2010 WAS A BUST...MOSTLY OF MY OWN DOING...

Brief entry here necessitated by circumstances still in flux over what happened to my teaching career with the Flint Schools. After 39 years I have been transferred to another high school in Flint. Imagine this happening after spending over 22 years at Southwestern Academy.

Everything's on hold for now. Sick leave is not fun, by any stretch of the imagination. And missing out on that Rollins College study gig was huge. I stayed in Flint and finished studying with my Flint colleagues in a history program that covered three years. Loyalty is important, 'eh? The travel back to South Africa will also have to take a back seat to what the rest of 2010 brings forth. Suddenly I'm feeling pretty lonely and isolated from a "routine" that became very comfortable. But teaching at Flint S.W.Academy was anything but routine.

Like stated above, there will more added to this sad narrative at a later date. As they say: the truth shall be known.

Life is too short to dwell on negatives--especially one of this magnitude. And when one gets to be my age, life is very short. In retrospect, I gave far too much to my teaching career and family lost out on that deal. We'll see where we go from here, John... Whatever you do, don't count me out of the game of life. I'll be back and in full strength...perhaps adding new projects to this blog. Time will tell...

JANUARY/2010: IT'S GONNA BE ONE HELLUVA YEAR THAT MIGHT INCLUDE A RETURN TO SOUTH AFRICA AND SOME STUDY AT ROLLINS COLLEGE, FLORIDA!

Yeah, I have been waiting to see 2010 ring in! This will be my year to return to South Africa, the scene of my most exhilarating "project" ever--the U.S. State Department Fulbright Teacher Exchange for the entire year of 2006.

Despite a few setbacks, mostly related to my exchange partner's husband, our time in South Africa was beyond compare to anything ever experienced by me--and I was so happy to have shared it with my wife and our then 7-year-old son, Ivan J.J. We learned so much and it will be with us forever.

I'm not exactly sure when the trip back will take place. The World Soccer matches are being hosted by South Africa, beginning in June. Depending on how the schedule of games plays out, South Africa will be a mess. I say that in reference to the infrastructure, mainly the highways. They have the best highway system in all of Africa, but when the world descends on that asphalt it will pretty difficult to get from point A to point B. As far as places to stay, I am not too worried--I have many friends/contacts.

The best thing will be wait until "my" kids graduate...which will be in November. Most of the students (learners), I had back then were 8th-graders. This is their senior year. They graduate! The problem will be how do I manipulate things here in order to get time away in South Africa? If I go in the summer, I'll have more free time to visit a few places that we didn't get the chance to see the last time around. Then again, the crowds might be there.

Another interesting project for the summer might be my participation in a program of study at Rollins College, Florida. The study project is funded by The National Endowment for the Humanities, through the Florida Council for the Humanities. Teachers will be selected from the USA to study the life and times of Zora Neale Hurston, famous for her writing done during the Harlem Renaissance. It's a week-long program of study that will include a day in Fort Pierce, Florida, where Zora spent the last three years of her life.

For me, the Fort Pierce connection is a big draw. Having graduated from St. Anastasia High School there, I am fairly familiar with the "turf" and the sad facts relating to Zora's being buried there in an unmarked grave. A few years after her death in January, 1960, the famed African American writer, Alice Walker, had a grave marker placed where Ms. Hurston had been laid to rest. The group that will be awarded the grant to study Zora will go to her burial place...and I want very much to be part of that teacher group.

So, that's it for now. I wanted to have an early entry here just to kind of lay out a couple of positive possibilities for 2010. There are lots of other positives in my life too...mostly related to my wife, Svetlana, and our soon-to-be 11-year-old son! My, my, how fast does time fly!

