Fruit for Thought: the Intersection of Education, Culture, and Performance

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 31st, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ Are Athletics Facilities a Joke? Nobody's laughing, except the schools  who  come to Howard for competition. It's not the level of competition, however, the Howard Athletic Facilities are not what one would expect of a school such as Howard.    THE MEAC The face of the MEAC is changing and schools have taken necessary steps to ensure that their athletes have state-of-the-art facilities. Ten schools participate in the MEAC, many of which have recently finished or are in the beginning sta...

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 24th, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ The More You Know I don't mean to disappoint, but today there will be no opinions. I am not going to give you a reason to go hmmm, inspire education minds to question all the answers or serve food for thought because it's stale. Besides I am tired.  I am tired of trying to earn an A to maintain a high GPA because when it's all said and done grades don't matter. It's all a front. I feel bulimic: ingesting all this information just to regurgitate it on a test.  If I were digesting half this stuff, ...

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 17th, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ It’s All for the Love of the Video Game If it was just for one Saturday, on October 11.  The depot for Amtrak, MARC and Acela was given a new name: Union "Play"Station. DC was the thirteenth stop on the EA Sports 32 city Madden Challenge Tour and the best competitors from the around the country gathered in DC to "Prove they're a Playmaker." Sponsors EA Sports, G4TV and Target began this challenge on August 23 in Chicago and in four months they will travel the country giving 32 regional winners a ...

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 17th, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ Knuckle Up The world is bananaz.  Curious George is running loose in the White House with his finger his mouth getting us in trouble (courtesy of Dr. Carr), Kobe's personal issues going public are making society question the sanctity of marriage and the quality of the black athlete and let's not forget last Saturday. There had to be something in the air. Two fights broke out within the span of a couple of hours. First, FAMU throws a temper tantrum in our locker room after their poor Homecoming perform...

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 17th, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ Winning, Nothing Else Matters Every gamer who competed in the Madden Challenge was a loser. It doesn't matter if you were perfect through division play and made it to the playoffs. You could have went to the final four and played for the championship game.  The goal, however, was to win and if that goal wasn't achieved, you were a failure. The one who went a perfect 9-0, who silently but effectively handled his competitors, was Mukala "Muk" Sikyala. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a U.S. ...

Before my current writing life, there was  The Hilltop ,  Howard University’s and the Nation’s Oldest Black Collegiate Newspaper, where many of the questions and themes I still explore first found their voice. What follows are my early published works, preserved in their original form. From The Hilltop Archives Originally published in   The Hilltop , Howard University — October 10th, 2003 __________________________________________________________________________________ Athletes and Pre-Game Rituals Athletics is a practice in polytheism. Sports are religion. The court, the field, the track, they are all holy grounds upon which only a chosen few may dwell. Their prayer to the God of Victory sometimes goes unanswered; but despite an absence of grace, their faith endures. Taking nothing away from the institutions of established religions, athletes practice a different type of sacrament. Dr. Greg Carr of the African American Studies Department gave an historical definition of...