I grew up in a very rural and poor area. We lived on a 13-acre heirs property farm. That experience forged a strong foundation upon which a lot was built over my lifetime. The foundation was solid, but so much needed to be added. Travel helped to build upon that foundation.
The first significant trip that I recall was to Tuskegee, Alabama. I went as a high school student to participate in a public speaking contest held on the campus of Tuskegee Institute. During a luncheon, I tried to eat fried chicken with a fork and knife, something I had never done. The knife flipped up and fell on the plate, creating a loud noise to my great embarrassment. I then learned that it was alright to eat fried chicken with my fingers, something I had been doing all my life.
The next major bit of traveling I can recall was to New York City in the early 1960s. I lived in Queens. I quickly learned that I was viewed as an immigrant from a foreign country - the American South. I was hired for the hardest and least-paying jobs. I was looked down on and treated as less than. However, I was not looked down on and treated nearly as bad as I was by Whites in the American South. I learned who I was and grew toward who I am. Travel has made such a difference in my life.
The next series of travels took me back to Alabama to Talladega College and then to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts for summer school, and then to Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts for my junior year of college, and back to Alabama for my senior year. I learned that I was as capable as any others, White, Black or other. I also learned how important it was to be true to myself. I also learned to fight for freedom from racial segregation by participating in the last leg of the Selma to Montgomery March and other protests.
My next series of travels took me to Motherland Africa. I learned that Africans were as intelligent and capable as any other people. I learned that Tarzan was just a figment of White folk’s imagination. While I was there for almost a year, I more fully understood that Africa was a continent, not a country. It is the second most populous continent after Asia and contains more than 50 countries. Africa is the only continent that people assume is a country. The people are many and varied within countries and across countries. As we traveled from Nigeria to Dahomey (Benin) to Togo, to Ghana, to Ivory Coast, to Serra Leone, to Liberia and back to Nigeria, I met many special peoples and came close to death when a coup was taking place in Sierra Leone. I subsequently traveled to other parts of Africa including Niger, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, and Mali. I learned that culture is more powerful than race and economics is a powerful part of every culture.
As I traveled to Egypt in North Africa, I learned of the extraordinary accomplishments by Black people commencing 5000 years ago in medicine, mathematics, science, and construction. Somehow, many of these accomplishments were attributed to the Greeks. Some accomplishments, like the pyramids, are so extraordinary that some Europeans today claim they were built by beings from out of space. Travel has made such a difference in my life.
As I traveled to European countries such as England, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, I learned that all White people did not manifest the same concept of white superiority toward African Americans. I also learned that when we - African Americans - are few in number, we are unique and exciting. When we are numerous, we are scary!
When I visited Asian countries such as Taiwan, India, and Turkey - Turkey is partly in Asia and partly in Europe - I kept learning about places and people and the power of religion. The more I traveled, the bigger the picture of people became and the smaller the differences became.
Traveling to the Caribbean Islands and the island of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean impacted me. Traveling from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, to Jamaica, to Puerto Rica, to Cuba, to Trinidad, to the Virgin Islands, to Grand Cayman, and to the Bahamas taught me how much difference the warmth of the water makes in the culture. The more I saw, the more I saw God at work in all of God’s diversity.
I have not forgotten about South and Central America with countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica. I learned how indigenous culture was modified by European and African cultures. I saw nature more at work. I saw more of God at work.
Finally, I learned so much as I traveled most of North America, including most of the 50 states in the United States including Hawaii and Alaska. I also learned as I traveled Canada and Mexico. The more I traveled in North America, the more I understood the impact of slavery and colonization and genocide. I also saw the great diversity and the great unity within that diversity.
EPILOGUE – The opportunities to learn and grow are many, varied, and almost everywhere. Every time we go from one place to another, opportunities to learn and grow await us. Travel is a gold mine of opportunities and education. Travel has made such a difference in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment