Skip to playerSkip to main content
Cinemama
  • 2 days ago
A Panther In Africa
Transcript
00:00:07Living here in Tanzania you have to have a gun. We have spinning cobras, buffalo crashing
00:00:14to our fences, there have been reports of lions roaming around. But anyone who is not
00:00:21a Tanzanian requesting to possess a firearm must first get permission from their embassy.
00:00:27Now this is a crazy scenario. Pete O'Neill, former Black Panther in exile, has to go to
00:00:34the United States Embassy to request a license for a 12 gauge shotgun and it was a 12 gauge
00:00:42shotgun in 1970 that led to my spending 32 years in Africa.
00:01:04As a member of the Black Panther Party, I was arrested on the very bogus charge of transporting
00:01:10a gun across state lines. I had had some very serious run-ins with the police in Kansas City
00:01:16and with the FBI as well. Policemen had seriously indicated that I would die if I went to prison.
00:01:22So, my wife Charlotte and I left the United States and chose to go into exile.
00:01:32After having spent two years in Algeria, we came here to Arusha, Tanzania. And we have
00:01:39been here ever since.
00:01:45This pipe goes to our village.
00:01:55So, here's where the elephants have been stepping.
00:02:06So, these are how the elephants take and grab out with their tusks and pull out the pipe. And
00:02:12break them, huh?
00:02:14Oh, that's kind of scary.
00:02:22I'm hoping and praying that this will perhaps alleviate some of our water problems. Doesn't
00:02:27look very promising right now, but fingers crossed.
00:02:42When I brought Charlotte out here, she was 19 years old. She had never been away from
00:02:47home. And I was 30 days. I cannot imagine that I would have been able to succeed without
00:02:54her. I do not have the ability to deal with details. I can't. Charlotte coordinates everything.
00:03:04Hey. Hey. Sorry to be so rushed, rushed, but I got another meeting this afternoon. I need
00:03:11to know how we can do today. Because, you know, I got to go to Rotary. And then I got
00:03:16this...
00:03:18I can be a little impatient at times and have developed into a grumpy old man. Are you leaving
00:03:30now? And, uh, Charlotte is, uh, angelic by nature. I'm setting a new record for cholesterol. I'm
00:03:46telling you. I'm telling you.
00:03:49I'm telling you.
00:03:50I'm telling you.
00:03:50I'm telling you.
00:03:51I'm telling you.
00:03:52Yeah. Two men. Two men. Two men. Two men.
00:03:53Okay.
00:03:54Hidasa!
00:03:56Hidasa! Hurry up. Come on.
00:04:00Hidasa!
00:04:00Hidasa!
00:04:01Come on.
00:04:04Morning.
00:04:05Good morning.
00:04:05How y'all doing?
00:04:06How are you?
00:04:08Our differing personalities have combined to create a whole that has been extraordinarily productive.
00:04:21We'd like to welcome you all to the United African American Community Center. Myself, Charlotte
00:04:27O'Neal. My husband, Pete O'Neal, founded the United African American Community Center
00:04:33in 91.
00:04:3491.
00:04:35But we have been doing community work for years and years in Kansas City as members of the
00:04:41Black Panther Party, where we fed more than 750 children every day and had free medical clinics.
00:04:48When people think of the Black Panther Party, mostly due to the media, they think of young
00:04:53men with guns and berets and leather jackets. And that's true. But we were much more than that.
00:05:02The really good things about the Black Panther Party was the manner in which it served the community.
00:05:08How old is he? How old is he? He is 11.
00:05:13If you look at what we're doing right now, you would find it difficult to distinguish the
00:05:18community work we were doing back in the day and the community work we're doing now.
00:05:23Do you know we're dealing with 90 students a day?
00:05:27How are you, Asha? I'm fine, alright?
00:05:29If we have someone who has ability to teach English, we teach English.
00:05:35If we find volunteers who have computer skills, they teach computers to our young people.
00:05:45Human. HIV is a human virus.
00:05:50What we're trying to do here is create a microcosm of what we feel the world should be.
00:05:54People of all races, all cultures, all traditions come together and live and work for common goals.
00:06:15In 1968, I started to read about the Black Panther Party.
00:06:19I went to Oakland, California. I talked with the people who were running the party there.
00:06:24And we established the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party.
00:06:28The Black Panther Party is officially in Kansas City.
