Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Loss of a Sacred Culture

Dr. Mano Beatty’s lecture on the loss of the African culture through the process of the Middle Passage was interesting. I didn’t prefer his method of delivering this lecture because it was a little confusing but his attempted message was nice. He brought up topics that I’ve never stopped twice to think about. His main point was “when you are conceptualized as empty you are filled with anything surrounding you.” This is a very valid point when you look back at our ancestors and the many traditions we no longer follow or even know about.
 When our people were brought over from their native country they were left broken and lost, confused about what to do next or how to feel. So in order to fill this void they began adopting the customs of the white people and forgetting about their own ways. They lost language, names, heritage, and much more which resulted in them losing themselves completely. Our type of speech was different until we were moved out of our country where that way of speaking was not acceptable. I never stopped to think about many of the subtle things we do differently than whites and how much more noticeable it must have been back before we adapted to life here.
            For as much as they lost along the way, they also brought a lot to the U.S. such as science and technology, instruments, music, Agricultural cultivation, dance, storytelling, and more. White people and people of other races too don’t realize how much black people contributed to many of the things they enjoy today. It is difficult to further explain what I learned from this lecture because I honestly didn’t understand what he was trying to say most of the time but I think I understood the general idea.

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