On October 20th, I attended the African American Film Festival screening of the film Kunta

Kinte Island. The event started at 6PM with a screening of the movie Kunta Kinte Island
followed by a question and answer with the director of the film. I attended the event with Scott
Bader and Vicky Stice. The event lasted about 2 hours.

Kunta Kinte Island is a documentary that tells the story behind the influential figure, Kunta
Kinte, and his journey through. Through the movie, I learned many things about Kunta Kinte and
the legacy he left. The book Roots was loosely based of Kunta Kinte's story. In Kunta Kinte
Island, the director explains the correlation between real life events and characters, and the
success of Roots. Additionally, Kunta Kinte Island traces Kunta Kinte's heritage to his modern
day kin. Lastly, the documentary shows the island where Kunta Kinte was kept as a slave, which
is now known as Kunta Kinte Island in honor of his legacy.

Kunta Kinte island really helped me learn more about African American culture. The question
and answer session after the movie gave me a chance to hear some of my peers reflect on the
movie and how it applies to our modern day lives. This event helped bring home the lessons
we're learning about in M-100 about acceptance and appreciation. Diversity is something that
should always be respected and celebrated in our community. Whether in class, at work, or in the
community, we all need to be aware of others' backgrounds and their own heritage.

On Monday, November 10th, I attended the Native American Culture Night in Talley Student
Union. The Event Started at 7Pm and lasted about an hour. I attended this Event with Adam
Knipher and Nathan Finger. The particular event we attended focused on Native American
gaming and it's growth over years.
At Native American Culture Night I, along with my SNG peers, learned about Native
Americna reservations and games that Native American tribes used to generate money to sustain
themselves. The Native American people of our land have been treated poorly for centuries.
Many can recall events like the Trail of Tears. However, many Americans don't know that the
Native American people are still being treated poorly even in recent years. We learned about the
poor living conditions and hardships the Indian people experienced. Additionally, we were taught
of how Native American Casinos came to be and also how they helped the Indian people. Indians
started hosting Bingo nights that offered prize money to the winners. The Bingo nights then
became wildly successful. The Native American tribes were able to earn money to give back into
their dilapidated communities. Eventually, many Native American tribes expanded to offer other
games and even build casinos. Through this remarkable journey, the Native Americans have seen
much opposition and oppression in their journey in gaming. Luckily, the people have fought
through the persecution and have become very successful with their gaming efforts.
After attending this event, I understood more the trouble that Native Americans face every
day. The Indian people of our great nation are often overlooked and discounted for the events
they've overcome. It is important that we recognize and celebrate Native Americans and their
heritage. The great thing about the USA is that everyone comes from a different background. We
should celebrate our differences and share with each other about our heritage.

Being in my Student Network Group has helped challenge me to be a more accepting person.
I was homeschooled growing up and didn't get a chance to experience different culture and belief
systems. Now that I'm in college at North Carolina State University, I'm challenged to not only
learn about different types of people, but also interact and grow with them. As I've been going
through this experience, I've learned many things about myself. The main thing I've learned is
that I need to make a better effort at understanding other people's struggles. I've always had a
mentality that anything I don't agree with is wrong. Such a philosophy as that is unacceptable and
won't be tolerated in the world. The old ways of fear and hate are no longer acceptable in our
culture. Diversity is now recognized not only in the community but also in the workplace.
Without a firm understanding and belief of diversity in the workplace, no one will succeed. I
believe diversity means being aware of others. If we can't be aware of who we are with, how can
we possible progress as society?

I'm thankful that M 100 puts such an emphasis on Diversity. Some may see it as a novelty or
luxury. The reality is that diversity is a major component to a successful work environment. My
experiences both in class and at SNG events have helped reinforce this truth . I truly hope my
peers have experienced the same lessons I've learned this semester.