Question:
- For the first prompt, are there any parameters for what we can say we learned through writing? Does it have to be something we learned about writing itself or can it be anything?
- How long should our essays be?
Month: October 2023 Page 5 of 11
I have a couple questions about the midterm portfolio. Do we have to write the two essays on two separate documents, or can we squish it all into one document? Also, how would we separate the two essays if it is all in one document? My last question is if we have to do in-text citations if we’re just quoting ourselves.
Some of you have already been posting your photo from Thursday’s trip–Great! I went ahead and added it to the assignment for Tuesday, which means you have 2 posts to do for class that day. It doesn’t have to be a long post. Just capture your main take-aways and we’ll discuss in class. **NOTE: please categorize your trip post under “experiential reflections”.
About the planned museum: this article is a good update about what is going on, though I wonder what is happening now, a year later. Also, here is the website kept up by the organization defending the site.
I took this picture in front of the first monument we saw when we arrived at the burial ground. These flowers were left on a rock that faces a tree where historians think hangings took place. There is no way to know the number of people who were killed there and how many were buried just feet away, but it is still extremely important to show that they have not been forgotten. Seeing the flowers placed there reminded me of how it is common to leave flowers at headstones, but unfortunately, there are no gravestones or markers for the people buried at the site. I think whoever left the flowers meant to honor those who have passed and show that they are still being remembered. This stood out to me because the people buried at the site were forgotten at one point, but that is changing. 
My questions about the midterm portfolio are:
- How long should the two reflective essays be?
- How should we “quote ourselves”? Or should be add a quote from our writing and say how we would change it?
This picture was taken right next to the new monument that had been built by Richmond residents. In the middle of the image there is a small blue plaque that reads “Sacred Forest.” I thought this was a beautiful way to honor those whose lives had been lost at the jail. Obviously the trees are very young so they were planted recently, but I thought it was a beautiful symbol of bringing life back into a place where such dark things occurred. Trees that still stand were probably there when all of the prisoners were buried, so I found it symbolic that new trees and new memories would be made in this space, and people can honor those who lost their lives.
One question I have about our Midterm Portfolio essay is how much summary we should have. For prompt two, should we recount a summary of the whole story we are discussing, or should we just talk about certain points that are the most important to our essay?
This picture is of a mural that was painted near the burial site we visited. It was located close to the street, along the wall where the signs displaying the numbers you could call to hear about Gabriel were located. The mural seems to be sending an inspiring message about rising up from hate and oppression, but the thing that stood out to me wasn’t the message of the mural, but the message sent by the fact that it was defaced. The disregard and irreverence with which this mural was treated is really sad to me. And this same treatment is repeated throughout the site, with trash and litter scattered everywhere and telephone poles and lights standing right in the middle of the burial grounds. There seems to be a general lack of care given to the site. I know that there are ongoing efforts to restore and preserve the burial ground, but they seem to have an uphill battle ahead of them. I can only hope that in the future there are more resources given to those who want to protect and preserve such an important historical site, and those resources allow this important part of Richmond’s history the respect and reverence it deserves.
Today we went on our class field trip to Lumpkin’s slave jail and slave burial grounds.
After leaving campus we wrote a note card discussing what we were expecting to see on this trip, which functioned as our prep note. As we arrived, we noticed that the burial grounds were location of the burial grounds and slave jail was odd, that it was right next to multiple parking lots, a highway and it overall just seemed like an odd location.
Professor Dolson told us to take a picture of at least one thing that we wanted to spend more time on or think about more in the future. We split up in two groups of 6, and one went towards the burial grounds while the other observed and read information about Lumpkin’s jail.
We went under an underpass to get to the burial grounds, and we read a sign saying that general Gabriel had been executed in this location. The burial ground was beautiful, but it was disappointing to see that there had been electric poles on the burial grounds, and then Prof said that at one point this area had been a parking lot and had development on it. That was not changed until 2004.
I called and listened to all the numbers, and if you still want to go back and do the same the number is 804-277-8116 and then type in 201#, 202#, 203#, 204#. They discussed the life of general Gabriel, and how he led a protest against slavery and was later executed, as well as 25 other people who were involved. There was also general advice on how to live your life, listen to your ancestors, not give up, etc.
Prof said that one of the trees we saw today was also a tree that a mass amount of hangings were done, but we were unsure which tree. While looking at Lumpkin’s slave jail, I was impressed that the jail was converted into a school so quickly after the civil war.
By the parking lot we were in, there was a white house owned by an African-American women, and Kaylee made the comment of how disappointing it was to see how it was just placed in the middle of a parking lot, barely being held up by weak pieces of wood, and how it seemed like it was not cared for in any way.
As we left, professor Dolson gave us our note cards back and then we wrote how about what we had seen. The bus also would not turn on.
I was struck by the state of disrepair of the memorial site that Free Egunfemi Bandura created. I know they just had a Gabriel celebration on Oct.10, and I wonder if they met near these signs? Seems like they would have done something to restore it. Still, I love what Free did in recalling and drawing messages of hope from the story of Brother General Gabriel.