to attend Howard. Also, I feel that some people may not donate to the school because they do not trust the school with funds. I unfortunately had to hear a faculty member at Howard say that they would never donate money to this school because it would just sit on someone's desk and then get stolen. That really caused me concern and it leads to another topic that the speaker touched on. He mentioned that HBCU's need to remember that the student is a customer who can take their business else where. That stood out to me because all summer I was told by friends and family that I should consider going to another school because Howard was not handling my business properly. Every day I was recieveing new and contradictory information regarding financial aid and registration. A friend of mine attending Howard told me right after concovation that she was going to tranfer after this school year because the administration was causing her too many problems. I really want to stay because I find the education I am recieving will prepare me to compete at my best but I understand where she is coming from. I had assured my parents that my first year at Howard would be like a probation period and if I find that problems in the adminsitration make it impossible to focus on my work I will switch schools.

Dividing to Multiply

When Blacks reflect on the concept of segregation, they think about the hardships that whites put them through by not being able to have the same privileges. We think about the fact that we were not about to go to the same schools as white children, or use the same bathrooms as white families. The concept of segregation was detrimental to the Black community because it did not allow for the upward mobility of Blacks; however, segregation also helped the Black community to come together as one. Since they could not integrate with Whites, each other was all Blacks had. During this time, Blacks took care of each other, welcomed them into the community, and came together for worship sessions.
With integration the live of Blacks were changed forever. Depending on the person, some would say lives were changed for the worse. "Segregation gave us something that desegregation took away" were the words of Dr. Richard Wright. The term something refers to things like the value of education, the importance of family, and the respect for others. As you can see, in today's society, neighbors argue and disagree instead of borrowing sugar or watching each others houses while one is away. Children are acting up in school instead of taking advantage of the education being administered to them. Fathers and sons are fighting instead of children staying in their places. Like everything else, integration as well as segregation had it's pros and cons.

Jael's blog: Faculty Rectial

The faculty in the Fine Arts department performed for their students to give their students a taste of what hard work in the field of music will eventually lead up to. Some performances were entertaining while others were beyond my understanding. My professor certainly proved that they were experts in their field and that I am in good tutorage.

My vocal jazz studies professor, Prof. Miller, dedicated her performance to her freshman students. She sang "All of Me", the peice she had assigned to me and the rest of the freshmen, to give a proper example of what she was expecting out of our performances. Her performance was phenomenal. Two other professors played a duet on their trombones. I had no idea that the trombone can be such graceful instrument. I am used to hearing the trombone and other large brass instruments playing in the background. I especially appreciated that it was a duet because duets are hard to do, especially when one musician is playing the melody and the other is playing an oblagata (an embellishment of the melody).

The professor of classical voice performed a peice that was very intense and I found it difficult to understand. She sang a classical rendition of a African-American poem titled "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". Dr. Raymond Jackson also played the a very intense and curious peice titled "Rondo Capriccioso". The title implies the song will be playful but the peice seemed to go back and forth with its moods and I felt as if I was listening to a work written to express the turmoil of a catatonic schizophrenic.

My facorite and most difficult professor, Dr. Randolf, did not perform a peice. But he did speak at the mandatory lecture later on that day. I understood why he might have chosen not to perform a peice. He explained that he was primarily an atonal composer (atonal means against tone). Freshmen students like me are not yet at the exposure level to even comprehend what is ocuring in atonal music.

I feel that Howard is a great place to learn music and will most definetly be practiing hard to match my professors.