00:06:34The Black Panther Party came into existence to try to control these mad dog policemen
00:06:40who were brutalizing people in the black community.
00:06:43The city of our black community.
00:06:45About the black community.
00:06:47Right on.
00:06:48Our breakfast for school children program. Our counseling programs. Our clothing programs.
00:06:55All evolved from that original foundation.
00:07:00Before the Black Panther Party, I did many things that by anyone's standards would be considered wrong.
00:07:07Well, the Black Panther Party turned my life dramatically around.
00:07:15I bet a lot of the, can you imagine how a lot of the elders in the village would view
00:07:20the, who is this?
00:07:21I said, well that's Mama Charlotte.
00:07:22Mm-hmm.
00:07:23They say, who?
00:07:24Yeah.
00:07:24What's she doing with the gun?
00:07:26Yeah, is she going hunting or what?
00:07:28Mm-hmm.
00:07:29Wow.
00:07:30Do you remember when we first came to Dalsalon, to Tanzania?
00:07:34And I remember when we walked out of that airport and how warm it was.
00:07:38Mm-hmm.
00:07:39And it was those coconut trees, you know.
00:07:42And I said, Pete, I love this.
00:07:45This is like coming home.
00:07:47And it really was.
00:07:48And you had this puzzled expression on your face.
00:07:51I don't know what that meant.
00:07:53Do you know when I got off the plane here, and this is the truth, Shirley.
00:07:57No, all kidding aside now.
00:07:59I didn't have a good feeling.
00:08:01I just didn't, sister.
00:08:03And we've talked about this a lot and I generally make light of it.
00:08:06But it was, to me it was just like I had gotten too far away from everything that I knew.
00:08:12And it amazes me how you didn't feel that way.
00:08:14Mm-mm.
00:08:15Huh?
00:08:15I guess you were just as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine, huh?
00:08:19For me, I was saying, oh, boy.
00:08:22I saw the tin roofs with the rusted iron.
00:08:26And I said, uh-oh.
00:08:28I said, we are in for some, for a different kind of life.
00:08:31Why would we say he'd say he'd say that?
00:08:41He's not a good person.
00:08:42He's not a good person.
00:08:42Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
00:08:45How much, how much is it?
00:08:47Uh, we went a little backpack again?
00:08:49Hiya, mama.
00:08:49Two mum threw kuchunga gari.
00:08:51Wait in jow like, you need tingomkun.
00:09:19I spend most of my life shopping and buying
00:09:23supplies. We feed 20 to 30 people daily. We've got our programs, we have student
00:09:29groups coming through, we've got all these people visiting. We've got people
00:09:33on honeymoon, people just passing through.
00:09:37We are in constant motion.
00:09:48I have a peaceful kind of floating in the clouds nature. That's just me and it
00:09:55balances out the way Pete is because he's more hyper and he sweats things more than
00:10:02I do. But he's very different from the way I remember him back in the day. I've
00:10:09watched him grow to be very tolerant of all kind of people's opinions. Where I
00:10:16think years ago if you wasn't down with the program, you know, you couldn't hardly
00:10:23say anything to him. You know what I mean?
00:10:31We don't see any racial problems in Birmingham.
00:10:33Oh really? No. Scott and I live there and we love it. We both live fairly Anglo lives
00:10:40in Alabama. I don't have that much interaction with inner city blacks or anything but I don't
00:10:46feel threatened walking down the street and there's no chip on my shoulder and as far as
00:10:49I can tell, no chip on any of their shoulders.
00:10:51Well that was going to be my next question. How, I was going to ask you, how did you think
00:10:55blacks felt there? You're talking about where, Birmingham?
00:10:58But now Birmingham, not, not 40 years ago.
00:11:00But I wanted to ask you, how do they feel? How would you feel?
00:11:02I don't agree with what Claire says. I still notice that throughout the African-American community,
00:11:08I still think there are a lot of young people who still sense some resentment and get choked
00:11:12by the anger and resentment and can't break out of that and almost wallow at times in the anger and
00:11:20resentment and instead of taking that energy moving forward, it serves as a hindrance to their moving
00:11:29forward. There may be some truth in that, but can you imagine how difficult it is to forge your head?
00:11:34I don't know how. No, you don't, sir. And when you have never had an opportunity,
00:11:39educationally, when you... But you don't know what it's like to be a white male in the South,
00:11:43either. It ain't all bread and roses. I mean, it's... But whites weren't slaves for centuries.
