Journal 9

Shaniyah Frazier

Ideas in Antiquity

Journal 9

Pre-Reading the chapter on Sunday:

I am very excited to be reading about Ida B. Wells mainly because I am in love with her! I love what she stood for, what she fought for, and her courage is something I envy. Ida B. Wells go tintroduced to me by one of my favorite teachers at Howard because of my Afro American Studies class. It is amazing how I never heard of her before coming to Howard, especially with the amazing journalism she has done. I remember being in my Afro Studies class in awe by how much of a bad bitch she was. Living in the Jim Crow Era must have been rough for African Americans, but just down right scary. Lynchings was like a weekly brunch party and there was no justice ever for Black people. I am looking foward to reading her book because a lot of the work I have read has been of her, not necessarily from a view point of her specifically. I did buy the whole book, not just the chapter because this is how much I love her, but for this journal i will specifically focus on the chapter assigned by Dr. Sandridge.

I even believe the guest speaker on Thursday is a Ida B. Wells in her own way. If you think about it, Wells told the stories to those who did not have a platform, and that is exactly what Malliron is doing for black women and their businesses.

Excerpts from Readings/ Favorite Passages:

“Speaking before the American Association of Colored Educators in 1891, Wells discussed “true leadership” as a quality that would be crucial to the future progress of African Americans. Her speech anticipates Du Bois’s call, in The Souls of Black Folk (1903), for the development of an African American “talented tenth” who could guide their race. However, unlike Du Bois, who maintained that this talented tenth would be led by “exceptional men,” Wells envisioned a leadership class made up of both men and women.”

I remember when I first read about Du Bois’s top 10% and thinking that it was unfair and rude that inorder to show that black people have worth, the burden is on the top 10% to prove themselves worthy and smart to white people. That is how I always saw it, but now I am coming to terms with the idea. The successful and prominent blAxk people are to be the exa mples of our people. I am still coming to terms with this ideology, but I do not find it as ridiculous as before. It is like looking at Martin Luther King Jr. when talking about black people because he serves as a good face for our people rather than looking at I don’t know, a black convict who is a notorious killer.

Excerpt From: Ida B. Wells. “The Light of Truth.” Apple Books.

“The Negro is the backbone of the South; his labor has cleared the forest, drained the swamps, tilled the soil, built the railroads and dotted the wilderness with cities. He is the preferred laborer of the section of the country and he needs to be taught how to utilize that power for his own benefit. He needs to be taught also that he holds the solution of the problem in his own hand, and that solution lies in saving his money that with it he may educate himself and children”

I like this excerpt for how it points out the work and input into this country by African Americans. Literally, enslaved people built the south, the agriculture , the southern economy, the actual construction of the south was built off the backs of African Americans. Yet, there have been no reparations. No credit. No justice. Literally African Americans were used and abused for the county’s benefit, but is not taught how to use his own skill for his own benefit. Ida B. Wells points out that the African American needs to be educated. I believe we have done a good job at educating ourselves thus far and we have continued to prosper as a people. We just need to continue.

Excerpt From: Ida B. Wells. “The Light of Truth.” Apple Books.

“This devotion to principle does not always call for life, but it always means sacrifice of some kind. No man does great things without great sacrifice. Said Lady Henry Somerset in a sermon at Tremont Temple in Boston, recently: “If I were asked to summarize that which I believe condensed the whole secret of every great leader’s history, I would go straight to these words, for in them I find the whole inspiration of every life that has been called to lead humanity — self-sacrifice, suffering and pain.”

I liked this excerpt because she is basically saying that in order to have the proper courage for a movement you do not have to die for said cause, but being willing to die for it is key. I like that she diffenciates this because I feel like as a society we glorify dying for something, but I do not believe dying should be the goal. As harsh as this may sound, but I’m sure If Malcom X or Martin Luther King Jr. were alive to give their opinion, they probably would not have chosen death because they had so much more work to do. You can’t complete anything when your dead, but that is also how you become a legend. I feel like it is easier to die for something than it is to live for something. Like Wells says, it takes a lifetime of sacrifice, suffering, and pain but it shows ur dedication and allows you to do all you possibly could to better humanity with the time you had naturally on this earth. This is why I admire Ida B. Wells because this is exactly what she did. A lifetime of dedication. Love that for her.

Excerpt From: Ida B. Wells. “The Light of Truth.” Apple Books.

Abou Ben Adhem poem of the man who loved humanity.

