Hello Brothers and congratulations on becoming apart of the Bonner Brotherhood! My name is Gregory Barber Jr., a junior psychology major from Atlanta, Georgia and I have the opportunity to serve as Junior Bonner Intern and Co-Freshman Class Coordinator. At Morehouse College, I am apart of the Student Government Association Student Advisory Board for the Counseling Resource Center, Vice President of the Morehouse Psychological Association and a McNair Scholar. Through the Bonner Program, I also serve on the Bonner Leadership Team and a Bonner Advisory Board Member.
After Morehouse College, I plan on enrolling into a doctoral psychology program focusing on community psychology. After completion, I will become a professor, researcher and activist focusing on the issue of mass incarceration, traumatic and stressful events among adolescents and adults and positive coping mechanisms.
I hope to make your transition into college as fluid and as fun as possible with Bonner being a foundation. I hope to learn so much about you brothers throughout these next few weeks, but until then I want to leave you with a quote my mother always told me: "Son, if your dreams do not scare you, then obviously your dreams are not big enough!"
Please look below for your first question:
After Morehouse College, I plan on enrolling into a doctoral psychology program focusing on community psychology. After completion, I will become a professor, researcher and activist focusing on the issue of mass incarceration, traumatic and stressful events among adolescents and adults and positive coping mechanisms.
I hope to make your transition into college as fluid and as fun as possible with Bonner being a foundation. I hope to learn so much about you brothers throughout these next few weeks, but until then I want to leave you with a quote my mother always told me: "Son, if your dreams do not scare you, then obviously your dreams are not big enough!"
Please look below for your first question:
Question #1:
The Bonner Foundation has six common commitments: community building, civic engagement, diversity, international perspective, social justice and spirtual exploration. Which common commitment do you feel is most important?
Please respond to the question in the "comments" section.
Hello everyone! My name is William James and I’m here to provide my response!
ReplyDeleteBefore I answer however, I will state the pursuits I support in regards to the improvement of aspects of the United States (such as its society, economy, and environment); I believe the answer may depend on the interests of the responder.
As an individual that suffers from multiple social constructs in the U.S., I am passionate about in the following pursuits…they are general, and are not expected to change…
- The creation of self-esteem and self-freedom inducing social expectations for the male and female sex (through discussions on its possible benefits to individuals)
- The implementation of through education curriculums focusing on the moral and social development within American public schools (through discussions on its possible benefits to individuals)
- The social advancement and equalization of Americans (of Native, African, Latin, Mexican, and Asian descent)
- The social advancement and equalization of American women and women in the rest of the world
- The social advancement and equalization of homosexual and bisexual American men and women (and those of other underrepresented sexualities (pansexuality, asexuality))
- The critique and reorganization of federal and state governmental administration within the U.S.
- The establishment of social norms that promote a style of guardianship that emphasizes the development of self-love within children
- The economic security of all Americans
- The stabilization of the destruction of the world’s lands and waters and the development of a plan to, if possible, recreate destroyed lands and waters
*I am focusing on pursuits related to the improvement of the state of the U.S. because I believe the U.S. must change itself before it can change the rest of the world, for the better (pursuits regarding the environment are excluded)
I would like to say that all of Bonner’s commitments are important but since I believe that the pursuits I’ve listed will create long-term social equality and acceptance, things individuals need to be happy about themselves, I will say that social justice is most important, because social justice for marginalized social groups means establishing social norms that will provide them with acceptance and love, which are essential to bring peace to United States, if people want peace. If the people in the U.S. who are not loved and accepted become loved and accepted, they will be happy and that will bring peace. True social justice leads to the prevention of the cause of the social injustice, which requires a change in society. Social justice is most important.
Sorry if I was too thorough and please let me know if I answered it correctly!
See you guys next time!
