In The Company of Elizabeth Mowins, ESPN, and Others

I am back in Syracuse. I arrived to accept a position in the Wall of Distinction at Cicero North Syracuse with Joleen Derosiers, Elizabeth Mowins, and Tiffany Parish Hill. The evening was a great experience and it was extremely strange to know that 23 years have passed and, suddenly, I have my fat noggin on the same wall as Richard Gere. I was very proud of my fellow inductees: an authors, an ESPN commentator, and a naval officer.

More importantly I was happy to have Haji, Werdi, Abdi and Lugendo, as well as my family, there to  support me. They made it all possible.

In my impromptu speech, I focused on two words: Newcomer and Ubuntu. I tried to piece together a story of becoming a newcomer to North Syracuse Central Schools, to college, to teaching, to meeting immigrant youth, to returning to SU for a Ph.D, to meeting newcomers from refugee campus, and finally to realizing that Carmellas, the place we hung out in high school, is now a funeral home named, you guess it - Newcomers. I think I will have no idea but to go full circle with my life.

The ceremony at CNS was phenomenally done and I have several thank-you cards to write. But my head on the plaque - HUGE. I mean HUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE. Great.