Mother’s Day Celebrations
I had a lovely Mother’s Day. Our daughter Beth came with her husband and 5-year old son Ikem. Her son Kenechi came with his girlfriend Mary who brought a fantastic carrot cake. Nkiru, Beth’s daughter came fresh from Syracuse University.
Mary not only supplied the carrot cake but make eggs Florentine for us. I had the left-overs for dinner Monday and Tuesday. The remaining carrot cake is in the freezer, awaiting an occasion!
The flowers are holding up well and looking cheerful in our kitchen.
We had phone calls from Chinaku and Sam, both in Nigeria, to wish Beth and me a happy mother’s day.
Connecticut Press Awards
The Connecticut Press Club Awards Night just concluded a couple of hours ago, around 9 pm. This year’s event was held at Delamar in Southport, with excellent food and drink.
With my publicist Aline Weiller at CT Press Club Awards
Jane Green, author of 20 novels and a Westport resident, was the MC again. She takes such delight in saying Onyemelukwe correctly. Even my husband said she pronounced it well! When she was announcing my award, she said, “I love saying the name. I walk around the house practicing!”
Her husband was sitting right in front of us. He turned around and said, “It’s true. She does!”
I won second place for my book Breaking Kola: An Inside View of African Customs.” I also had second place for the blog where Nkiru wrote about The Hate U Give!
Nkiru didn’t know about the award. I told her on Sunday. She was surprised and pleased.
She said she wants to go to Nigeria in the summer and do an internship for a month. I wonder if she’ll pursue this? I hope so. She has plenty of relatives who have their own organizations and could host her and give her meaningful work. But she has to take the initiative.
At the press club event tonight, I spoke with a man who said his brother-in-law is from Nigeria and his niece is going to the country for an internship this summer! Small world.
Our neighbor across the street, John Videler, was the official photographer. I’ll have a photo soon of me with Jane and the CT Press Club president Michelle Turk.
Grey’s Anatomy
Do you watch Grey’s Anatomy? Or have you watched it? I love the program. It has concluded its 15th season on TV, but I’m catching up on Amazon Prime. I’m now in season 12! The characters are believable and engaging.
Edwards and Wilson are 3rd year female residents. Edwards is Black and Wilson is white.
Dr. Shepherd, a white woman, instructed Edwards to force a patient to stand and take steps, even though it was incredibly painful. It was for the patient’s own good, Shepherd told her. Edwards found it nearly impossible. She asked her friend Wilson to do it for her.
Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy
Dr. Shepherd called them both, asking why Wilson had stepped in. Edwards said, “When I was 5, I was in a sickle-cell trial. It was horrendous. I was repeatedly given injections and forced through other traumatic procedures, all the while being told it was for my own good. It took me years to get over that experience.”
Wilson later told Dr. Shepherd that Edwards had made up the whole story to get out of doing the necessary treatment. Dr. Shepherd had worked with Edwards for months, knew her well, and believed in her skills. Yet when a white resident that she barely knew said Edwards had lied, Dr. Shepherd believed her!
Dr. Weber, an older and senior Black male, confirmed to Dr. Shepherd that the sickle-cell study was real and Edwards was part of it. He asked her to reflect on her response. No one mentioned race, but I wonder how many thought it.
Now in a later episode, Dr. Shepherd is trying to understand if her response was racist. What do you think?
Shonda Rhimes and her writers are brilliant!
