August 25th:

The first day of Ideas of Antiquity. When I first saw the course on Blackboard, I didn’t know what to think of it. Coming into the class and being able to learn about different leadership qualities in myself through different stories is extremely interesting and fun. I feel like I have always been a leader in my own way; being shy has made it hard for me in some situations to be a leader. At the beginning of this course, I promised myself that I would be open to improving my leadership skills and participating at least twice in every class. In the beginning, we talked about different qualities that make you a leader. Many words were thrown out into the conversation such as honesty, respect, caring, motivation, strong, and many other adjectives. We then came up with this DR. BURGER KING (BDBRK). The D stands for decisions (decision making), R stands for reputation, B stands for behavior, R stands for relationships and K stands for Knowledge. For me, I believe that relationships and reputation are the two main factors of being an amazing leader. Relationships are important when you’re being a leader because developing that relationship allows the other person to feel comfortable with you. That person can trust you and take the advice that you are giving them and willing to listen. Reputation is also extremely important because it’s like the saying first impressions are the most important. I gave this example in class where I explained: There are four students in a group. Two students are competing to have the leadership role. Student A has all of these ideas but when it’s time to execute they are nowhere to be found. Student B also has many ideas and is proposing ways in which these ideas will become reality. They are executing their ideas for the whole group. Who are you going to trust? Student A or Student B? I would choose Student B, because they are proving to the group that they are not just all talk.

After this discussion, we separated into breakout groups and read Subliminal by Kara Ireland. A quick summary of the text was two black boys were playing in the yard and they were pretending to play cops and robbers. One of the boys was being the police officer holding the other black boy down while he screamed saying let him go. The older women sat there and watched. She decided that it would be better for her to not tell them what they were doing was wrong. My breakout room answered question 7. We had a conversation about what we can do as leaders in our community. I think it’s important especially in this day and age to hold people accountable for their actions because sitting back does not solve anything. Problems continue to get worse, and no solutions are being made. I see where the old woman was coming from; she didn’t want to spoil their childhood and tell them at a young age what they were doing. To be honest, I feel like it’s important to talk about what’s going on in the world right now especially being black. You want your children to be as safe as possible, and not explaining to them right from wrong is putting them as a disservice.

August 26th:

We had an assignment due for this class; Chapter 1. We were able to discuss how looking at a portrait can help you see different traits within yourself. We were asked to look up “portrait” in google docs and answer a series of questions. I chose this image.

(Step 1) The first question was what do I notice about this painting? I said:

The color of her eyes
The vibrant green turban and how it stands out against the black background.
Her gaze into the camera
Her posture and how her head is facing towards the camera but her body is positioned at an angle facing sideways.
The dirt on her turban
Her rich skin tone in contrast with the turban
Her nose ring
The darkness of the background which helps her stand out a lot more in the portrait
The fact that her hair is basically almost all covered up

(Step 2) The next question that was asked was; What impression do you get from the character? (The Big Five- Open, Conscientious, Extroverted, Agreeable, Neurotic, Humorous, Trustworthy?) I said:

The girl in this portrait seems introverted but ready to get the job done. They are doing work behind the scenes without getting all of the praise others would want. This person looks inviting differently. She is still ready to conquer the world. At first to you, it may seem that she isn’t welcoming but once you get to know her you will absolutely fall in love with their personality and how hard they work. This person is filled with determination. They are ready to take on the world and all of its difficulties. As a person of color, it looks like this person has gone through a lot of hardships. It looks like their family has gone through it all. This person looks extremely trustful and they will keep your best interest at heart. They make sure the people around them that they love and care about are okay. Although the face makes them look cold, you can see the love in their eyes. They are a very caring person even if it feels like they don’t come off to be.

(Step 3) What are the person’s motives? What do they want to accomplish in life?

