Makayla Fails Essays (1353 words) - Americas, Racism, Free Essays

Makayla Fails Essays (1353 words) - Americas, Racism, Free Essays Makayla Fails Dr. Greg Carr Intro to African American Studies February 16, 2016 Framing Question #2: How Did Africans Preserve and Affirm Their Way of Life and Use Their Identities As a Means to Resist Enslavement? Abstract: The question that we are being asked is a powerful one. Africans were basically completely stripped of their identities when they were forced into slavery. But this question is basically saying that they were indeed not completely stripped, so what did they do to keep their identities. What did they do to keep their souls alive? What did they do to keep their stories alive? It is not easy to keep your culture, your religion and your language alive when you are continuously moving from place to place and when you are forced to adapt to different cultures, religions and languages. But despite all of the hardships and struggles, Africans did preserve and affirm their culture as a means to resist enslavement through many different ways. "Culture never dies, it's passed on; that is why it changes" (Carr). Critical Review of Scholarship: Since the beginning of this course, we have engaged in readings that hit almost every aspect of African studies. Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o happens to be one of these readings. This book talks about how the main goal of Europeans was to overpower the African culture by imprinting their culture and ways of living into the souls of the Africans. When discussing this book in class, we basically came up with the conclusion that the Europeans took everything away from the Africans. So not only did they take their freedom, but they took their languages, their memories, and their culture. So when I say the Europeans wanted to "overpower" the African culture, they wanted to completely wipe it out as if it never existed. This book helps you to realize how much the Africans value their language, memories, culture, and their identity as a whole. Another book that really helped me to understand and answer the question asked is The Coming by Daniel Black. This book follows a group of Africans from the moment they are captured in their villages to the moment they are sold in America. In this novel, Daniel Black depicts the characters' journey to the ship, journey across the Atlantic, and complete loss of self. This book was probably the most helpful with answering the framing question because it really puts you in the time and place of slavery. It is like you are actually there and you know everything that is going on. Discussion: The Africans that experienced enslavement went through too much for us to even try to imagine what it was like. As was said before, they were basically forced into a whole new world. To the white man, they were stripped of their name, culture, religion and language. This made the white man (slave owners/master) feel more than powerful. This made them feel like they had full control on the slaves' lives, which they kind of did in a sense. It was almost like they were puppet masters playing with ventriloquist dolls, only this was real life dealing with real people and real situations. In my opinion, Africans were stuck in a very tough situation, but they were smart with the way that they went about it. In order to preserve their lives, identity and their experiences, Enslaved African-Americans created sacred songs and told stories about their experiences. Since enslaved people were not allowed to formally educate themselves, which includes learning how to write down these memories of the past, oral storytelling was the only way to have a connection to Africa. Of everything that was taken and stripped, the mind was the one thing the white slave owners could not erase. As hard as they tried Africans held onto their identities, cultural traditions, and connections through verbal exchange. As was said before, these slaves were smart. They knew that nobody could tell their stories better than them. If they left it up to the white man to tell of their experiences, we might not even know of slavery or the degree of severity to which it was. It was said in the book, The Coming,

The North American and Western Larch

The North American and Western Larch The native range of the Tamarack, or Larix laricina, occupies the coldest regions of Canada and the northern-most forests of central and northeastern United States. This conifer was named tamarack  by native American Algonquians and means wood used for snowshoes but has also been called eastern tamarack, American tamarack, and hackmatack. It  has one of the widest ranges of all North American conifers. Although thought to be a cold-loving  species, tamarack  grows under extremely varied climatic conditions. It can be found in isolated pockets in West Virginia and Maryland and in disjunct areas of interior Alaska and the Yukon. It can easily survive average January cold temperatures from -65 degrees F to warm July temperatures that exceed 70 degrees F. This toleration of climate extremes explains its wide distribution. The extreme cold of northernmost strands will affect its size where it will remain a small tree, attaining a height of about 15 feet. Larix laricina,  in the pine family  Pinaceae,  is a small to medium-size  boreal  conifer that  is uniquely  deciduous where needles annually turn a beautiful yellow color and drop in autumn. The  tree  can grow to 60 feet in height on certain sites with  trunk  growth that can exceed 20 inches in diameter.  Tamarack can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions but grows most commonly, and to its maximum potential, on wet to moist organic soils of  sphagnum and woody peat. Larix laricina is very intolerant of shade but is an early pioneer tree species that invades bare wet organic soils by seeding. The tree typically appears first in swamps, bogs, and muskeg where they start the long process of forest succession.   According to  one U.S Forest Service report, the principal commercial use of tamarack in the United States is for making pulp products, especially the transparent paper in window envelopes. Because of its rot resistance, tamarack is also used for posts, poles, mine timbers, and railroad ties. The key characteristics used for the identification of tamarack: This is the only eastern conifer with deciduous needles arranged in radiating clusters.Needles are growing from blunt spurs in groups of 10 to 20.Cones are small and egg-shaped with no visible  bracts between scales.Foliage turns yellow in autumn. The Western Larch or  Larix occidentalis Western larch or Larix occidentalis is in the pine family Pinaceae  and often called western tamarack. It  is the largest of the larches and most important timber species of the genus Larix. Other common names include  hackmatack, mountain larch, and Montana larch. This conifer, when compared to Larix laricina, has a range that is much reduced to just four U.S. states and one Canadian province- Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Like the tamarack, western larch is a deciduous conifer whose needles turn yellow and drop in autumn. Unlike tamarack, western larch is very tall, being the largest of all the larches and reaching heights of over 200 feet on preferred soils. The habitat for  Larix occidentalis  is on mountain slopes and in valleys and can grow  on swampy ground. It is often seen growing with Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. The tree does not do as well as tamarack when dealing with broad changes in climatic factors as a species. The tree  grows in a relatively moist-cool climatic zone, with low temperature limiting its upper elevational range and deficient moistures its lower extremes- it is basically limited to the Pacific northwest and to the states mentioned. Western larch forests are enjoyed for their multiple resource values including timber production and aesthetic beauty. The seasonal change in hue of larchs delicate foliage from light green in the spring and summer, to gold in the fall, enhances the beauty of these mountain forests. These forests provide the ecological niches needed for a wide variety of birds and animals. Hole-nesting birds comprise about one-fourth of the bird species in these forests. According to a U.S Forest Service report, western larch timber is used extensively for lumber, fine veneer, long-straight utility poles, railroad ties, mine timbers, and pulpwood. It is also valued for its  high water-yielding forest-areas where management can influence water yield through harvest cuttings and young stand culture. The key characteristics used for the identification of western larch: A larch trees color stands out in forests- pale grass green in summer, yellow in the fall.Needles grow from blunt spurs in groups like  L. laricina  but on hairless twigs.Cones are larger than L. laricina  with visible yellowish, pointed bracts between scales.