Chain that cane
When dealing with our children in this part of the world, we’re likely to reach out for the cane or deliver a backhand with such precision and fury, it would leave even Novak Djokovic the ace tennis player, green with envy. Far more so than our caucasian brothers and sisters.
But have you ever stopped to ask yourself why black people are arguably the least adventurous of all the races? Why wouldn’t we be, when the slightest whiff of mischief instantly attracts a good hiding. The creative thinking and daring nature which incidentally accompanies naughtiness in adolescence is routinely bludgeoned out of us, all in the name of discipline. Before long, the child’s spirit is cowed and the essential sense of adventure, necessary to literally conquer mountains and to explore the endless possibilities of space diminishes, until there’s nothing left. How will a child, sternly warned not to go near water, discover the hidden treasures of the sea?
Anyone familiar with the famous Williams sisters’ story would know their talent was nurtured from a very young age, by their father whose foresight produced the winners we all love and celebrate today. They didn’t become champions by chance. This was done by engaging them in a rigorous training program and ingraining a mentality which has made them unstoppable. Instead of beating his daughters and reminding them he didn’t send them to school to play, he did the complete opposite. He deliberately got them to “play”. He channelled their restlessness into something productive. His perception of sports didn’t align with those who saw it as a waste of time but instead identified it as a veritable path to greatness.
However, as wonderfully inspiring as this part of their story is, that’s not what most wowed me. The most profound take away for me is to learn that a supposed underdog can actually become the top dog and reign supreme if he’s perceptive enough to dig out a hidden advantage. At a time when the sisters’ peers were on the basketball court or the athletic track, playing sports typically associated with black people like themselves, they were playing tennis. Instead of engaging in the usual sports reserved for black children singled out for their athletic promise, they veered into almost unknown territory. Their old man had seen way ahead and foresaw how the black man’s extraordinary agility and strength could work to the advantage of his two daughters in a sport traditionally played by whites. He wasn’t wrong. At least one of the two sisters, Venus or Serena, has dominated female tennis almost uninterrupted, for over two decades.
My plea is for us to avoid beating curiosity and natural inquisitiveness out of our children. Allow them to ask all the questions they want to ask and don’t be quick to shut them up. Encourage them to express themselves, both verbally and physically. Allow their imagination to run wild, for buried in it, is genius clamouring to spring forth. Do not manacle their creative essence or make the mistake of cowing their spirit. Certainly, it must be frustrating for parents who constantly replace toys because their child keeps dismantling them.
Such behaviour may appear destructive but in the child’s mind, it’s not a random act, he’s actually going somewhere. You may well be doing the world a favour if at times, you allow him to get there. Beating him may only abort his journey before it has even begun. Let’s say you even damn it all and decide to smack him anyway, from where will our great engineers, doctors, inventors and innovators emerge? Is it really a surprise that those “crazy” Oyinbo people who consider it fun to attempt to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon or to swim across the seas, are invariably the same people who produce most of the world’s greatest innovations? They are the initiators and pioneers who bring progress and newness to the world. Imagine how drab the world would be without them.
Involved in a series of “successful” publicity stunts for his Virgin brand since the 1980s, Sir Richard Branson was rarely triumphant in his daring quest, but in his objective to attract attention to his brand and business, he never failed. Twice he tried to become the first man to fly around the world in a hot air balloon (1995 and 1998) and twice he failed. To celebrate the first Virgin America flight in 2007, he bungee jumped off a 407 foot tall Hotel in Las Vegas. This didn’t go too well either as he smashed into the building twice and embarrassingly ripped his trousers apart in the process. But still, “nothing spoil”. The publicity stunt worked like a charm for his airline. Aware of all these and more, it was almost a no brainer that Sir Richard Branson’s name would one day pop up as one of the front-runners in the space race, with his Virgin Galactic project, designed to take passengers on “space holidays”. How many blacks we’ll see on those trips, your guess is