Where is Grandpa?

Breaking Kola

The 9th annual Igbo Conference was last week. Since its inception it has been at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in London. For the first time this year’s conference was to be in Nigeria! Instead it ended up being a virtual conference.

I asked in my last post if you could guess what the opening ceremony was.

Here is the answer! The first 3 and 1/2 minutes are a welcome and introduction from Yvonne Mbanefo, one of the conveners. She explains the ceremony of breaking kola, which is all in Igbo. So unless you’re an Igbo speaker you’ll probably what to stop after you’ve had a look at the chief.

Watching this took me back to the Memorial Service for my husband in March. It made me cry!

For that service I asked our friend Emeka to break kola with a prayer. Of course he had to speak in Igbo. I put his words in the program.

Praise be to God, the Creator, the almighty! Heavenly King, you create, you give, you take. We gather in homage to celebrate the life of Clement Onyemelukwe, giving you the glory and praise. Please accept the spirit of Clement Onyemelukwe, who left us and the world of humanity. Take his spirit peacefully. Amen

Tesla Trial and Triumph

I went to Philadelphia to visit my daughter on Saturday and came home this morning. This was my first venture for a long trip with my Tesla! I think I could have made it without charging the battery, but I was a little nervous. So once the battery was down to about 40% I started looking for a supercharger.

Clem used to complain that I would want to buy gas for the car when the tank was still above a quarter; he would have laughed that I was the same with the Tesla!

From the Tesla navigation screen I found a supercharger that I thought was near. But when I actually started navigating to the place, it was 20+ miles. The directions had me go back in the opposite direction on the highway. I cancelled that, got back in the right direction and decided to stop at the next rest stop where I would call Tesla or look further in the Tesla’s Navigation system. Lo and behold there was a Tesla supercharger, right at the rest stop!

Coming back this morning, I assumed I’d find a supercharger at a rest stop! But I didn’t. So I was worried when going over the George Washington Bridge with just 35%. But I made it.

Next time I’ll look at a map of the supercharging stations ahead of time and know where I’m going to stop!

Where is Grandpa? 

Beth’s son Ikem made us all feel like crying when I arrived on Saturday afternoon. Beth opened the door and I walked in. Ikem was right there. “Say hello to Grandma,” Beth told him.

He gave me a hug. Then he looked behind me. “Grandpa?” he said.

When we all sat together in the kitchen later he asked again. “Grandpa?” 

How do you tell an autistic 6-year old that his grandpa is not coming again?   

White Americans Learning? Adjusting?

A white woman attends a protest. She says she didn’t understand why Black Lives Matter is important, but she now does. That’s progress.

A man removes his confederate tattoo, saying not just that he doesn’t want his son to see it, but that he himself now understands it is racist. That’s progress.

This article from today’s New York Times has several other stories of progress. The writer says maybe these times will prove to be a turning point. Many white people may be waking up to what black Americans have experienced forever. They may want to see change.

“One source of angst for white Americans who say they want to dismantle racism, though, is not knowing precisely where to start,”  Amy Harmon and Audra D. S. Burch, the writers, says.

Certainly reading and learning is important. But when I talked to my daughter about this yesterday, she said “Post!” Many of us are on Facebook or use other social media. A simple statement saying why Black Lives Matter – similar to what the woman in the article figured out – is useful. Or post in support of legislation ending choke holds, for example, or for removing Confederate leaders’ pictures from the capital.

Follow a few thought leaders or authors on anti-racism and comment, or “like” their posts! You may find yourself part of the change.