I enrolled in my first Black Studies class in the winter of 2009, which was my freshmen year. Black Studies 3, which Professor Daniels taught, was unlike any other class I had ever taken. I learned about the history of countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania, which were both countries that I had never gotten any information on in high school history classes. In class, we also learned about Yoruba culture, Santeria, and the negative misconceptions that often go along with them. My favorite part of this class was on the last day of lecture when Professor Daniels had a band from Africa come into class and perform for us. They now perform often in Los Angeles, but stayed true to their roots and performed in the same style they originally started out with.
In the spring of 2009, I enrolled in Black Studies 1 with Professor Robinson. What I remember most about this class is watching a movie called The Birth of a Nation. It is a silent film that is blatantly racist and portrays blacks as unintelligent and basically worthless. They are portrayed by white men in blackface. This was the first time I had been exposed to blackface minstrelsy. I had known nothing about what is was, where it came from, or the impacts it made until watching this film. This class with Robinson opened my eyes about just how far people would go to present racist ideas and how much time and effort was put into ensuring that negative thoughts and opinions were perpetuated in order to keep blacks oppressed.
I also took Black Studies 133 in the spring of 2010 with Professor Banks, where we learned about race, gender and sexuality and how all three intersect and impact one another daily in the lives of many. This class opened my eyes and helped me see popular culture in a different way. It also helped me understand why certain races are placed in “boxes” so to speak and why people generalize so much. The idea of women “taking one for the race” and having to sacrifice their own morals was repeatedly brought to light and was one of the more powerful ideas that I learned about in this class.
In the winter of 2011, I was enrolled in Black Performance Studies with Batiste as well as Black Feminist Thought with Banks. Black Performance Studies showed me a new way to interpret black literature and focused more on symbolism of Jean Toomer’s Cane, while Banks’ class was more relevant to the present day because the research was recent, the last book we read was published last year, and it was far more relevant because part of its focus was on pop culture which is everywhere thanks to the media. Professor Banks’ class has been the most meaningful to me thus far because of how relevant her topics are and because of how thoroughly we discuss each issue.
As a freshman at UCSB, I had no knowledge on the topic of Black studies. I was not educated or aware of how important the subject was at all. In my opinion, my knowledge has developed greatly and I now feel that all students should be required to take at least one Black Studies course for the sake of knowledge and helping to eliminate ignorance. For my senior thesis, I would like to do meaningful research and have the possibility of my work getting published. Also, I would like to have a writing piece that I could potentially use when applying to grad school if I choose to do so eventually.
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