I feel as if this person has extremely big goals for themself. They want to be able to provide for their family and friends more than they could for her. She also gives off the type of energy where she is interested in is racial injustice and world peace. She wants everyone in the world to be able to respect and love anyone no matter what race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and everything in between. She looks as if she has been through a lot and a lot of these difficulties stem from her race or religion. And I don’t mean to typecast but this is what I see when I look at her. She looks like someone who has overcome all of this though and is ready to show how strong she is. As for when she is older, she seems like a strong activist for what she believes in and she won’t back down until her point has gotten across to whomever she is trying to explain it to.

(Step 4) What would I recruit them for?

I would recruit her to be a socialist or an activist speaker. She seems like a person who is very passionate about what they are interested in. She can talk to people with different opinions. She can educate others on a wide range of topics that they think they know about. I think some of the main problems she would face is her face and religion. There are so many ignorant people in today’s world who wouldn’t trust what she is going to say but her determination and drive will push her to success.

(Step 5) Look past my skin color, and discover what’s underneath. The real me.

It was interesting that this was the portrait that was chosen to talk about in class because there were many different opinions and it’s interesting to see how so many different people can look at the same picture and have a completely different perspective. It’s also interesting to see how the way you perceive this painting, can also be the same way you look at yourself.

September 1st:

Chapter 2 was due this class, and I was a little more comfortable with completing the chapters and fully understanding what was asked of me. Some of the key terms from this chapter were,

Menos: mental activation
Kelos: hearings about you (good or bad)
Mentor: helps forge social ties
Xenia: hospitality
Mythos: greek public speech (myth or story)
Aidõs: sense of shame in a good way

I was asked to share about someone I have observed, whether it be an artist or writer. I chose to write about Whoopi Goldberg.

Whoopi Goldberg wrote a series of books called the Sugar Plum Ballerinas. When I was younger, I loved the main character. Now I realized the reason that I was so attached to her character and the series. Whoopi allowed black ballerinas to see themselves as a leader and not just a background figure. Aside from the book, Whoopi Goldberg is a huge activist for black rights. On The View, Whoopi Goldberg is the only black host, and on the show, she takes on a leadership role in making sure that she brings awareness to important topics that need to be discussed and not pushed under the rug. She does the same thing in her book series. She talks about single-parent households, dealing with racial acceptance, and being taken seriously as a black artist.

Another question that was asked was: What does Athena do to bring out the best in (or to mentor) Telemachus?

Uplifts him and talks about very highly
She holds him accountable of his actions
She helps give him confidence to go against suitors to find his family
Helps put a drive and some sort of determination
She gets the men and supplies for him
Tells him to grow up and go for what he really wants

Passage One: 1.88–92: MAIN POINTS

Meet community needs
Calling out bad behavior on your team
Communicating intentions (allies vs. enemies)
Good reputation/glory death
Re-newing father ties

Passage Two: 1.113–143 MAIN POINTS

Plotting in private
Mentorship is private and intimate
Eager to receive advice
Activate someone or activate potential

Passage Three: 1.252–305 MAIN POINTS

Visibly disappointment because he doubts himself
Sense of shame in a good way to activate
Model proper behaviors
Using storytelling
Sense of possibility

Passage Three stuck out to me, especially the point about sensing shame. I pointed out in class that mentorship is a two-way street. A mentor can only push you so far, you need to take criticism to push you. It’s not meant to make you feel bad about yourself, but it helps push you closer to your goal. A lot of people look at shame as being a bad thing, but in my eyes shame drives you to work harder and be able to work to your fullest potential.

Passage Four: 1.346–359 MAIN POINTS

Being fully aware of someone’s faculty
Stepping up and making a declaration of who you are
Public speech to carve identity

Passage Five: 2.260–295

Renew and establish ties with xenia
Works to secure divine favor to secure reverence
Larger than yourself
Mentor-Integrating figure, “builds a script for them”
“Build a team for you” to help you develop yourself

Passage Six: 3.14–30

Having a trusted companion or advisor

Closing off this first week of classes, it really helped me see all of the different aspects that go into being a leader. Leadership comes with more than just being able to tell someone what to do and have them listen. It’s about your own morals, and also how willing the other person is to also be a leader for themself.