Journal #6 for Ideas in Antiquity

By: Rikita Spencer

October 1, 2020 2:37pm

We opened up today’s class with Dr. Sandridge talking about Halloween costumes. I have never really been an adamant halloween celebrater. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a Christian household. My grandmother used to tell us it was a demonic holiday where evil spirits and demons come out and corrupt people. On Halloween, we use to dress up, but instead of going door to door, we went to Church and attended a “fall festival”. Basically in the church recreational center, there was like a circle of events and games. Like one station would be horseshoe throwing, next station would be bob for the apple. If you won the station, they give you a handful of candy. So all night all the children would go around the stations getting candy. That was my halloween lol. We ended up leaving that particular church because the preacher died and it was overtaken by money hungry evangelists. At that point I was probably 11. Any other halloweens after that, I either was invited to a party or stayed at home. So when Dr. S asked this question, I couldn’t particularly relate. Even at the church festivals, I didn’t really dress up. Just got my face painted on or something like that. I remember in preschool we were able to come dresses up. I don’t remember what I dressed up as, but I remember showing up and one of my classmates was dressed as tinker-bell and I was so jealous. Her costume was so pretty. To this day, I have never been so envious in my life.

October 1, 2020 3:42pm

Most of the class period, we talked about different motivations. Initially, when I read all nine motivations, I did not relate to any of them. They all seemed to specific and not broad enough. I started thinking what makes me motivated to do something? Is rest an option? I am motivated to get school work done because I want to rest. I don’t want to think about it, so I do it. That wasn’t an option lol. I guess if I absolutely had to relate to two, it would the motivation of love of design, and the motivation of love of humanity. I love design. Not so much in a group setting, but on an individual basis. I had never had my own room in my entire life until I was 18. We moved into a new house January of this year, and I finally got my own room. I had always had visions, passions, and motivations for decorating my own room, and now here was finally chance. I hit the ground running because I was deeply motivated. This was finally my time to express myself through my space. I as a human showed leadership took a intricate enjoyment in drawing up plans/designs and a full thought about vision. I was able figure out a budget to adhere to my desires whilst not breaking the bank. I as a young black woman, enjoy intellectual challenges that involve lots. of options and components, and offer the necessity to be creative in life and space. Although, I don’t particularily enjoy playing game or explaining them. Usually, people have to explain games to me. When trying to figure out my major, I considered architecture, but it was too much math, I wouldn’t be graduating with my class, and I could picture myself getting bored with it. I did dedicate a lot of time, energy, money so I consider others recommendations and visions, but I’m stubborn and committed to what I want in My space that I’ve waited for for so long. Because I don’t follow others, it tends to weed out the necessary people I don’t need in my life. As for love of humanity, ever since I was in middle school, I have genuinely thought that we are all on this world to help each other out. No matter if your a barber, doctor, sanitation worker, or lawyer, we are helping our fellow humans out in some way. I display the love of humanity through my standard and indiscriminate desire for everyone to be well off. I enjoy seeing other people win. I don’t like to see people in struggle. I am not influenced to see others winning by anything besides my conscious and morals. I want to see people in improve in their careers, health (mentally and physically), and comfortability with themselves. This desire, for me, definitely is rooted in my faith. I have a deep connection with my faith in God and spirituality and I think that shows in how I walk throughout the world. I don’t necessarily see an extension of myself in others, I see who they could ultimately become. Anyway, at the end of class, Dr. S talked about our final project, and put us in our final project groups. I’m grouped with Ernestasia and Nyara. I already know Nyara because we have almost every class together, so we keep each other in check. I have one other class with Ernestasia and I like how she is very outspoken and knows who she is. She seems like a good leader to me. We are thinking about our focal point of the project being a poem, but nothing is concrete yet.

October 5, 2020 9:54pm

I just got done reading the assigned text for this week. Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart. Wow, just wow. I really enjoyed it. I would want to see it performed in person. I definitely felt for Ned Weeks because I could understand his passion and approach completely. I didn’t like how everyone turned against him. Lol the more I talk about this, the more I want to see this performed live in front of my face!! Would definitely recommend to a friend. Very important regarding life and human decency, politics, love, and of course a tad bit of drama cause I am a drama queen.

October 6, 2020 5:06pm

At the beginning of today’s class we were talking about politics. I’ve never really been into politics. I’m not even going to blame it on my age, because in high school their were young democrats and republicans clubs’. Even in elementary school, a mock election was held during the 2012 election. I voted for Obama merely because he looked like me. Like Ernestasia said during class, both sides in this current 2020 president election are pretty shady. Biden and Harris have done and said shady/immoral things in the past, and of course we’ve seen the type of President Trump is by living under his presidency for the past long, tumultuous, four years. I knew Trump was a degenerate when he said their were good people on both sides during the Charlottesville riots a couple of years ago. So in short he was saying that white supremacists are good people and what they were doing (promoting racism and the idea of minorities being inferior) whilst killing people by running them over with their pickup trucks, was good behavior. Even during the debate, he was so timid and not explicit about condeming white supremacy. It’s because he believes in them and their ignorant, backwoods way of thinking. Of course, there is so much more on the list of Trump, but that is something that is always prominent in my mind when I think of him. Yeah this man has to go. Corruption is all throughout government. It is almost to the point where they do not even hide it. People love to associate Bill Clinton with the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the sad thing is him and so many other people in Government have done much worse. No one talks about how he was best-friends with the now deceased, billionaire human trafficker and pedophile, Jeffery Epstein. If you do a simple Google search, you will see pictures of Bill Clinton and him in very disgusting, pictures with underage girls. This is all in plain sight!! Think about the things other politicians do and say in the dark! Democracy in America is dying a slow death and its at the hands of these dirty, politicians. Hopefully, by 2050 or sooner, government will be reformed. Supposedly by then, most of America’s population will be made of multi and biracial people. White people will the minority, supposedly. I say I’m not into politics, but look at me typing ferociously about a topic I’m supposedly not into (laughing emoji).

October 7, 2020 2:50pm

I personally do not care how people see or think about me. I think to figure out how people see us is to simply ask them. Lol I don’t know. Communication is my answer to almost everything. I think the behaviors or traits of observation (observing), and intuition are apart of people who are good at recognizing how other people see them. I do personally think I have a better sense of right and wrong than those around me. I do, but I need to do a better job of standing up for those around me. I am very, very, very critical of others. Since this book follows the themes of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel like their is a huge problem in the black community with our LGBTQ+ counterparts. My father, to me, is sorta homphobic. I say sorta because he always brings up he had a gay friend growing up, but then will talk about the bible and how it’s wrong and they shouldn’t be getting “special treatment”. *Rolls eyes very intently.* So when I spoke up about the problem, correcting him, promoting equality and love for everyone, it was not received well. I do not think my speech changed anything simply because ignorance and a lot of southern people (and southern blacks in particular) are stuck in their ways. And it’s sad because “their ways” are white-washed and corrupt.