Dr. Carr began his lecture with some key African teaching terms, which I thought was appropriate, considering we were learning about African learning. He went on to explain that our goal as a whole is to recover African Deep Thought. He explained the idea that we have been led to believe that Africans were not and are not a people of knowledge and wisdom. However, if we look back into our ancestry, we see that African people have always been a people of learning.
Carr went on to explain the “power of the text” and writing things down, using the quote, “If you write it down, it remains.” I found this idea particularly interesting, because it connects to the idea that knowing about the past is an important part of understanding the present and that people can live on through their written work.
Dr. Carr went on to show Howard students visiting important African landmarks, which really helped me see how his lecture focused on Howard students, specifically, understanding their history and remembering African Deep Thought. Dr. Carr also spoke about the importance of memory and being able to hold on to the things we know. He spoke about Seshat and a history of “accuracy, reliability, and a preservation of knowledge”.
I originally found Dr. Carr’s lecture very fast-paced confusing. However, after being able to slowly read over my notes and take everything in I found the lecture to be very interesting and understood that the main point was that we as African-Americans, and other races as well, must remember, understand, and respect ancient African Deep Thought and how it has influenced today’s academia.
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