Black Responsibility

When first signing up for the Kemet 2010 trip, the thought of lecture every night sounded awful! And I’ll admit, even the first couple days here, I still wasn’t in love with the idea. Thankfully, these weren’t just regular lectures. Every night, I have found myself questioning myself, what I have been taught, and what I am doing/going to do with my life. First, let me say that Dr. Carr and Dr. Beatty are two of the BEST teachers that I have ever had. Their dedication to the topic of African Studies and their unending knowledge in the area are extremely inspiring.

While sitting in lecture on Saturday, I sat back and looked at my past two years as a PASSIVE Howard University student. I felt like an honest failure. And the bad part is, there is no one to blame but me. Of course on paper, I’m doing fine at Howard, my grades are good and my scholarship is still intact after 2 years. However, I think that I am taking this time in college for granted. I feel that I have yet to really take on any true scholarship. By this I mean, reading a lot of books, questioning things, and just studying overall philosophy in and on life.

With Dr. Carr and Dr. Beatty going through slides, I felt bad that I had very little previous knowledge on topics that we were speaking on. In that moment, I made a promise to myself to do better. MUCH BETTER. I now believe that this is the renaissance of my personal scholarship. I am going to start reading and writing outside of class. In addition, I am going to seriously look at what I am doing in college. What do I REALLY want to do when I get out.

I think that too many people go through college and life passively. I refuse to be like that any longer. After this Kemet experience, I really feel a responsibility to educate others and persuade them to make the same promise. When I was first introduced to the concept of a scribe last week, I took it at face value —a person that writes things down for preservation. But after delving into the occupation over this trip, I have truly come to understand and appreciate the importance of this position. Now, I too want to be a person to pass down knowledge to others. I want to continue the legacy and preserve the wisdom of our people.

As a result, I am applying for the position of scribe. This is my letter of intent.