I had never heard of this poem. As a chrisztian I am surprised it sounds like a biblical poem and I love the m message. To summarize, the ange speaks to this man and he is asking this angel if he made this list of people who love god. The angel said no, and then the man responds that it’s okay bec ause he will love all of mankind. The angel then tells him he is on the list to loving god because the best way to show you love god, is to love all humanity. I actually love thnis because I think a lot of people need to read this poem and deeply analyze it to get it’s message. There are so many “church going go loving people” who will be the most judgemental rude people. Of all races. The church to this day is sadly one of the most corrupt and judgemental places, yet it is supposed to be the house of god. The best way to be a person of god, according to this poem, is to show love to all people. I find that the Muslim community really embraces these ideals which is why I admire their religion. It is highly practiced to routinely be selfless and show love to all people.

Assignments from chapter:

I feel like the one and only person I feel like I can say shows a constant love for humanity truly as a whole is Jesus. I know I am bias because I am a christian, but from my teachings, Jesus loved everyone. Those who were cruel to him to those who worshipedx him. He was the definition of being selfless, he died for out sins. He died because of the love he had for us and all future humanity. I do not thin k any human being could ever be on his level because he is literally christ. There is a whole religion based off of him. I can not think of someone relatively as selfless as him. He is made to be so selfless that he almost isn’t real because it is so unlike human nature to have such endless love for humanity. Jesus is the Philanthropist of all time, yet when you think of phila thropists today you always think of money. Big donations is now the most praised philanthropy. It is evident that money makes the world go round, it is sad. I was speaking to my friend the other day and she was joking saying she was a philan thropist now because she doated 3$ to the BLM, which was all she hand in her bank. Thats another conversation #brokeincollege, but the fact is that donations have become the sta ndard to being a phil.a nthropist when the literal meaning of the word has nothing to do with money. The greek word, as Dr. Sandridge never fails to remind us, means love of humanity. He states specifically, that the word philanthropist literally means friend to humans. When did money make someone a friend to humans? It we look at Timon of Athens a fifth-century BCE historical/legendary figure who was exceedingly generous to everyone but became a misanthrope (=a hater of humans, the opposite of a philanthropos) when he ran out of money and his friends abandoned him. Money has clearly been the standard of friendliness for quite a while, apparently since ancient greece.

I like how on tuesday we pointed out that not every philanthropist is a friend to humans. Dr. Sandridge pointed out Jeffrey Epstein was a philanthropist. He was throwing money out to all types of organziations, yet does he really deserve this title? I think not. He was a rapist, sex traffiker, pedophile. Yet he gets the title of philanthropist. Clearly money has created such a power that it can replace looks, age, and friends. In my opinion, philanthropy should not be solely based on money, but on actions. Daily actions and deeds. Constant dedication to loving people. Thorugh how you treat a fellow hum on the street. Simple random acts of kindness. Educating love on a daily basis. My definition is much harder than throwing money around, but I think it will add value to the word. The value it deserves. This is why I cherish passage four in this chapter because it puts my ideals into story perfectly. Passage four brings us back to our previous chapter, Xenephon’s Education of Cyrus. The passage states, During the time, therefore, when he was not yet quite able to do favours through gifts of money, he tried to win the love of those about him by taking forethought for them and labouring for them and showing that he rejoiced with them in their good fortune and sympathized with them in their mishaps (Translation by Walter Miller). This to me is true philanthropy. Not money and gifts, but gestures and being there for one another. Showing emotions such as empathy and giving a lending hand. I may not have nearly a percentage of the money Jeffrey Epstein had, but I know for a fact that I am more of a philanthropist than he ever was due to my heart. But the world does not see it like that and it is sad.

My Current Leadership Dvelopment:

I had a recent break through in my leadership development recently. In my previous journals I talked about not knowing where to find my role in leadership especially during these times. With the Coronavirus, It has been harder than usual to even interact with others yet be a leader. This being said, recently my old highschool guidance counselor reached out to me to speak virtually to his students about Howard. When I was applying to Howard and was in highschool, there was barely anyone who even understood the im portance of HBCU or could tell about the HBCU life. To be honest, it was completely up to chance that I ended up at Howard. I thought this would be the perfect opportun ity to put my learnings from the class at work. The virtual meeting turned out to be amazing. So many students showed up and I got to pour all my love for Howard into interested students telling them everything I wish I knew. My guodence counselor told me he was grateful for me because he couldn’t get a hold of anyone from Howard to be an actual representative (typical Howard) so I was glad to be of help. I even offered to write student’s recommendation letters which was crazy to even offer. I remember struggling to find the best person who was accredited to recommend me and the fact that students wanted me, was honoring. I felt so good about myself, and for some reason I am getting emails from other counselors to do a virtual presentation. I feel like I should be telling Howard about me representing them. Regardless very happy. I am so happy to be taking this class. I wish for there to m=be an exte nded version of this class for seniors before we go into the real world. I feel like I am using my teachings in every day life.