00:11:48But we don't live on the big rock candy mountain, and the money doesn't grow on trees, and it's not
00:11:52even easy for a white person, either. It's hard, Pete. It's not easy for whites. No, it's not. I agree
00:12:00with you. It's not. But you certainly, in any kind of intellectual honesty, you can't compare that
00:12:06with white blacks. You were too intelligent a man... No, no, no. I definitely agree with that.
00:12:09...to look at people... I will definitely agree with that. ...people that were treated like cows and
00:12:13chickens... I definitely, 100%. ...were denied bread was against the law to know how to read for
00:12:18centuries. Now, what's the solution? The first thing in all of these problems that we talked about,
00:12:24I can give you the solution. The first thing is to admit. And that's hard. That's the hardest thing.
00:12:30That's the hardest part. Sure. And particularly for whites. Not a white man never will be. But I can
00:12:35imagine this is the most difficult thing whites will ever have to do. Is to admit categorically
00:12:40that we have had serious problems. We can't sugarcoat them. We can't cast blame on the victim. We have to
00:12:49say, hey, we screwed up. This was wrong. What can we do to make it right? Sister, sister, sister. If
00:13:00you could have
00:13:00heard some of the stuff that came out of their mouth. Lord. Part of the problem, no,
00:13:06damn it, he said the problem, and I'm paraphrasing, was that young blacks have resentment in their heart.
00:13:16Well, what in the hell do you expect to have? So many people have a lack of knowledge about the
00:13:2260s and the 70s and the whole, and the civil rights era and all of that, you know? It's like
00:13:28they've been living in complete isolation.
00:13:30Isolation and have no idea. Or even about the rest of the world. Yeah.
00:13:34That's what blows my mind too. We'll find people that'll come in our presence now and they'll talk
00:13:40about social issues and racial issues and things like this, but these are things they don't think
00:13:45about when they're not, and they think they have to do this in our presence. Right.
00:13:49They mean well. No, but that's the killer. This is the killer. This is the killer. Yeah.
00:13:53They think in their mind that they are being as progressive and they're saying, look, look,
00:14:00it's really your fault. He said, it's your fault. Are you playing, you're a big part of the problem.
00:14:06Yeah. But he means well. Yeah.
00:14:08I don't like that, do you? I know that's a big part of what we talk about and what we
00:14:12try to do,
00:14:13but I don't like it, do you? You mean dealing with those issues? No. I'm talking about the whole
00:14:18cross-cultural thing when it, when it, when it brings that uncomfortable feeling, you know?
00:14:24I'd really, I'm not going to do this, but I'd really just say, hey, take that shit out of here,
00:14:29you know? Has there been any cooling off between you and the police in Kansas City? None whatsoever.
00:14:35There can never be any cooling off between the Black Panther Party and the racist pigs,
00:14:39regardless of what level of pigs we're talking about until all oppression has been ended,
00:14:43until we've seen them all sent to their graves. When I look at that footage, uh, I'm a little
00:14:50impressed with myself that I had the fortitude to say this and to say it on national TV.
00:14:57I have no qualms about what we were struggling for in the Black Panther Party. I think they were right.
00:15:02That's ludicrous. But when I see myself adopting a totally unreasonable stance, it almost says to me,
00:15:10I could have dealt with that better. And Eldridge Cleaver made the statement that he would like to
00:15:16go into the Senate, to shoot his way into the Senate and take McCullen's head. Well,
00:15:20while Eldridge is doing that, I would like very much to shoot my way into the House of Representatives
00:15:24and get this racist, lying Icard's head. The interviewer, when I said that I wanted to take
00:15:30Congressman Icard's head, who headed the investigation against me, he said,
00:15:37now when you say you want to take his head, you don't mean that literally.
00:15:43And I said, I mean it literally. I'd like to do that. And perhaps I did. Perhaps at that time,
00:15:50I was thinking that going into the House of Representatives and taking the head of Icard
00:15:56would somehow further the revolution. Well, if that's how I thought then,
00:16:02it's not a reflection of how I feel now.
00:16:07What I need to do is just really practice the pronunciation.
00:16:13See, I'm getting, struggling already.
00:16:15Try to use it.
00:16:16Okay.
