Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - MLK: In Commemoration

Note that MLK, Jr.'s birth name is different from what became his first name.

On Jan 16, 2017, at 5:24 PM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

Toyin Falola

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From: Akwasi Aidoo <akwasi.aidoo@gmail.com>
Date: Monday, January 16, 2017 at 4:29 PM
To: Akwasi Aidoo <akwasi.aidoo@gmail.com>
Subject: In Commemoration

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

Sending love, light and peace your way this fine day!

Today is officially Martin Luther King Day, and a poetic offering is in order, methinks. But, before the poem, I have to tell a little story.  Those of you who know me well know I go by the saying: "Before I speak, I want to say something."  LOL.

OK, here is the story: It's about what Rev. Martin Luther King meant to my generation in good old Ghana.  Sixty years ago, in 1957, when Ghana achieved independence, Rev. Martin Luther King attended the independence ceremony, together with many world leaders, including the then Vice President of the US, Richard Nixon (attached is a photo of him and Kwame Nkrumah, our first post-independence Head of State). There was no television then, so bore witness to it all in newspapers and on radio or by physical presence.  One of the gripping stories of it is the rumor that when Vice President Nixon met Rev. Martin Luther King for the first time at the ceremony, he mistakenly congratulated him on Ghana's independence, assuming that he was Ghanaian (or perhaps it was jet lag at work, who knows?).  You can imagine the response...  Rev. Martin Luther King allegedly replied: "Sir, we are not yet free!."  And Vice President Nixon asked, a bit curious: "What do you mean, Sir?", and Rev. Martin Luther King said: "Sir, I'm an American and we are still far from freedom for all, and we aren't going to give up till it happens."  Again, you can imagine what followed next... the embarrassment, apologies, discomfort, laughter, and all. They reportedly became friends/friendly after that, until things fell apart.

I was just about 7 years old then, and I vividly remember my father, who was a police officer at the time, telling me the story. I said to him: "Papa, can I add his name to mine?" and my father said: "Yes son, you can take his first name, but not his last name because here in Ghana the name 'King' can create problems for you since we are not of the royal family."  So I became Thomas Martin Akwasi Aidoo, until 1984 when I changed my name back to my Ghanaian birth names (Akwasi Aidoo) just before I got my PhD degree (smile).

OK, the "something" I had to say before the poem is taking long, so I'll cut it short, and go to the poem.  The poem is crafted as a tongue-in-cheek message, so please don't take it too seriously.  It's meant to make you smile on this fine day when all of humanity must be smiling.

Here's the poem, with Love & Peace to all ~~

 

They Said…

by akwasi aidoo

 

First, they said

"It's all in the Color."

But then the whole world went Creole and mixed

So they said: "It sure must be that big

family thing." And when the Irish showed

size had nothing to do with it

They said: "It's the Brain, you know.

Something called IQ."

Then we invoked Timbuktu

and the Pyramids, brilliantly quoting

Bernal and Hunwick and Davidson.

Still they said: "They're simply too slow."

But thing is we kept running

and winning both sprint and marathon

and making mince of their complex languages.

Now, with no answer to that and

no body parts left to assault

they say: "It's their National IQ."

We say: "Learn just one of our languages and

then we can talk."

 

Footnote

This poem is inspired by the latest "scientific" explanation of why Africans are poor, in what the "experts" say is a "path-breaking and brilliant" book by Professors Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen: IQ And The Wealth of Nations (Praeger/Greenwood, 2002).

Cheers,

Akwasi (in AkwaSilly mood this lovely day!)

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<MLK & KN at Ghana' Independence in 1957.jpg>