Hello, my name is Leron Julian,
ReplyDeleteEach of the six common commitments that make up the Bonner Foundation are important. However, the common commitment of the Bonner Foundation that I feel is the most important is spiritual exploration. 84 percent of the world’s population is religiously affiliated, however not under the same religion or belief. I myself am a Seventh - day Adventist, and I personally respect individual’s religious and non-religious beliefs. I believe that it is essential to explore the spiritual aspects of other religions to break a barrier between individuals. In an organization such as the Bonner Foundation where we interact with others, it allows us to harness and explore our own personal beliefs and the beliefs of others as well. Establishing a common knowledge of the beliefs of others builds on the other five common commitments of the Bonner Foundation because religion and spirituality are at the basis of all the other five common commitments. Religion can bring people together, separate them, cause wars, and resolve wars, and to me spiritual exploration is the most important common commitment because it spreads a mutual understanding of religion among everyone. Whether one respects the spiritual beliefs of these religions is a personal preference. Spiritual exploration is the most important common commitment of the Bonner Foundation.
Hello, my name is Isaiah Hudson,
ReplyDeleteWow, how can I follow those two great responses but in my opinion out of the six common commitments that make up the Bonner Foundation, spiritual exploration is the most important. I am a christian and everything that I am and going to become stems from my faith base. It goes for the same with community building, civic engagement, diversity, international perspective, and social justice. Without a spiritual exploration community building would not happen because the community would depend on something like a church or something other than them to uplift itself. Civic engagement would not happen without a spiritual exploration because we would need something greater than us to calm the human side (the flesh) that can control us through our physical actions. Spiritual exploration is also ever present in international perspective because it allows us to look at situations and problems in different views than what we are commonly use to. Diversity and social issue blend with the points I had made with the other common commitments but as we see spiritual exploration is the most important of the Bonner Foundation.
Isaiah,
DeleteThanks for participating in the blog and responding as deeply as you did. As I discussed in Leron post, the Bonner office truly operates out of an spiritual bases and seek to do the best of religion. I agree with you on your statement that everything we become as individuals and as Bonner program will only be with a strong foundation with the higher power Therefore, I feel coming in to the Bonner program you should work with Leron with getting the church and community involved through the program.
Hello, im Conward Walters,
ReplyDeleteI feel as if diversity would be the most important common commitment. Having a diversified group brings more creative ideas to the table. Ideas, that doesn't just benefit us, but our community as well.
Cj,
DeleteThanks for responding to the blog and as deeply as you did. The Bonner program believes in having a diverse group in everything we do. We feel that it takes strong collectives to continue moving the program forward and becoming the program we know we can be. I strongly encourage you to get involved with myself and Greg to discuss some ideas you have in mind for the program moving forward.
As you are all aware, all six of the Bonner Foundation Common Commitments are very important and are the key to forging a well rounded Man of Character.However, if I had to choose one common commitment that was most important, I would have to select Spiritual Exploration. As a Christian I find that life's challenges are much easier to handle and control with God on yourside. Finding a strong spiritual base, whether that be as a Christian, Buddist, or otherwise, is the key to addressing the five remaining common commitments. For those of us Men of Morehouse who are seeking to influence lives and change current societal norms, having a strong spiritual foundation can prove to be your best arsenal. One of the most well recited bible verses is found in Philippians 4:13 and it states " I Can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And even the most would say it's repetitive and tedious its words are true and mighty. So I look forward to meeting my fellow Morehouse and Bonner Brothers come August.
ReplyDeleteQuinton,
DeleteThanks for responding to the blog and responding as deeply as you did. I agree that commitment is very important for everything we stand for in the Bonner Program. Not only in the program but in the classroom, serving, and in life. If we are consistent with ensuring that we are fulfilling the purpose and goal of our lives and the mission of the program we will accomplish all the things we want to do. I strongly encourage you really build on this Common Commitment, and I have no doubt that you will do well in the program and during your time here at Morehouse.
Hello, my name is Jaylen Ambler,
ReplyDeleteEach of the Six Common Commitments is important but I believe the most important is civic engagement. Civic engagement refers to the ways in which citizens participate in the life of a community in order to improve conditions for others or to help shape the community's future. Civic engagement to me means how that community can help itself to be better. This commitment required the most work out of them all because it requires actual work. Getting people to work for a common goal has always been the hardest thing in history but with civic engagement people don't even have to know they are working together. Different groups of people could be working to better the community and not realize or even recognize each other are doing it. The community is the most important thing because it effects everyone so civic does as well.