00:16:23First, tell me the meaning. What does it mean?
00:16:25The meaning is understanding.
00:16:27Understanding, like between you and I.
00:16:29Yeah.
00:16:29Say we borrowed on certain matters.
00:16:32Yes.
00:16:32And then we said, okay, let's forget about our differences.
00:16:36Yes.
00:16:36So that understanding is called muwafaka.
00:16:41Good Lord in heaven.
00:16:46Muwafaka.
00:16:47Muwafaka.
00:16:48Okay.
00:16:50I understand why you try to avoid using that word.
00:16:54Yes, I am. Because there's a phrase in English that sounds very similar,
00:16:59and it means, certainly does not mean understanding, you know.
00:17:03Yes.
00:17:05When Peter came to Tanzania, he was young, provocative, very rough.
00:17:12I remember you cannot talk to Peter three words without exchanging horrible words.
00:17:27One day in town, he had this panga, a big knife.
00:17:32And I don't know what happened, but he chased a man with his knife.
00:17:38So a lot of people came out, and everybody was saying, wow, wow, what is this, what is this?
00:17:44Then we saw it was Peter.
00:17:48In Tanzania, we don't do that.
00:17:51If you hate somebody, there is a way of giving the message that,
00:17:56Bwana, I don't like you.
00:17:58But not chasing him in front of people with a panga, with a knife, it doesn't happen.
00:18:10When Peter came here, he had some problems in his mind.
00:18:16I think he has some frustrations from America.
00:18:27I love the way on that baby.
00:18:29Chica chini.
00:18:31Chica chini.
00:18:32Chica chini.
00:18:37Chica chini.
00:18:38Chica chini.
00:18:44I love the Tanzanian people.
00:18:46I think they are gentle, considerate, loving people.
00:18:50And things are so much more mellow here, so much more polite.
00:18:54But it's hard for me.
00:18:57Who you need to do me?
00:18:58Oftentimes, the elders will stop me and want to talk about some issue.
00:19:02I'm still with that little bit of Americanism in me, want to rush and do what I have to do.
00:19:09I am required to visit regularly, to bring gifts when I do so,
00:19:14and I must express the highest form of respect.
00:19:20I have to struggle with it. Don't do it this way. Don't say it that way. Be polite.
00:19:25This is a daily struggle for me.
00:19:33Yesterday, I received an email about my legal case.
00:19:39My lawyer has done so much for me, and he has done it pro bono.
00:19:44I haven't had a cent to give him.
00:19:47This is going to be the year that something dramatic will take place
00:19:52with our efforts to have my conviction thrown out and my legal situation.
00:19:57I really believe that.
00:20:03Now, what was that woman that was the attorney general under Clinton?
00:20:07Janet Reno, that's it.
00:20:09This case even reached her desk.
00:20:12She was in a sense sympathetic. She said, yes, I couldn't agree more that his conviction was
00:20:19probably politically motivated. She said, but it's going to have to be resolved in the courts
00:20:25or either a presidential pardon. Anyway, we'll see what happens. I'm confident, however,
00:20:30that eventually I will prevail. Somebody else give me a question.
00:20:35There's a tattoo over there. Oh, Lord, I knew someone would see that. You're the first one.
00:20:40Yeah, these were put on me when I was in the Navy. This faded, said Pete.
00:20:46This one says, Mom, I've never in my life called my mother Mom. Never in my entire life.
00:20:52Now, the creme de la creme, you ready? Are we prepared for this?
00:20:57Yeah. There's this one, which is a, what could I have been thinking? A turtle?
00:21:04Man, I've got stuff on me that I said, Lord, please let no one see it before I die, you
00:21:09know.
00:21:10You want to know what I got in Hong Kong? Let me show you. You want to see it?
00:21:13This is not going to be salacious or anything. Don't get upset or worried.
00:21:18This is a Black Panther that I had put on in Hong Kong in 1958, long before a Black Panther
00:21:26party was ever thought about.
00:21:27Isn't that a little odd coincidence? Isn't that something? Yeah.
00:21:31We work with a lot of organizations, universities and study abroad programs.
00:21:37Tourists come out here and they give us donations for staying here with us.
00:21:41So this is how we survive financially. We operate and we function on a wing and a prayer.
00:21:57See, we're talking about water situations, sister. It's bad. This could get disastrous, you know.
