Another great class, another great presentation. The class went very well. Even with the technological issues, the last presentation was very well done and well constructed. The presentation 'dovetailed' with the introduction of Bill Cosby's speech on Brown v the Board of Education. I was quite happy with yesterday's presentations. All of them were effective and impactful and presented in differing formats. Some dealt specifically with statistics, while others were creatively crafted short anecdotal stories that were well prepared and engaging. The PowerPoint presentations were well laid out and all of them were informative.
Good job to all of the groups who presented.
Today we discussed the process of reconditioning Africans who were taken slaves. Why these people are taken as slaves, as well as a little about what happened when they reached the new world.
How do you condition the Africa out of the African? The process began from the time that they were captured. The helplessness of captivity. Being led to the coast. Crammed in the belly of the slave ship for up to three months. They were then brought to the new and unfamiliar world where they were further conditioned to rid themselves of whatever made them African. They lost their culture, their religion, their name and their history. The African wasn't allowed to fill this void themselves rather this empty was filled with a slave mentality based on the value system geared towards the benefit of one group at the expense of another. The slave mentality was created as a way to control Black people without chains or bonds.
Look at earlier post in this blog for more information on the slave mentality and is effect on the Black community.
We had the opportunity to watch a great play about the relationship between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Although fictional the play did highlight the differing approaches to solving the same problem of Black oppression during the 1960's.
Malcolm's 'By Any Means Necessary' is balanced against approach of Martin's 'Non-violence'.
I felt it was a fair representation of each ideal but, what do you think?
Welcome to the African Studies course. Use this Blog as a reference and resource guide for assignments, tests, and exams. Feel free to post comments whenever you need to. This will be open to anyone taking the course throughout the TDSB.
