Beyond the Patriotism, Heroes are Within the Heart @abubility

Yesterday, on the 4th, Abu sent me an essay he wrote in a freshmen college English class where he personalized a narrative about his grandfather - a man who influenced his integrity and goals as a Liberian-American in the United States. Abu is a now a junior, but I love that he's the reflective sort and goes over his previous work. He wrote,

After my first semester at The College at Brockport, I was not looking forward to anything but going home and hanging out with my family and friends. I was looking forward to eating my mom’s cooking, her yelling at me every morning and forcing me to eat, because she cares so much. I was also looking forward to playing in soccer tournaments with my friends and hanging out in the mall. 

Abu's a junior now, but of the age where he can gain perspective from the sacrifices that were made so he could live with integrity in the United States. After his first year of college, sadly, he returned home to his mother to learn that his grandfather had passed - a man who helped raise him in Liberia and who instilled in him a sense of honor, faith, and integrity.

This is the man I learned everything I know about life from. Like how to pray, how to read the Quran, and how to respect and value life. To find out he will not be teaching me anymore is the feeling that I will never get over. I remember when I was I think seven or six years old and my grandfather would cook every Saturday morning and have us eat.  Another memory I have with my grandfather is, when he surprised the whole family on Monday morning with a dog and we were so excited that we didn’t want to go to school, so he decided to let us stay home and play with our new dog. That is a day I will never forget with my grandfather.   

I remember that after my freshmen year, I returned home to learn that my grandmother, Grannie Annie, had passed. I learned then that to understand life, one must comprehend death.

Musa K. Konneh lived his life beyond the hustle and bustle of traffic, technology, malls, and American complexity and did all he could to maintain family during turbulent times in Liberia. As I read Abu's essay I couldn't help but think about the power of Ubuntu and that the young man I met as a 15 year old at a high school in Syracuse had an incredible amount of community and family invested in him before he left arrived to New York through refugee relocation services. We, in the United States,  have tremendous pride for our progenitors who made democracy possible and freedom a reality. We live, for the most part, without a fear of violence and with a sense of calm and safety. Similar pride exists elsewhere, too, but in turbulent regions and without the harmony that comes with an American life.

My grandfather passed away at the age of hundred and eight and now every time I think about him not being around, I think about the legacy he left behind. The goods he did for his sons daughters, grandkids, and his neighbors that had nothing. He made sure that we had what was needed for survival every day of the week. That’s the kind of man my grandfather was and that’s the kind of man I want to be. A loving and caring person that puts his family and friends first. 

There is a saying that apples don't fall far from trees. This is evident in Abu Bility. Without a doubt, Musa K. Konneh guides his journey  in the U.S.

Here's to grandparents everywhere who plant spirited seeds of excellence and care into grandchildren all around the world. As Jim Hendrix says, "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."

Peace.