00:22:02Let me tell you, everybody. May I make a suggestion? Please forgive the indelicate subject at the dinner table.
00:22:09Yeah.
00:22:10But when you pee, don't flush the toilet. Do not flush the toilet when you pee.
00:22:15And when you take showers, please be brief.
00:22:27One of our major difficulties in living here in this village is our lack of water.
00:22:33And the fact that our water supply is so uncertain.
00:22:39When there's no rain, everybody's battling, trying to get a little bit more water.
00:22:44Oh, this can't be. This is a holy mess. There's a trickle of water coming in from the park.
00:22:54The water is the absolute last of our reserves. We have nothing else.
00:23:06I had a real bad suncake. I started getting fever. And now I'm coughing a lot. I think it's bronchitis.
00:23:13I've had it before. And now I'm throwing up. I can't eat anything.
00:23:19I've been wearing a temperature between 100 and 101 for three days.
00:23:24Do you have headache?
00:23:25Yes. It's not real bad, but I do have headaches. At first, I thought maybe it was malaria.
00:23:30Yes. There's scant malaria. So you will need some antibiotics also to get malaria.
00:24:02So it's a terrible win. So you got bronchitis? You got malaria?
00:24:07No, that's fine.
00:24:07No, that's fine. You know what? I was afraid of typhoid.
00:24:12Hmm? I'm not hearing that.
00:24:15Bet your head was hurting, huh?
00:24:16Yeah.
00:24:16Mm-hmm.
00:24:19Yeah.
00:24:22O'Neal.
00:24:24Yeah, come on.
00:24:26Yeah, here we go.
00:24:28You got to worry about things like malaria parasites. There's other parasites that you got to always
00:24:35be aware of. There's all kinds of problems that would be different in the states or non-existent
00:24:40in the states. But then when I look around and see all these trees and all this beauty and the
00:24:46birds
00:24:46singing, I know I can go around the compound and go into the classroom and see all those
00:24:52students working and thriving. Any kind of inconvenience that we experience is nothing
00:25:00compared to that. Because I know we wouldn't be able to live a life like this in the states. No
00:25:05way.
00:25:07Charlotte is probably one of the most positive human beings that I've ever met in my life,
00:25:12and she can deal with anything. But we get malaria far too much. We actually are getting malaria
00:25:19three and four times a year.
00:25:27It's the most horrendous disease. I think malaria kills more people in Saharan Africa than anything
00:25:34else, including AIDS. The parasites hide in the liver, and at times of stress, they come out.
00:25:41Okay, you take all these medicines and things like that, but it doesn't completely rid them out of your
00:25:47body. You can't think, you can't breathe, you can't eat aching, and chills, and sweating, and fever.
00:25:55It's horrible. This is just taking too great a toll on our bodies, you know.
00:26:05That's so nice we got a show like this we can enjoy. Yeah, it is. Isn't it nice?
00:26:10Yeah. As Albert Einstein said, the world is a dangerous place to live in.
00:26:15Not because people do evil, but because people sit by and let them.
00:26:21Good point, brother. Congratulations, you qualified for the state firm.
00:26:25I know this will go ahead and watch it. He's upset about something. Yeah, you can see it right there.
00:26:33Look at her all tight face.
00:26:38Oh, now that's smart.
00:26:40Is that a teacher?
00:26:42Yeah, I think she flipped out or something. Look at her.
00:26:51We're going to have another student teacher affair developing there. See, I see through all that
00:26:59squish. He's running that squish for getting closer to it, you see.
00:27:05White middle class kids. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm leaving. Not everything is black and white,
00:27:10Mr. Jackson. Standardized tests. I'm speaking now, sir.
00:27:14Uh-oh. The testing board is comprised of a broad spectrum. It's funny how 53% of white kids
00:27:20answered that same question correctly when only 22% of black kids did. How do you know this?
00:27:24I know it because I read about it. Well, run at that. Education ceases to be learning with the three
00:27:29R's
00:27:30are read, remember, and regurgitate. Uh-oh. That sucks. So what, you gonna suspend me now?
00:27:38Oh, that was a good one, wasn't it?
00:27:49The whole idea behind the Heal the Community program is that we want to take young African
00:27:56Americans, preferably those from a challenged background, and expose them to the traditional
00:28:04African life with the hope that this will inspire them to go back to their communities
00:28:11and create a better way.
