I have received inspiration for this post from several fellow bloggers – yawl know who you are. I have wanted to do this for myself; I guess another form of soul searching. So outside of the men and women in my family, these are the people that have informed, improved and assisted in proffering the disposition and molecular mass known and Torrance T. Stephens, PhD. And I would advise this as an exercise for all. For it will be fun, introspective and informative. Not to mention folk here consider himself the truth, just as these mutha fukas – yep they the truth, 4 real tough.
1]
Cheikh Anta Diop (1923-1986) – I got a chance to see him before he died, and the Nile Valley Conference Meeting held at my alma marta, Morehouse College, if ever I could foster a man crush, it was with him. Got his PhD from the University of Paris, Sorbonne in 1960 in Egyptology after a nine-year struggle to do so.
I have read all of his books at least 5 times, and such may be an underestimation. The reason I rank him number one is because I read an interview conducted by the Third World Book Review. He said in essence that we as Africans in the Diaspora, for those of us who can just do one thing, do it and do it exceptionally. He said for the rare breed of folk such as he, master it all and don’t be afraid to self inculcate on new subject matter. He studied at the top physic laboratory in the country, was a paleontologist, historian, anthropologist, spoke nine languages and developed the test by which one could discern if melanin was I the bones of mummies found I archeological digs. Dr. Diop was the Director of Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa (IFAN) at the University of Dakar. Diop’s seminal pedagogic challenges, which was irrefutable via science was that African culture and history was older than any other, and influenced the course of other cultures more than usually given credit. I took up his challenge.
2] Martin Luther King Jr. – Enough said. Not to mention he had Coretta.
3]
Rube Foster (1879-1930) – Founder of the Negro Leagues (in picture). Made a way when there wasn’t one for the love of his self, his spirit and the love of sport. Didn’t hurt that he was one of the first multi millionaires of our persuasion of his era. As a pitcher and owner, his brand of baseball was solid defense good pitching and hitting. The same way I coached my Old national Pirates – from 14 to 14 yrs of age, had them from T ball to 13,14). His American Giants won all other recorded championships from
1910 through 1922. He was the founder of two things pf importance t me, the
Negro Leagues and the screwball or fade-away. In fact he was paid to teach the
screwball to
Christy Mathewson.
4]
Frantz Fanon (1925 – 1961) - In 1953, he was the
Head of the Psychiatry Department at the Blida-Joinville Hospital in Algeria Here he was in charge of patient care and learned of the horrified stories of torture his patients -- both French torturers and
Algerian torture victims -- told him. This was the period he penned
Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961). A pupil of the philosophical tractates of
Jean Paul Sartre, he took exestentialism to the human level. BTW my favorite book by Sartre is “
Being and Nothingness" (had to read it at least 8 time). Fanon developed leukemia, and The Wretched of the Earth, was completed in 10 months, and published by Jean-Paul Sartre in the year of his death. He died at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland in 1961 a year before my birth.
5]
Voltaire (1694 – 1778) - My Nigga, writer extraordinaire ( the person responsible the most for my motivation to write). I love this quote "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Jones made me, me, because he was the ultimate humorist, the ultimate satirist and intellectual philosopher. Only difference was that he was an admirer of John Locke. For me his books were the shit. Candide – the optimist,
Micromagus (man and geospatial analysis in the anti Alexander Pope sense if you asked me – none center of the universe), Zadig, the philosophical dictionary and his play the fanatical. Must read, again, if u asks me.
6] George Clinton – “Not just knee deep she was totally deep, when she did the freak with me” and “no head no backstage pass”. What else can I say. Oh yea, can u say FUNKY?
7] Malcolm X (1925 – 1965) - Can you say epitome of well read and riffle? Where would I be without my SKS and the 7.52 slug (full metal jacket of course, with potassium cyanide and candle wax over the top, I know TMI)?
8] Arthur Ashe (1943 - 1993) - Character and integrity, faith and truth, that’s what he defines. And last of the powerful one hand backhands, next to me, but you should have known that. My complete tennis idol. Taught me how to incorporate the game of the swed’s into mine. Shouts out to
Joakim Nyström,
Mats Wilander,
Björn Borg,
Anders Järryd, and
Stefan Edberg. Long live the high looping forehand. Ashe was one of the first to
speak out againts Aparthied and as result, he was excluded from the Davis Cup competition. in South Africa on March 23, 1970, because the country denied him a Visa. Add to that, his afro was tight.
9-tie]
Denmark Vessey (1767 – 1822) & Nat Turner (1800 – 1831) – The essence of live free or die, and if I have to tell yawl more about folks who had their heads stuck on poles on the road leading out of town, or one who was lynched in Jerusalem, Virginia, the yawl really aint my folk Jones. But for the record, Vessey was a real man, it cost him
$600.00 to buy his own freedom, a lot back in the day but he was not able to purchase the freedom of his wife and two children - Thats him in the pic with his back whipped all up. Nat, well after killing ONLY
50 white folks, they celebrated and had picnics on the Sunday of his lynching, I mean execution.
10] Sheldon Gilbert – Young cat, your folk can can learn from themm too. 32 year old CEO of
Proclivity Systems. A Yale graduate. Also conducted genetic genetic research at Cornell University Medical Center and Rockefeller University. A self taught computer programer, he dropped out of the PhD program in computational genomics at New York University. His programing genious has moved beyond that of the basic Google-like searh engine. His is predictive, and analyzes the data left behind from a persons interaction on a Web site. Now a search engine that predics one future searches – that’s ingenious.
Rounding out the list: Ida B. Wells, Muhammad Ali, W.E.B. Dubois, Corretta Scott King, Paul Roberson, Pam Grier. Jack Tatum, James Vander Zee, Richard Pryor.
This will be a first. I will attempt to present subject matter without conjecture or invective. So here goes. Talk radio is a regular and if not, daily experience for me. Although being down here in Atlanta, my preference is limited to Sports Talk 790 the zone, Neal Boortz and NPR on WABE, I do read transcripts and occasionally listen to the broadcast I can receive without registering online.
