charles harris

Charles harris  @02653030

On this day Dr. Alton pollard the third spoke in my freshmen seminar class the summary of his lecture was about religion in the African decent that followed or participated in it.  The lecture was mind blowing we learned about all types of things pertaining to the lecture topic. He told us that the key to success was through hard work and religion and if u know what you doing it will take you very far in life and especially in American society. My favorite part of the class is when he played us a song that he enjoyed listening to as he was growing up, the song was preformed by a legendary group called the O’ JAYS THE SONG WAS CALLED ship ahoy. By the name u might be able to tell what it is about but if you don’t I will inform you the song is about the slave trade. Another key point the speaker made was that when he was growing up in school he was doing very well in school but when he looked around at the other black classmates they weren’t doing as good and he wondering what was the problem he wanted to know why he was in the higher math courses in no one else was. He came to the conclusion that society made it that way and that it was his job to try and chance that. I could relate to this because I did very well in school and even though I went to a predominatelywhite high school when I look at African Americans in other schools in my city I see that that are also struggling.

Arick D. Scott's Reflection

     Last week, during Freshman Seminar, the guest speaker was a divine man by the name of Dr. Alton B. Pollard III. Dr. Pollard is the current dean of Howard University’s School of Divinity. Being such a spiritually intact person, being a pastor and dean must come naturally to Dr. Pollard. When speaking last week, he started his lecture by first describing the idea of religion by using a generic definition. Dr. Pollard describes religion as being as spiritual and mental belief that varies by culture and geographical region. There are many different beliefs around the world today, but almost every belief acknowledges the idea of a God, idol, or a higher power. Religion became somewhat of a tool that anointed priests or divine figures would use to manipulate others into behaving appropriately within society and it was used to explain the unexplainable topics such as: creation, birth, death, weather, natural disasters and spontaneous unfortunate events. Religion has been the bridge between humans and the uncertainties throughout our lifetime. Dr. Pollard continues his lecture by talking about a key factor of almost every religion: faith. Faith is the idea that one can trust and depend on his/her deity to supply and provide thus person with understanding, protection, and general purpose. Faith is the idea of believing strongly in one’s religious beliefs. Dr. Pollard relates faith to the African slaves will to endure and progress. African slaves suffered through hard labor for many years with the idea of someday being free. Dr. Pollard even played the song “Ship Ahoy” by The Ojays. This song is referring to the slave ships that cruised the mid-Atlantic passage during the slave trade. Slaves were finally freed and assimilated to American living and, in turn, created the African-Americans that exist today. Our African-American culture is rich and jubilant as we still carry many of the religious beliefs that nurtured the sanity of our ancestors. I would like to thank Dr. Alton B. Pollard III for once again reminding me of my existence in the United States and how important faith is in any lifetime, back then and now.