Spring 2016: The Peopling of New York City A Macaulay Honors Seminar taught by Prof. Karen Williams at Brooklyn College

Spring 2016: The Peopling of New York City
Archive for April, 2016
Being More

The site, Be More, describes a very relevant issue in today’s societies: implicit biases. The site reads, “Implicit biases are ingrained habits of thought…are outside of awareness but their implications are clear to those affected by them.” Reading about implicit biases, I realize I experience it all the time, not consciously but subconsciously making assumption […]

Be More: Children are Not Colorblind

Exploring the website Be More was a great experience as it was a departure from the normal 60-70 page readings due every week. Frankly, I enjoyed it much more than the usual readings since the website was interactive and easier to understand. The readings are cool too, but I liked the idea of exploring a […]

Be More – Effective Motivational Strategies

The Be More website is dedicated to bringing about change in United States social systems that are known for propagating social inequality. The website provides a plethora of factual examples of discrimination as well as measures to counteract the problem in a way that not only raises awareness, but also inspires action. I admit that, […]

Analysis of BeMore’s website

Daniel Cohen Discussion Blog Post #3 Browsing the BeMore website, I immediately admired their purpose, which seems to be to eliminate the social construct of race. However, the key claim of their “Vision2040” campaign trailer, that there won’t be a racial majority by 2040, seems a bit odd. I find that human attempts to predict […]

African Burial Ground Field Notes
African Burial Ground Field Notes

The date is Wednesday, March 30th, 2016. Mitch, Robin, Sandy, and I arrived at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station at 11:45 A.M. We had an interesting start to our field trip when I tripped up the stairs leaving the train station. When we finally surfaced to street level, there was a unique blend of smells being […]

Sign up for ITF Tech Day appointments, April 20, 12:30-3:30 pm

What: ITF Tech Day Check-in Where: Honors Lounge, 2nd floor of Boylan Hall When: 12:30-3:30 PM on Wednesday, April 20 How to sign up: one group member schedules the appointment at this Doodle appointment event scheduler: Seminar 2 – ITF Tech Day Check-in Appointments are 30 minutes long and filled on a first come, first served basis. […]

Be More-There Isn’t a Chromosome of Race

I was a little apprehensive to look at the Be More sight. I figured it would be just another website telling youth how we can be racist, how race inhibits life in America and things of the such. Surprisingly, it was not that at all. It left me asking myself the question, what am I? […]

A Lesson in Cultural Resistance
A Lesson in Cultural Resistance

Any emotional significance attached to the burial grounds did not affect me until I found myself standing in the small gift shop tucked away to one side of the exhibits, examining a handmade African bracelet. Memories hit me furiously, awakened from slumber: snippets of Afrikaans thrown between merchant and consumer haggling over goods, thumbing through […]

Field Notes: African Burial Ground
Field Notes: African Burial Ground

On Wednesday, March 30th, Mark, Sandy, Robin, and I left Brooklyn College to head to the African Burial Ground in Manhattan. We left immediately (by immediately, I meant we stopped by Burger King and bought food; we had coupons yaaas!) after English class at approximately 11:00 am. We went ahead of the rest of the […]

African Burial Ground

Wednesday, March 30, 2016 As I walk into the African Burial Ground, I am scanned by security. I understand that I am walking into a government building that holds great significance. The first thing I notice is the timeline of the creation of the burial ground. It was a long process creating this building that […]

Be More

I didn’t really know what to expect when I first opened up “Be More”, I didn’t know what the website would advocate, so I was a little surprised when I saw that it had to do with the issue of race. And I guess that the reason I was surprised was because the issue of […]

Be More

The website Be More, predictably, tries to urge people to move beyond race and ethnicity and literally be more. While I think its aims are certainly honorable, I am skeptical. While the team behind it, both the staff and expert advisors, is relatively diverse, it consists of mostly highly educated professionals. In order to truly […]

African Burial Ground
African Burial Ground

On March 30, 2016, we visited the African Burial Ground. It took about an hour to get there from Brooklyn College, but it was simple; I took the 5 train from Flatbush Avenue to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall. The walk from City Hall to the African Burial Ground was pleasurable and inspiring. As I exited the […]

The Importance of Remembering the People Who Helped Form American History.
The Importance of Remembering the People Who Helped Form American History.

“Lai Lai, oh Lai Lai.” “Lai Lai, oh Lai Lai.” “Ago.” “Ame.” The entire train ride home that song in the voice of a young girl was running through my head. A rush of emotions and questions ran through my head. I was building comparisons between my previous visit to the African Burial Ground in […]

SOMETHING COOL TO CHECK OUT: Fall 2016 Macaulay Courses

Check out the awesome courses that you can take next fall at the Macaulay Central Building: Macaulay Honors College Fall 2016 Courses