Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ***** Another great Sierra Leonean: Adelaide Casely-Hayford

hi ogugua
yes, it's the same. those sounds in foreign languages get rendered variously in english, especially when the sounds don't correspond. nobody knows this better than nigerians, i mean the ibos, oh i mean the igbos, and the soyinkas, whose names sound like shoyenka to my ear; and ALL THOSE diacriticals for rising and falling tonals, which i can't even figure out how to type on the computer.
yes, it is hanukah, oh, i mean hannukah, oh chanukah. whatever, happy holiday
ken

On 12/8/15 12:42 AM, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:

Dear Ken,

 

You say "have a good Chanukah, this is the week of the festival of lights…".  What about Hanukah? It has to do with lights too does it not?

oa

 

 

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2015 5:58 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ***** Another great Sierra Leonean: Adelaide Casely-Hayford

 

for those who are not conversant in hebrew holiday greetings, you would have been confused by my "had sameach." for those conversant, you'd also have been confused, since i made a foolish misspelling, which cornelius was gracious enough not to point out. the message for those saying, have a good holiday, is "hag sameach," with the ch pronounced like rough rolling of the back of the throat.
have a good chanukah, this is the week for the festival of lights where the oil lasted 8 days instead of one, according to jewish legends. jews put menorahs in their windows this time of year, as christians light up their holiday lights, which i am seeing now around my neighborhood. much more here in the u.s. than in the u.k., from which i just returned
best of holidays to everyone on this list, christian, jewish, muslim, worshippers of ogun or chineke, and all the other deities for whom not only justice but peace is what we want first to reign. peace only.
ken

On 12/7/15 10:13 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Dear Kenneth,

When I read your "had semeach" I realised that I should have written to William Bangura: "I didn't respond to that posting because if I had (instead of if I did) - I'm sure that I would have been declared a persona non grata in Sierra Leone for all eternity."

My last message to you was sent via my cell phone. I would now like to add this:

As I rapidly approach  my earthly allotment of three  score years and ten  I get a little nervous every time notice the  prominence  of bright red and yellow  jacket of the book on my shelf entitled  "1001 BOOKS you must read before you die" That it will still be there after I am long gone .it  only increases the big existential sorrow and anxiety, that all flesh shall perish.

I suppose that you could do some of us post-colonial anglophiles (half Francophiles) who are interested in updating our African Lit a favour by e.g. compiling a modest list of say just ten books that will not perish (apart from Achebe and the other big wigs still writing in English). In Ghana, Gerald Moore enthused our little group about Tchicaya U'tamsi – so you don't have to include him or Ferdinand Oyono or Mongo Beti or Camara Laye or Ousmane Sembene…

As for me and  black diaspora authors of the early period, I don't know exactly where you'll place him but just now mostly for sociological reasons  I'm reading Gil Scott- Heron's  " The Last Holiday  - A Memoir" and the very first sentence of his recollection makes me doubt  my own : " I always doubt detailed recollections authors  write about their childhoods. Maybe I am jealous that they retain such clarity of their long agos while my own past seems only long gone"

Humbly (before I turn to humus)

Cornelius

We Sweden

On Sunday, 6 December 2015 22:07:51 UTC+1, Kenneth Harrow wrote:

hi cornelius
had semeach. i love kamau braithwaite's work: he is one of my favorite authors, which is why i was asking. you seem to have crossed lines or bumped into half the african and black diaspora authors of the early period!
ken

On 12/6/15 6:55 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Hi Ken,

Chanukah chag sameach!

I wish that I could answer with some precision. It's another diaspora tragedy – the dispersal of family and friends , far flung, UK, US, Germany, Holland, the Caribbean, various parts of Africa.  James passed on I don't even know when.  I got to know about it long after the event.  I'm told that he got mad … madness…

I last met James accidentally on a British Airways flight and I can't remember when, which year or from where to where but I do remember the long tragic story that he told me...

James Braithwaite is special – he was one of my best friends (of which there were approximately seven)

The mention of Braithwaite conjures first the image of my James  chalking up and solving problems calculations on the blackboard, - we were classmates throughout secondary school  1958-1965 – 1969  – he went directly to mathematics  - and to Durham (in Northern England ) and was due for a first class honours in maths….

Secondly, the mention of the name Braithwaite conjures "To Sir with love"   (Edward Braithwaite) - another Braithwaite - and the film (your department) one of the first modern Black stars "Guess who's coming to Dinner? ":  Sidney Poitier

Could be that James is related to Edward (Kamau) Braithwaite since  James' father or grandfather is West Indian, but I'd say more likely Jamaican & Maroon, than Barbados ( incidentally my two daughters grew up mostly in Barbados and London… )

James played rhythm guitar in a then popular Band in Sierra Leone, "The Golden Strings "where his elder brother Julian played lead. To get more precise information we could contact their vocalist Cecil Blake or the Strings' bass player Dennis Stephanopoulos. I'm occasionally in touch with them and could enquire.

 

On Sunday, 6 December 2015 03:54:14 UTC+1, Kenneth Harrow wrote:

hi cornelius
when you write below you mention james braithwaite as one of your classmates. is he related to edward (kamau) braithwaite?
ken

On 12/5/15 8:13 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:

Another great Sierra Leonean: Adelaide Casely-Hayford

Got to thinking about her today as it's grandson Kobina Hunter's birthday today!  (Mother Gladys Casely-Hayford)

(I have wished him a happy birthday on Facebook and wish that I could be there to sing with much gusto, "For he is a jolly good fellow!"

My  Classmates  the late Akintola Wyse  and James Braithwaite  along with Sylvester Abimbola Young  (along with James another  maths genius) and Monty Labour and I were in the lower forms and used to play table-tennis  with  Kobi  who had just  finished secondary school and was part-timing as our math teacher at the Prince of Wales School...

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kenneth w. harrow 

professor of english

michigan state university

department of english

619 red cedar road

room C-614 wells hall

east lansing, mi 48824

ph. 517 803 8839

har...@msu.edu

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kenneth w. harrow 

professor of english

michigan state university

department of english

619 red cedar road

room C-614 wells hall

east lansing, mi 48824

ph. 517 803 8839

harrow@msu.edu

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--   kenneth w. harrow   professor of english  michigan state university  department of english  619 red cedar road  room C-614 wells hall  east lansing, mi 48824  ph. 517 803 8839  harrow@msu.edu