Mbongi of students from Howard with children in
Africa. This picture,I felt related most to me.
(found on powerpoint)
Thursday's Lecture, Learning Wisdom and the African World Experience and Mbongi, really caught my attention. There were many key points discussed my Professor Carr that I myself had never knew. Before Thursday's, I had never once heard of what a Mbongi might have been. It was Thursday that I learned that a Mbongi was a "physical and intellectual space or common shelter" which constitutes many traditional African functions. It is basically a group of people close together that participate in a lot of things with each other and if you really think about it, everyone is involved in at least one group that would be considered an Mbongi. You can even form your own Mbongi's, for example a studying Mbongi, or an Mbongi formed with your floor mates in your dormitory. Thursday we also discussed a few African Mbongi terms that are often used. These terms included, 'Boko', meaning to break or cut, 'Yemba', which means to create a shelter in order to cover and protect, 'Lusanga', which means to mix or to put together, and 'Kioto', meaning to inhale. Learning these four words expanded my knowledge of the African language.
Reflection:
This was my first time hearing these points, so seeing myself as heirs to a tradition of African thinking made me feel like I could potentially contribute and be a part of this and it could really benefit me and my learning and wisdom. According to the lecture and PowerPoint, learning being 'the acquisition of knowledge', and wisdom is 'knowing what to do with knowledge'. These points really open my eyes and broadened my knowledge on the African culture, which is a part of my culture. Professor Carr related his lecture a lot of these concepts with today's society and things that we, the audience, can most definitely relate to. Dr. Carr was remarkably inspiring. There was a quote on the PowerPoint that stuck with me. It was "We must break out of the crypts in which our memory has been buried" [Ngugi, Something Torn and New, pp. 44-45. To me, this quote meant that we, as African Americans, should know our history, and if we don’t, we need to learn now.
- Signed.
Alexis Jackson
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