When I entered UCSB I entered as Biochemistry major. During my first quarter I set out to tackle as many classes that would fulfill GE requirements, with that said one of the first black studies classes I took was Black studies 3Intro to African studies with Akudinobi. I had not realized until recently that Black studies 3 Intro to African studies was the perfect introductory class for me, as I was not knowledgeable on my African ancestry, this course got me to think outside the box as to how Africans and African Americans were views in the media and across regions, I also learned about many significant African achievements. However during my sophomore year I changed my major to Cultural Anthropology and still found time to take black studies class but still mainly for the sole purpose of fulfilling GE requirements, I took Black studies 7 Intro Caribbean Studies, 38B Intro African American Literature, 127 Black Women Writers and Black studies 170 African American Cinema. At the end of my Junior year I found myself finished with my GE’s as well as my requirements for my Anthropology major and Education minor, with that said I found myself needing units to graduate and with me having some units in Black studies I decided to pick up the Black Studies major and took Black studies 14 History of Jazz, 104 Black Marxism, 128 Black Experience in Southern California, 129 Urban Dilemma, 137E Soc Black Experience and Black studies 153 Black Pop Music. As someone who was born and raised in the Inner-city of Los Angeles (Watts ), Black studies 128 and 129 proved to be very beneficial to my understanding of the maturation of the urban ghetto as well as the origin of many of the social imbalances within the inner-city. Now in my last quarter I’m taking Black studies 1 Intro African American studies and 190 Senior Seminar, Throughout my studies at UCSB I found it very beneficial to be knowledgeable on another culture beside the U.S, and as a future Educational provider I feel that I am in a better position to connect with my students, who will be from different backgrounds and ethnicities which my Degree in Cultural Anthropology, Black Studies and Education will aid in my professional success.
It's really sad just how limited many students knowledge is of their own history. I believe that this is primarily due to the fact that our grade schools do not emphasize certain cultures in the history books and only give us a small and usually incorrect version of history, whether it is in America or global. Considering that black history is such a large part of American history, one would think it would be a larger part of history lessons in grade school. Coming into UCSB, there is so much that I did not know, almost as if I were learning someone else's history and not my own.
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