A Week to Remember: Homecoming 2011

I have to say that my first Howard Homecoming was pretty great. My best friend, Marquishon, came up here to experience the weekend with me. My favorite part of the whole weekend would have to be Yardfest and the R&B show. I was amazed by how much fun everyone was having. There was a sense of unity that was overwhelming. It was just really cool to see the alumni and other people come out to support Howard University. It was very encouraging and I can not wait until next year.

Howard Homecoming 2011

Homecoming was such a lesson this year. Nothing went as planned and my guest from back home had such high expectations. Thursday we got to the club so late that we only got to dance for an hour. Friday we missed the R&B show and ended up chilling in our dorm and on the yard. Saturday, we went to the step show and looked for a house party but all of the house parties got shut down. Although, nothing turned out right and it was so hard to try to do anything. I realized that you can still have fun even when things don't go right. Next year I am going to try to attend all of the event and not have a guest. I felt pressure to try and show her around and do things, but some days I didn't feel like partying. All in all, i learned that homecoming is what you make it, and you have to plan but not over plan.

Parker Gilkesson

@02660576

Group 19

#GHOE

This weekend I traveled down to Greensboro, North Carolina to go to NC A&T's homecoming. My twin brother goes to A&T and my parent and Maternal grandparents went there also. I broke the tradition by coming to Howard, however, I still wanted to go and spend sometime with my family in North Carolina. I took my best friend London. We drove down with my God Parents and stayed at my Grandmothers house. I've been going to NC A&T's homecomings all my life, so I knew what to expect. Friday night is the step show and then saturday is the game and concert. We all went to the step show friday night. The Ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated won the step show for the women and the Gentleman of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated won the the step show for the men. Saturday night was the concert and the headliner was Rick Ross. Due to health issues he wasn't able to come. Although I've been to this homecoming so many times, it seemed so different this year, now that I go to Howard. I've never been to a Howard homecoming but I can't wait to see what its all about. #GHOE is A&T's big phrase this year. It means greatest homecoming on earth. I have a big feeling that Howard's homecoming will top theirs.

Midnight Madness Mayhem(Free Write)

On October 15th, Midnight Madness was the talk on Howard University's campus. Everyone attended the HU vs. Georgetown game with intentions of going to Midnight Madness later on that evening. My friends and I were amped and ready for the night ahead of us. I personally had heard many stories about Midnight Madness; especially the story about the students bum rushing the security guards in order to get into the event. Well something similar happened yesterday. Many texts were sent out to HU students saying if you want to get in and get a good seat then you must arrive promptly at 9pm. Some students took that into consideration and others listened and simply arrived on time. But for the ones, like me and many other students, who arrived around 10:45pm, were faced with a dilemma. The security guards were not letting anyone else into Midnight Madness and as a result of this there were fights, yelling, and chaos everywhere. Many were hit by police and others were trampled. There was one police officer in particular that was out of line. He hit my friend and was involved in another fight with two females. He was crazy and completely out of line! As a result of this Midnight Madness Mayhem, the event ended early and everyone was asked to leave. In the end, the night was full of craziness and was NOT a success.

Alexis Nicole Thrasher

@02661188

Group 19

Statistics

This weeks lecture was awesome!!! It was crazy because I did believe a few of the negative stereotypes against black people. When Dr. Fenwick showed us the facts about what was actually going on in our community, I was somewhat shocked but also extremely happy! Hearing that many black men actually have high standardized test scores was enlightening. Education has always been stressed to me and my twin brother, so it was great to see that its not just my family. I would really like to know why black males aren't in college but they have high test scores. I also was surprised to know that the rate of crack cocaine is higher in whites than in blacks. all of the statistics she stated were completely opposite of what the media and the world had portrayed to us. I was so pleased with the turn out of all of the questions. She was a really great speaker and I enjoyed how she went about her lecture. At the end of the lecture I made it a necessity to speak with her. Her presence was really warm and she was really easy to talk to. I would love to do some type of research with her.


Parker Gilkesson
@02660576
Group 19

Miss Evers' Boys

Miss Evers' Boys was based on the true story of the Tuskegee Experiment and the men involved. Miss Eunice Evers was a nurse that was directly responsible for the care of several African American men in Macon County, Alabama. These men had "bad blood" or syphilis. At the time there was no cure for syphilis and these men  did not receive effective treatment for the sake of the government's research on the effects of syphilis. This play gave insight on the actual live of these men as they suffered through this debilitating disease. I really enjoyed this play. I did not know very much about what happened during the Tuskegee experiment and I felt that this was a very honest view of what happened and how the men were mistreated. It was very enlightening and gave a very personal view of  this disease and its true implications before there was an effective treatment. It also detailed a very important view on how it effected the overall black community and how they viewed medicine. In my opinion, some of the black communities' apprehension against medicine came from the results of this experiment.

The Importance of Questioning Statistics

Dr. Leslie Fenwick spoke to our clss this week about stereotypes in the educational system and how to overcome them. Stereotypes have the potential to change people's attitudes about their ability to succeed. For example, if an African American male falls for the stereotype that they do not perform well on standardized tests, they will likely believe that they won't do well and may not even put forth effort to try to do well on the test. It is important for us as future leaders to debunk the stereotypes that we hear and see on a regular basis. We can not simply ignore the stereotypes and not do anything about them. Dr. Fenwick emphasized the importance of being able to look beyond the stereotypes and even go as far as proving them to be untrue. If we see statistics we should always find out where they are comng from so that we do not overgeneralize what the data is saying. I personally think that stereotyoes that shed a negative light on the African AMerican race as a whole are usual overgenralized from the data that was given. It is not fair to assume that all African Americans do not perform well academically in comparison to theri counterparts of other races. There is always something more than race that effects how well someone performs. The most important thing I learned from Dr. Fenwick was to always question the status quo and to never simply accept the statistics or what you heard somone say. It is always more valuable to do your own research and establish your own opinions and feelings.

