NOT AN INTERNET HOAX

I was asked by a colleague at the law school if I was sure that my Fulbright was not an internet hoax.  I  thought he was joking and laughed along with him until he said, "No, I'm serious." 
I thought back over 30 years to the countless hours that I spent studying for law school, passing the bar, becoming a prosecutor, then a judge, and now a law professor...I relived the more recent tale of the Fulbright proposal that I almost did not submit and said, "Thank you for your concern."

Those of you who know me know that I felt a lot more that those five words revealed.  As I look at the splendor of a country and continent that I had only dreamed of seeing and as I experience the fortune of a lifetime, I smile...

If we can truly humble ourselves to work hard and dream big things happen...sometimes bad, sometimes good, but always there to remind us we are only human.

Each morning l leave the place where I live and ride through pockets of abundance and poverty and see faces that make me realize: 


"Wings Of Forgiveness"



Had to go
Across the water
Just to find
What was here in my heart all along
Spend so much time
Trying to be right
That I was dead wrong

If Nelson Mandela can forgive his oppressors
Surely I can forgive you...
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of resentment
And fly high, and fly high
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness

Had to run
To the arms of curiosity
Just to find
What was here in my life all along
I had found that the art of simplicity
Simply means making peace of your complexity

If Gandhi can forgive persecution
Surely you can forgive me for being so petty

I'm only human
Let's shake free this gravity of resentment
And fly high, and fly high
You're only human
Let's shake free this gravity of judgment
And fly high on the wings of forgiveness

I've searched for romance
Flowers and affection
What I found is a lesson
Of what love really is
Found the game of love is
Not about how much you can take
In fact authentic love is about
How much you can give


Thank you India Arie for this inspiration...

I am blessed!!!!!!

I met two other Fulbright Scholars and learned that my experience is far beyond the norm.  Mountcrest  College University has turned out to be an excellent choice.  It is a new university with a law school that has attained full accreditation in record time.  Um...sounds familiar FIU College of Law celebrating 10 years.

I share an office with a wonderful colleague who is teaching sociology.  We have our own bathroom in our office.  Teaching began this week and my first class is Wednesday.   My work day begins at 6am so we can avoid the traffic.  We will leave campus at about 9pm - again to avoid the traffic. UGH - the traffic but what can I say, traffic congestion is the complaint of modernity.

 
I took a walk this morning and was amazed at the accumulation and wealth that surrounds me.  This is the Ghana that people do not see - and do not talk about.  The disparity is present and pervasive, Working on trying to learn to upload my picture.

I am here!!!!!

I have just completed by first day in Ghana and it was pure magic.  If there is a way to be treated better than a king, then that is the treatment that I received.  I was picked up by a van from the Mountcrest University College by the  Founder and Head Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare.  I had little time to think about missing the U.S. as we became entangled in a first class traffic jam on the way to living accomodations.  I have taken a photo of traffic, but I am not sure when I will learn to up/down load.  I have already fallen ina love with the city.  The people are very helpful.

My living arrangement is, how should I put it, ---DA BOMB!!!!   I have a fully air conditioned suite for  me with wireless internet and as TV.  Did I mentioned, the president lives nearby... I am sure my arrival has brought a cry of "OMG...there goes the neighborhood."  I can't wait to soak up all there is to offer.
See ya.
Akwaaba!  Welcome to my azonto.

Eleanor Roosevelt said:  "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot."

What challenges do you face?  I have always thought that I cannot take a step without assessing the known risks and attempting to anticipate the unknown risks. But how do you anticipate risks as mundane as where will I live when you truly do not know where you will live when you get to.
place.

Surely, I am strong enough to handle what lies ahead...other humans have been strong enough to endure it, I am a human, therefore, I am strong enough. This slightly faulty logic has served me well in past allowing me to "fake it 'til I make." Ghana - here I come.

My challenge is to fearlessly undertake this opportunity to live in country that I have never even visited and confidently accept the fact that I cannot imagine what lies ahead. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The countdown begins!!!

Dancing in the Streets.

My ticket is final and I am at the point of no return - not that I want to.  On August 13 at 3:15PM, I will board a plane to ATL and fly directly on a  10 hour flight to Accra, Ghana.  We, in the U.S. have grown accustomed to planning and plotting in an effort to predict what will happen in response to a certain action.  I am no exception, but this journey will teach to dance to beat as I hear it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLBlQNF8dpQ&feature=related

Dunbarvillagetoghanvillage

My blog is found at:  fromdunbarvillagetotheghanavillage.  I was born and lived in Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, FL. This community coined "the old project"  was my home until my family moved to to "the new projects" when I was 6 years old. Today Dunbar Village has received significant attention as the site for a vicious gang rape of a 35 year old woman for 3 hours by 14 - 18 year old suspects who forced her to perform sexual acts with her 12 year old son.

DISGUSTING - yes; DEFINING  of all who live there - Absolutely not!!!  Thanks to the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), this Dunbar Villager is headed to the Ghana Village to be a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Kumasi, Ghana. 

Wikipedia Note:   Dunbar Village is a 246-unit public housing community located within the North Tamarind neighborhood of West Palm Beach, Florida. It is named after the late 19th and early 20th century poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar. The community was built from 1939 to 1940 for African Americans, shortly after the passage of the Housing Act of 1937, the community is one of the first public housing in the state of Florida.

Disclaimer: This blog and the views expressed in it do not represent the views of Fulbright or CIES  

What is "Azonto"?

Over the past year, a new dance craze has popped onto the Ghanaian music scene and has been making waves across West Africa and beyond. It is called “Azonto” and calls for dancers to sort of act out their occupation. It has spread out of Ghana and has become a rage in Ghanaian communities in the US and Britain.
I call my blog "My Azonto"  because I will dance out this opportunity - to live, teach and research in Kumasi, Ghana at KNUST with all the zest and passion that I have seen in "Azonto".  Join me over the next year as I share my experiences.