Jaylen,
DeleteThanks for responding to the blog and responding as deeply as you did. I like how you expounded on why you feel that civic engagement is important, and I agree with you. For a long time the community that surrounds Morehouse and AUC as been separated and not really supporting each other. Though the community is literally feet away from each other there is nothing implemented to ensure a great relationship between the two. I strongly encourage you to get involved with our community service site MCRRI, thats dealing with making change to the community and Morehouse.
Hello, I'm Cliff Davis
ReplyDeleteOf the six Common Commitments I believe diversity is the most important. Why? To understand the problems that others might have and to be efficient at your job requires you to take in new ideas and sometimes new beliefs.
Thanks Clifton for responding to the blog and sharing what you feel is important to you. The Bonner program is filled many different majors, religions, backgrounds, and passions. However, despite those different things we all share one common goal and thats supporting and serving others. So I feel that because you are passionate about the diversity of the community and in all things you should have no problems adjusting into the program and help solve many issues we are trying to solve everyday.
DeleteHello I'm David Laster IV,
ReplyDeleteI feel as though community building is the most important because of the challenges the African American community is faced with today. There are not enough leaders to guide our people to the right path of taking action for change. Our community rages on about how others treat us but when we harm ourselves everyone is quite. The lack of courage in a community will drain the life out of it slowly but surely. And with no one there to build it up a community will die out and forever be forgotten. This is why social reforms need to be created and put into effect to change the way our community thinks and acts and the way society views us. If we build something positive we change the world, past, and future. Showing a love for you community strengthens the youth, the race and even ones self. Nothing but power comes from community building and bounds that shall never be broken.
Thanks David for responding to the blog and responding so deeply as you did. As expressed to many others the Bonner office is moving in a direction to reconnect the community we serve with Morehouse and the AUC. For many years now the entire West End community and AUC have shared the same space but have failed to implement a way to join the two together. However, this pass year I have been apart of MCCRI, which is a community site I recommend for you since you are passion about the community building. This past year we have been striving to tackle this problem and learn how we can strive to join the two together. I hope that has you start to your journey through the Bonner program you can start to express some of your ideas about how we can solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteSocial Justice is the most important commitment to me. One definition of social justice is: justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In the United States there is a lack of justice when it comes to distribution of wealth, opportunity, and privileges and the lack of justice in those areas is often what causes turmoil within our society. If we as a country take more time to work on Social Justice then quite a bit of the turmoil within the United States could be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteHello Bonner Brothers Glass and Barber,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Khalil Gibran King. I would like to apologize for such late posts, I've had a hectic summer.
The Bonner Foundation common commitment that I find most important is community building. I believe this commitment to be of critical important. My reasoning behind this rationale, is that we, as humans, are social creatures. Humankind's survival and future has always been dependent on always having some form of social interaction with others, whether it be something as simple as exchanging greetings, or a more complex act such as pursuing a relationship with someone else. While it is true that humans can survive without having such interactions and feign ignorance, they will go on to live a diminished existence; an existence void of self-advancement and self-development. I personally believe that by establishing and founding communities, that we can generate a contagious atmosphere of progression and advancement, growth and development, compassion and togetherness. As individuals we can achieve greatness, but as a community, we can achieve excellency.
Hello, my name is Tyler Wynne,
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that all of those six common commitments are very important, especially in our society today. But, the one that is the most important and I believe connects the other five is community building. Community building is the root to a healthy and sustainable community and person. You often hear the term “it takes a village to raise a child”, and that is absolutely true. When there is a strong community behind person, everything else that follows will fall right in place. When you have strong community, everyone does their civic duty to help that community. When you have diversity in the community, you inquire many perspectives even international ones. Also when everyone in the community shares the same common values, social justice is usually done about fairly.