FORTRESSES ALWAYS FEATURE CANNON...THAT WERE USED TO DEFEND AND PROTECT THE ECONOMIC INTERESTS OF THE EUROPEAN NATION THAT CLAIMED OWNERSHIP

The cannons are rusty and in disrepair now. Pointed outward, they were used to protect the interests of those who held sway over the slave fortress at any given time. First it was the Portuguese. Then came the Dutch and later the English. These cannon are relics of a time past and they remain where they stood for centuries, stark weapons of warfare used to defend the slavemasters' interests. Perhaps iron ore from mines used to fashion these cannon was also used to tool the iron bars on some of the open windows of Elmina. The same mine might have produced iron ore used to make iron, religious crosses that were used during worship services at the church built within the Elmina complex. Prayer went right along with the terror of human bondage...it was all to be expected. After all, G_d was on their side, right?

HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER...IRON BARS AND THICK STONE WALLS SPEAK OF THE INHUMANITY OF ELMINA SLAVE FORTRESS

Not surprisingly, many of the rooms used to house slaves at Elmina were without windows. As the slaves were readied for the waiting ships, they were moved to dark, windowless rooms...some of which are seen in photographs later in this series. The bars look weakened by virtue of age--and so does the mortar. I "tested" them and there was not even a hint of being able to bring them down. Just imagine being captured in a forested area hundreds of miles from this fortress. Then try to imagine being chained together with other captives and marched relentlessly over the land to the coastal area and the slave fortress Elmina. Surviving that tortuous journey, imagine being incarcerated for weeks, perhaps months, until European slave ships arrived to haul you off to an unknown destination. Finally, imagine being on a slave ship, along with hundreds of other forlorn slaves. The transatlantic middle passage, as it was called, might encompass anywhere from six to eight weeks. And if you survived all that, you were "rewarded" with a lifetime of human bondage in a new land...thousands of miles away from your motherland. It was the destruction of a people by fellow human beings who did not recognize their enslaved captives as human. No names were recorded--only a number. In some cases said number was branded on the forehead of the slaves.

PHOTOGRAPHS THAT DEPICT THE DREADFUL, TRUE MEANING OF ELMINA CASTLE AND SLAVE FORTRESS: IT WAS A DISASTER IN TERMS OF HUMAN SUFFERING

This photograph depicts a southeastern section of the fortress--looking out over what is now fishing dwellings. There is much fishing there now. The port area, of course, was utilized to facilitate slave ships coming from European ports. At any given time those ships could be from Portugal, Holland, or England...depending on which European power was in control of the Elmina fortress. Perhaps at first glance the buildings look like a Mediterranean Sea recreation complex. No recreation took place here, though. The waiting slave ships were involved in a serious business proposition. Who was it that said "money is the root of all evil?"

GHANAIAN SCHOOL CHILDREN RECEIVE A LECTURE ON THE EVILS OF THE SLAVE TRADE...WHILE VISITING ELMINA SLAVE FORTRESS

Above: School children and others gather outside the two rooms that were used to punish any slave being held captive at Elmina. The doors to the rooms were made of cast iron...they were very heavy and gave an omnious look to each room. This is the central walkway inside the fortress.
Below: The photo depicts the room that was used to "break" a male slave that resisted in any way. Does the skull above the door send a message? The message was death to those who enter here. No food or water. Almost no air to breath. Our small group felt the closeness of the room, which was no larger than a big closet. If you had to urinate or deficate, the floor was all that could be used. One can only imagine the smell inside that room. The iron door was closed on us and it was almost unbearable...within a couple of minutes. Death lurked inside that room--it was impossible not to feel it.

A CONTEMPLATIVE EDUCATOR FROM LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND...WHAT ARE HER THOUGHTS RELATIVE TO HER ANCESTORS?

Yeah, I "intruded" on Vikky's private moment. The photograph was irrestible--the moment had to be captured. I don't think she knew I was there...I used the telephoto capability on my Canon. The wind picked up and her scarf flew in just the right direction at the moment I squeezed the shutter button...for the shot I was looking for!

I'll surely notify Vikky about the photo. And if she asks for it, I'll be more than happy to send her the digital shot. There are a couple of other photos taken at the same spot, but none equal this particular one. Importantly, it is not a posed shot. Is she reaching out for the sea? Will it reveal something to her? The pounding surf is missing, of course. Perhaps it was telling her something...who knows?