The last time I recall standing up to people overseas on behalf of the United States was during the presidency of President George W. Bush. That was almost a frequent occurrence at the time and it was always in Europe. Bush-Cheney had been responsible for committing the greatest foreign policy blunder in living memory by lying the United States to war and taking many countries along. We know that over 100,000 Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans were killed in that senseless war that was based entirely on a lie. Clearly, the world has yet to recover from that Bush-Cheney act. While my opposition to that war was very solid even before it started, and was published in a local newspaper in my area, it was difficult to accept anyone in Europe bashing the United States (and my President who I voted twice against and with whom I completely disagreed on almost everything) for heinous actions that much of the West, not just the US, was responsible for. Soon one occasion in Europe, I stopped obvious hypocrisy by reminding the US/Bush critiques that, to the extent that their own countries were part of the Bush-Cheney coalition that destroyed Iraq and turned the world into an unsafe place, they were just as culpable and it would be best if they kept their mouths shut because, at least from where I come, hypocrisy is not a virtue. To their point that the American electorate was “foolish” to have re-elected President Bush, I reminded them that they had all also re-elected their own war-mongering, lying leaders and, except for Jose Maria Anser of Spain, no European leader was punished by the electorate. Needless to say that the conversation ended.
Oh…I recall another incident in Moscow where one of the speakers at a conference that I was attending – a Russian professor dubbed as one of the country’s leading Sociologists – told us that there were two kinds of civilizations, a black civilization characterized by violence, crime, brutality, etc and a white civilization characterized by peace, intelligence, sense of responsibility, respect, etc. Of course he got off the stage immediately after he spoke without a chance to ask him any questions. Most of us from the United States and Canada responded by holding up the conference and declaring it over until he was brought back to apologize and acknowledge that his presentation was not the product of any scholarship. In that instant, we knew that by binding together, we were exercising a responsibility to humanity and to our respective countries with sizable numbers of black citizens (and residents).
Now, fast-forward several years. About a week and half ago, I sat comfortably at a bus terminal in a quiet university town in Nigeria, about 7 hours drive away from the airport from which I was scheduled to fly out of the country later that night. I was at the terminal because the airport from which I would normally fly to my departure city was closed due to runway renovations. Just a few feet from where I sat, a religious woman was holding court. As she spoke, the crowd around her grew larger and a few people were seriously searching websites on their cell phones and increasingly looking puzzled. I realized that she was “educating” her audience about the “demonic and immoral” leadership of the United States. “Look at the picture of President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron of Britain kissing”, she told them. “I have always known that President Obama is gay. I know that most of you didn’t know that. Now you know”. One man who identified himself as a lawyer responded: “President Obama is a black man with a white mother. A white President can get away with being gay in America or being born outside of the United States but Obama would never even be President one day longer if they found out he was gay – and there is no way America would not know that even before he became President. That is not possible”. The woman confidently repeated her claims, directed the audience to some political and religious conservative websites, answered a bunch of questions and then asked them: “Does any of you know that Michele Obama is a man”? There was a loud gasp from puzzled listeners, one of whom said: “She is not. No way. Look at the resemblance between their first daughter and the President”. “Mrs. Obama is a man”, she said emphatically. Those children were born through surrogates. Google ‘Michele Obama and the blue dress’. I doubted that myself until I saw the blue dress. Then I said: ‘Finally, they are exposed'”.
Without a pause for reaction, this woman moved on to her next lie: “Do you know that the so-called Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) are men”? Another gasp, and then one man said: “Serena is too beautiful to be a man”. Other men agreed but the woman was unimpressed. “Don’t be deceived”, the “lecturer” responded, “Look at Kris Jenner! May that Mr. Williams rot in hell for adopting 2 little black boys, dressing them up as girls and making them learn how to play tennis. He wanted them to dominate the world of tennis just as Obama’s mother gave birth to him in Kenya and took him in secret to the United States so that her gay son would become President and change this beautiful world to a gay world”. Now, there was silence and confusion. She obviously now had the stage in her palms. As if that wasn’t enough, she got up from her seat and said: “Do you know how Joan Rivers the American comedienne died? She died after revealing that Obama is gay. So, add one and one and you don’t need me to tell you who killed her”.
At that point, I had heard enough. My responsibility to the US and Nigeria, and even more to humanity, led me to put a stop to the craziness. In the process, I taught the crowd how to fact-check with the same cell phones that they were holding in their hands and I reminded them that even in the woman’s own religion, which is mine as well, believers are encouraged to engage in some research to verify that what preachers were telling them was true. No sooner had I finished speaking than I heard the following announcement bellow across the terminal: “Please take note of what happened in this here just now and research what you read in order to know the truth before you speak. As we have just been reminded, many things that we read are not true. Take some time to find out the truth before you believe it”.
Things do in fact happen for a purpose and we are sometimes placed in certain situations for reasons that defy explanation. Sometimes we don’t even know why. By the way, did I mention that I was born in that same university town where this happened? So, things do in fact go full cycle sometimes. My quest is not to search for the reason why I was born in Nigeria, or why I was in my birth town on that day at that time. Instead, my desire is to be grateful to my father for his lectures and to always warmly embrace the blessing of being a national of two countries, both of which I love very dearly. Certainly, with such a blessing come responsibilities. When my time on earth is spent, I want to be able to see my father again and thank him, and also thank my mother for her role in educating me for the first few years of my life before her transition to heaven. When the bell tolls for me, I want it said of me that I embraced and fulfilled my responsibilities to my two countries and that I did so in a manner that glorified God. When He welcomes me to His Kingdom, may my Maker say: “Welcome, my son, you were not perfect but you used very well the talents that I gave you and you honored the country that I had you born in and the one that I additionally blessed you with. By so doing, you made me happy and my grace covers your imperfections”. So help me God.
Amen
Amen