They were the first stuff my young mind could think of when I heard the term USA. They were nice mental pictures of obese (except then we knew them just by the widely accepted name obolo) people stuffing themselves with junk food and calories, of beautiful blonde women strutting half-naked across the screens of our neighbors TV and the ironic image of a cold looking statue with an fire torch in hand.
Some acne-filled years later, I was reading beyond brave men fighting through dragons and thorns to kiss sleeping princess's awake, women who spoke in front of mirrors inquiring about the prettiest of them all and little boys whose noses grew longer when they lied and had abandoned waiting anxiously in front of the TV for a talking dog who solved mysteries with his friends. I was reading books and watching programs that boarded on lines of the political, social and cultural diversity of other people in other geographical areas. Mostly to impress adults who will look at my parents and say "wo ba no nim ade3 paa oh? daakye ob3y3 lawyer (Your child is brilliant, he will be a lawyer in future) ", this later turned to a habit more for myself than for others.
My interesting areas to read were especially the cultural behaviors of other young people just like myself who seemed to have life more easier and cozier. I read about prom and lasagna. I read about Saturday Night school football games, kids who could earn money just from throwing newspapers around or walking dogs. These were abstract people and a really different way of life from what I was growing up with. I longed to come in contact with people like these and of course then Facebook was absent and MySpace hadn't even been though off.
Some years later and I have come into contact with many of these individuals. Its been interesting and eye-opening.
Ghana; Africa, river bodies, agriculture, half naked kids with bright hopeful smiles on their faces with bits of dirt on their faces.
This was the first images in most, not all of their minds when they heard the term 'Ghana'. Its hard to feel offended by most of them because of something CNN showed or reported. After a few months of living here, few trips to the beautiful beaches, few tastes of the beautiful delicacies and few contact with the best spirit of people anyone could ever come in touch with, something has had to give.
This young man never had any true form of relationship with anyone of a different race outside African until about 2 months ago. Its been a time to find out that the only thing different about everybody else under this sun aside the different time rising of the sun itself is the color of their skin. Its been a time to find out that everyone, regardless of their race wants the same thing; to be happy, to love and be loved back, to make the people around us proud and to leave an indelible mark on the lives of everyone we come in contact with. To be remembered.
I have come to learn that race shouldn't be the thing that sets us apart but the glue that sticks us together in our quest to learn new things, to better ourselves and our world and to grow as human beings.
Thanks to Rachel, Jasmine, Sarah and Amelie for showing me the beauty of a raceless friendship.
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K.D
beautiful........boredom-reliever.
ReplyDeletethanks man, really appreciate
ReplyDelete