Miss Evers' Boys: Summary and Reaction

Miss Evers' Boys offered a detailed and heartbreaking depiction of disturbing and immoral medical study examining the late stages of Syphilis and its affect in Black males as opposed to whites. In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service initiated an experiment entitled, "The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male", which included 399 black men, ages 21 to 60. These men were being told that they were getting treated for "Bad Blood" but in reality, they were being denied treatment in order to study the disease in it's latest stages. Many assumed that Syphilis and other venereal diseases would cause the extinction of the black race as a whole. In order to gain cooperation from the participants, the Tuskegee Study approach was to deceitfully withhold truth when gaining consent, provide free food, medical care, and burial expenses. The doctors would tell the patients that they had "bad blood" when referring to their ailments, but not once did they stop to mention how Syphilis is contracted and how it can be spread onto their offspring. Now, Miss Evers is a fictional version of nurse Eunice Rivers, a secret weapon whose most credited responsibilities were to follow the health of all patients involved as well as get approval for autopsies if any subject passed due to the disease. She was the only piece of continuity in the study that the patients could relate to and as a result trusted to tell them the truth. But what she failed to tell them is that once they agreed to participate, there is NO turning back. In 1950, Penicillin was announced as a cure to Syphilis, and despite the readily available drug, the doctors still denied the treatment to any of the men in the medical research. After almost 40 years of this horrendous act, on July 25, 1972, the government concluded the experiment after the story was released on the front page of The Washington Times by Jean Heller, a reporter for the Associated Press. The NAACP filed a lawsuit in 1973 and free health care was given to men who were still living, and to infected wives, widows and children. Also, a $10 million dollar settlement was divided among the study's participants. Overall, this was a terrible event and President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology and said, "The United States government did something that was wrong-- deeply, profoundly, and morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all citizens...clearly racist."

In my opinion and I feel everyone else's opinion, this was a disgusting and inhumane "project". There is not much else to say. These so called doctors tried to wipe out an ENTIRE race of people. They should not even be called doctors. They should be called animals, demons, and nazi's. For this to have gone on for 40 years, is simply crazy. The play did an amazing job portraying the characters emotions and lack of knowledge about what was going on around them and to them. This was an act of total and utter racism and I feel as though no one could have said it better than President Bill Clinton.

Alexis Nicole Thrasher

@02661188

Group 19

Miss Evers Boys

I really enjoyed the play. It was about the social and ethical problems involving the Tuskegee Study of untreated Blacks with syphilis. This was a study from the federal government on black men with untreated syphilis. The men thought that they were coming to be treated for their disease but were actually only given placebos. The study was not meant to cure the men but to see how black men responded to the disease versus how white men did. They watched as the black men deteriorated and died. The study went on for years before the public was outraged. A nurse, Miss Evers, was aware of the lack of treatment but felt sympathetic and tried to console many of these men. She became close friends with many and even had a relationship with one. This play tells the story of this study through Miss Evers. I was surprised to see that the play was about this topic. When I heard about the play I though it would be somewhat about Medgar Evers. I feel strongly about this topic because I want to do research one day and I was told by a few black researchers that these type of studies still go on and that's why we need more Black researchers, to prevent this from happening.

Parker Gilkesson
@02660576
Group 19

Future Leaders of the World

I was inspired by our speaker this week. He emphasized the importance of being connected to the issues that surround our communities. He encouraged us to action on these issuses and ask questions of the people that are in charge so that we can implement the changes that we see fit. I also learned that we can never be complacent about our condition if we see that something is wrong with our society. What if Nelson Mandela or Malcolm X had been complacent about their situations? We would'nt even be afforded the oportunity to be at Howard or be able to have most of the freedoms that we enjoy today. Since we go to one of the most prestigious universities, we have the resposibility to ourselves as well as to others to improve the human condition. It is crucial to ask questions and challenge policies that provide unnecessary obstacles and hardship. If we do not do it who will? Who will fight for us if we are not willing to fight for ourselves? As citizens of the world we must take action and accountability for the problems that exist and become leaders in the world that we live in.

"The Eloquence of Scribes": Initiation, Expectations, and Mastery

Just to give an overview of Wednesday, Dr. Alvin Thornton, a graduate of THE Howard University and Morehouse College, came and spoke to our Freshman Seminar class about Self-Actualization and "The Eloquence of Scribes." He believes that we are the replacement leaders of our nation and that we are the chosen few selected among thousands of young people to attend the Mecca. As far as answering the questions asked of us: 1) What can and will you do to be apart of the "best and brightest" of Howard? I will personally achieve greatness by excelling in my classes, being involved in clubs and/or organizations that can help with my career or by being involved on campus, and I will continue to have faith that everything I want for myself works out in the end. 2) What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? How does your citizenship in the nation inform your world citizenry? To be a citizen of the world means to be as aware as possible about your nation and other countries in the world. One who is a citizen of the world is deeply informed. 3) Identify a representative thinker of Howard. How does that figures life work inspire you to "till and turn over the soil" which, as Dr. Thornton noted, is expected of each Howard student? Dr. Carr is a representative thinker and his life work is inspiring. From expressing the importance of mbongi's to everyday issues going on in the world, he puts his own ideas and input in every lecture. He allows you to view a different aspect of what topic he is discussing. He has made me realize that if you are determined to know about something or create something new, to pursue it.

Alexis Nicole Thrasher

@02661188

Group 19