Tyronn Lue and the Leopards

 I was born in a hospital but I take pride in telling everyone I encounter that I was born under a banana tree due to abject penury! My father was a World War 2 veteran who worked with the Customs Department in Cameroon (West Central Africa). He was a self-made man with a second grade education but would go to the bank and conduct his financial transactions with help from nobody; filling out forms and making deposits or withdrawals as the case may be. He would work from dawn to dusk on his garden and rental properties during his free time. The phrase "Dawn to Dusk" is not anathema to Africa in the 1980's. The military would seize power (Coups d'Etats) in some African countries and junta spokesmen would impose "dawn to dusk" curfews while suspending constitutions and disbanding national assemblies (Lol). As age took its toll on my dad, he would sometimes stand up with difficulties and scream due to back pains. Yes he had strong work ethics. He imparted some lessons/wisdoms in me one of which goes: "Sometimes you have to poop, sit on it, cover it and look at people with a smile as if nothing has happened but you have pooped". The moral here is one of not being loquacious but intuitive, reserved, knowing when to tell a lie or the truth to save your skin. In fact being a chameleon. I was not strongly built like some athletes but my father also advised me to desist from ever throwing the first punch in a situation for it might land on a dead man walking. Once he receives the punch, comes crashing down to his death, one will be faulted for having killed meanwhile the guy was a dead man walking! The comedian Tracy Morgan re-echoed a similar message during an interview stating "It is good to reason with your brains rather than with guns and fists". Again as kids we were even encouraged to always sell COCKS (roosters) and never the hens. Why? Hens were natural incubators that would likely lay eggs and hatch chicks thus bringing in more money! My father preached love for kids and had 16 of them with two wives. He would not put out tenants who owed him back rents and had children. He would spare teenagers who picked his fruits from mango and other trees. One of our neighbors-Mr. Peter was childless. When kids trespassed on his property or picked his fruits, he would chase after them with pebbles to the dismay of my father. 

I did not turn out to be a Mr. Peter as the kids I served in Brooklyn were treated like my biological children and it was a blessing to mentor and see them grow up. I learnt a lot from them as they would beckon their rowdy friends to 'show some love to Mr. Wewe' when they were acting up and they would comply. When doing a book talk in 2008 on "The First Part Last" by Angela Johnson at Boys and Girls High School now Nelson Mandela High School for Social Justice in Brooklyn, I asked the class that was 98 percent black if they would dump their girlfriend/boyfriend if he/she became a vegetable due to chronic illness! The whole class said no to my pleasant surprise. On Wednesday July 18th, 2018 Nelson Mandela (the late president of South Africa) and global civil rights icon would have turned 100.Co-incidentally, I wore an African outfit emblazoned with Nelson Mandela's portrait. Everybody showed me love as if I was the real Mandela from the subway to the Eastern Parkway promenade in Brooklyn! From young black males to young white college students and a white granny pampering her two granddaughters I heard "Happy Birthday". I accepted the wishes on his behalf! In Mandela's Xhosa language I say "Ndiyabulela" for Thank You! 

I attended Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) and after graduation, I served as a librarian with the University of Yaounde, Cameroon and then moved to Brooklyn, New York for greener pastures in 1993. Brooklyn gave me a daughter in 1996! Backtracking to my childhood, I was skinny, lanky and nerdy and attended St. Joseph's parochial school in Bamenda, Cameroon. I fondly remember some childhood friends lying to their illiterate parents to get some allowance by stating that they had broken "Osmosis" and "Metamorphosis" at school. Some parents would give them money to pay for the broken "Osmosis" while others actually came to the schools to pay for it. My friends were busted! In the 1990's, I would watch different sports with my family and would even write and send inspirational cards to different teams and players. In one instance, I did not eat for a day after the Dallas Cowboys broke my heart and those of other Steeler fans during the Super Bowl with Neil O'Donnel as our quarterback. I supported the Arizona Wild cards Cinderella team that won the NCAA championship in 1997 and specifically Mike Bibby. We showed the same love to different sports, teams and coaches. John Calipari, Mike Anderson, Mike Krzyzewski to name a few have been very humble in personally writing back to acknowledge the gesture! Humility knows no bounds your background not withstanding! I watched one championship that Michael Jordan dedicated to his then eight year old daughter Jasmine. One other NBA finals caught my eyes as my household supported the underdog Philly Sixers and Alan Iverson against the Lakers. One player who was paired against Alan Iverson came to my attention. He was light skinned, wore braids and did a great job neutralizing Iverson. He would leap into the stands like a leopard, chasing lose balls and causing irreparable damage to the Sixers. His name was Tyronn Lue. I would follow his career over the years just like those of other sports figures -veterans and rising stars alike. 

I am yet to read "The Vanishing American Adult" by Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska but a blurb of the work highlighted American work ethics and capitalism, travel, moderate consumption and lampoons youth who fail to mature as adults. I am enamored by a system that encourages everyone to try new things from businesses to science, sports just to name a few even if you fail and never give up. My athletic ability on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being excellent is a paltry 4! With the spirit of Americana, I tried to carve my niche elsewhere as an independent artiste, self-publishing and producing African themed documentaries.In 1999, I befriended one of South Africa's statesmen and elder politician-Dr. Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Zulu prince, chief and head of the Inkatha Freedom Party. He treated me the same way my dad treated kids and I have looked up to him as a male figure and role model for almost 20 years. He turns 90 years young in August. Taking up the challenge of my new country (The USA) and inspired by the questions from elementary school students about daily life in sub-Saharan Africa, I wrote and produced "Welcome to Alphabetic Africa". It was edited in Pittsburgh but shot in the United States, Cameroon and South Africa. We garnered 3.5 stars out of 4 from Video Librarian Magazine and also got rave reviews from School Librarian Journal! During our shoot in South Africa, Prince Buthelezi participated for free and shared his dose of wisdoms as well. Former first lady and presidential candidate-Hillary Rodham Clinton resorted to some African wisdom in her work "It Takes a Village". Indeed it truly takes a village to raise a child and I for one can corroborate this assertion given that I enjoyed the extended family system and its best practices growing up. Prince Buthelezi mentioned that his political ideology focused on "UBUNTU." The complete phrase is "Ubuntu Umuntu Ngabantu"-which is Zulu for 'a person is a person through other people'. To round up my shoot I asked Prince Buthelezi for his favorite adage and got "One hand washes the other". This is a great tie-in to community partnerships, mutual help similar to the Harambees of Kenya and beyond. I also asked him the symbolism of leopard skins loved by African chiefs and was told that they represent royalty. Leopards are reserved and can disguise and pounce out of nowhere when you least expect.