00:28:13What class you have to try?
00:28:14And I think about these young people, Morty and Derek, I think about myself and all the mistakes
00:28:21I made, all the misguided goals that I've had in my life. If I can play a part in steering
00:28:28some other
00:28:29young African American away from the pitfalls that I jumped willingly into, that is extremely important
00:28:37to meet. Come on, Derek. I just didn't think I'd have been picked to go to Tanzania for the simple
00:28:43fact I didn't feel that I was doing that good in school. As a young person, I was just bad,
00:28:47you know what I'm saying, stealing it, breaking in people's houses and went to jail a couple times
00:28:51for stuff like that. I wasn't trying to do right at the time, you know what I mean? I don't
00:28:57know, I changed,
00:28:58that's why I'm here today.
00:28:59I've done bad things. I smoked weed. I stopped going to school. I've done a lot of bad things.
00:29:10So I'm looking for this trip to benefit me, to help me. I don't know no one ever been to
00:29:16Africa
00:29:17out of like the black community. I'm glad I'm one of them first ones to go.
00:29:23I saw these like IDs or something. Yes, sir. Federal government ID. That's better than a driver's
00:29:27license, actually. Bam. I'm excited, man, but I'm trying to chill. I'm like, man, I'm happy. I don't
00:29:35know what to do, man. I'm kind of nervous. How you feeling, Mark? Trip of a lifetime.
00:29:50Let me give these brothers a proper. Hello, how you doing? What's your name,
00:29:52Naga? Marty. This is Marty. How you doing, home? I'm all right. Karibu Sana.
00:29:56Hi, ma'am. Didn't that make you dead, right? How you doing, brother? You all right? We all right.
00:30:00Karibu Sana. That means well. Come on, my man.
00:30:11So, brother, this is your first time out of the country? Yeah. It is? You as well? Yeah. Okay.
00:30:16All right. Okay. All right. Have you done much traveling? No, I want to.
00:30:21Were you ready for some unique adventures? Yeah. We're going to give them to you. We're going to give
00:30:26it to you. We're going to give it to you. We're going to give it to you.
00:30:28Yeah. Okay. Something like this. This is it. We're getting ready to get serious with you.
00:30:33This ain't no American. We ain't in America no more. You know what I'm saying? No, no.
00:30:44And let the ancestors know that you all have returned.
00:30:54And we want to welcome you as children of Africa who have come home.
00:31:02You're right back here where you started, brother.
00:31:13The ancestors know you all in the house.
00:31:23Any of you all know anything about 12th Street? Is 12th Street still there?
00:31:26Yeah, 12th Street still there. That was my spot, brother. Uh-huh. Right by the island?
00:31:30That was my, you know the little, right, the bowl? Uh-huh. Do they still have that cannon?
00:31:35Yeah, right there. That little cannon there? That was there.
00:31:37Some of the fondest memories I have of Kansas City is on a weekend in Purcell Park.
00:31:43Is Purcell swimming pool still there? No. It's gone? Yeah, oh, that's gone.
00:31:48Oh, no. Purcell Park's still there. Tell me that's still there. Yeah.
00:31:52And brothers and still, yeah, there you go. And brothers and sisters still gather there on the weekend and things,
00:31:57huh?
00:31:58No, no. It ain't like that. It ain't like that. Yeah, I was doing it.
00:32:01Yeah. Do you remember that, Charlotte? Do you remember Purcell Park,
00:32:04how we'd go down there and just take a blanket and put a blanket? We would.
00:32:09Well, I guess that lends truth to the notion that the Kansas City I knew really no longer exists, you
00:32:15know?
00:32:18Brothers, do you all realize that we're going off deep in the bush to a remote Maasai village?
00:32:26People that come out here as tourists never experience it.
00:32:31He said that we are completely welcome here and that anything that you want to do here,
00:32:38you're more than welcome to do it because you're not visitors. You have arrived.
00:32:43Yeah, I'm going to put your hands down.
00:32:50The Maasai have to struggle to do everything. They have to rope sticks together and use leaves
00:32:56just to make a fire. They walk miles for water. Now, by American standards, these people have nothing,
00:33:04but they have held on to their traditional ways with honor, and I think we can all learn something
00:33:10from that example.
00:33:13What have you put here? This is the center where you swim for perfume.
00:33:20You got to get the others out.
