Process Paper

Before Sydney and I even began reviewing the topic for the 2016 National
History Day we already knew that we wanted to do something that would honor our
African heritage. When we found out that this years theme was Exploration, Encounter
& Exchange we were extremely excited to be given the chance to explore a part of
history that is usually neglected in our school curriculum.
For our National History Day project the internet was our lifeline. When looking
for information about Juan Gorrida there were definitely some hazy areas in information
but because we had access to multiple websites we were able to clear up any confusion
about the Conquistador. In school we were always taught to praise Christopher
Columbus as the first man to reach the Americas, but we were never taught about the
exceptional men that came before and after Columbus. Sydney and I were immediately
drawn to Gorrida because of his global travels and his history of helping conquer many
powerful lands.
We started our search on Gorrida with a very broad search of famous black
explorers. With that search we found a list of prominent explorers that neither of us had
ever heard of and that ignorance to the topic excited us and fueled us to find someone
that we felt would do a great job to represent African explorers. Our list consisted of
men by the manes of Mansa Musa, The Nino Brothers, and Estevanico. While all of
these men were excellent choices we felt that Juan Garrido was one of the most well
traveled and well cultured African explorers.
Although there were many African explorers that would be excellent contenders
for our National History Day project Sydney and I came to the conclusion that Juan
Gorrida was our favorite explorer. Juan was a man that was able to travel the world and
make a long lasting legacy that would be forever ingrained in the minds of many people.
So even though we fail to learn about Juan and his travels during school, being able to
research him for ourselves gave us what felt like a personal connection to an amazing
man.