"I did not ask my son what he understood about the passing of Nigeria's anti-gay law until we were back in America. I was surprised when his first response was to remind me that it wasn't just Nigeria that had such a law but Uganda, too. I was worried that he would now dismiss the whole continent as so much of the world already did. But I should have given him more credit. They were studying civil rights at his school and glancing up from his textbooks he said, quite matter of fact, "Well the world itself is quite homophobic." Gathering pencils and paper, he reflected for a moment on how some countries were just moving forward more quickly than others. Then he paused and proudly added, "and America is like at the fore of that." I waited for him to say more, to expand, but he had said his piece and left me pondering our brief conversation. I realized then that he had answered more than the question first asked. I had been curious about his feelings for Nigeria and its anti-gay law, but he went beyond Nigeria to the rest of the world, to the bigger picture. He was not torn by family or national allegiances but looked squarely at the issues, as they deserved to be understood. It was not complicated for him. Nor did it need to be for me."
- Sarah Ladipo Manyika
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
No comments:
Post a Comment