00:33:22After maybe five minutes, my clothes will be a good smell.
00:33:28My one-piece ain't foul, but let me get some of that, man. I'll just do it like this.
00:33:35Yeah.
00:33:38Let Mark, Mark smells it.
00:33:44Somebody who wanted to use toothbrushes in his teeth, teeth breath.
00:33:47He said this is good for your teeth.
00:33:49Yeah, teeth breath.
00:33:51Tea?
00:33:52Tea?
00:33:53Teeth.
00:33:54Toothbrush?
00:33:54Yeah.
00:33:55Toothbrush?
00:33:55Yeah. Toothbrush, yeah.
00:33:57Yeah, yeah.
00:34:00It's toothbrush for us.
00:34:02You have to brush your teeth.
00:34:04Yeah.
00:34:06So now you can clean your teeth if you want.
00:34:12I mean, you got people with no lights, don't have water, toothbrushes, deodorant.
00:34:18I mean, dang, sometimes, man, you be like, dang, this is different, like.
00:34:22It ain't going to be the way we want it to be.
00:34:24It ain't going to be what we're investing to, I'm going to say, like that.
00:34:26Like now, we just got to keep going through it, you know what I'm saying?
00:34:29And it's hard.
00:34:30Yeah.
00:34:32I mean, like the city life, boy.
00:34:34No cars, no buildings.
00:34:36It's just land.
00:34:37Yeah.
00:34:37I miss like the traffic, like the noise, horn, sirens.
00:34:44There ain't no McDonald's around here.
00:34:48I was born in the United States of America.
00:34:51I'm not a Maasai.
00:34:52No, I don't, I don't feel like I'm part of their tribe.
00:34:55I mean, I'm African-American.
00:34:57I wasn't born here in Africa.
00:34:59My ancestors came from here, but I'm African-American.
00:35:03See what I'm saying?
00:35:03I just feel like, dang, man, you just can't talk to nobody really,
00:35:06you know what I'm saying?
00:35:07I mean, I know they want to talk to us and we want to both talk,
00:35:10but I don't feel like I had that bondage with them still.
00:35:14It's just me and this dude here.
00:35:17I mean, yeah, I asked them, you want to play some ball, no?
00:35:21Hey, come on.
00:35:22Come on, fellas.
00:35:24Where the other boys at, man?
00:35:26They was running with me.
00:35:28And it makes it boring, man.
00:35:31Like when we're here chilling, we may want to go up there and hoop, but I mean,
00:35:36one-on-one, it's cool too.
00:35:37We get us, you know, get us a sweat or something.
00:35:39You get tired of that, man.
00:35:40Just we know we only here for 20 days and we can be, we can go back.
00:35:44We got an open door to go back and to think of this man to be here for 30 years,
00:35:48it's like, man, it ain't even, I can't even think about it, man.
00:35:52I don't even want to because I know I wouldn't want to do it.
00:35:56The little experience I had here, man, it's hard.
00:35:59I know you miss home.
00:36:01Well, yeah, I miss home.
00:36:03Yeah, and I can understand that, but in terms of missing home,
00:36:07that's kind of a weird thing, man.
00:36:10I miss some parts of it.
00:36:12You know, I miss my mama.
00:36:14I miss my brother.
00:36:15I've got children I haven't seen.
00:36:17I miss them, but I have become so immersed in this society
00:36:23that I'm almost kind of lost between two worlds.
00:36:26Does that make any sense?
00:36:27Like you ain't an African-American?
00:36:29No, no, no, no, no, not that I'm not home.
00:36:31No, not that, not that, but that I just can't grasp what it,
00:36:39what the values and the mindsets of African-Americans are
00:36:45as much and as easily as I did in the past.
00:36:48And you know, that scares the hell out.
00:36:50I mean, that scares me worse than anything.
00:36:52I don't want that to happen.
00:36:54You know, I don't want to lose that.
00:36:56And here's the kicker, man.
00:36:58Say I win my case tomorrow.
00:36:59I get an email, Pete with one.
00:37:02You know, it's all over.
00:37:04I'm not sure I would get on the plane and go back.
00:37:06I know I would not go back to Liz.
00:37:08You adapted.
00:37:09Yeah, but yeah, that's it.
00:37:10You adapted to here.
00:37:12I have, man.
00:37:13And at the same time, I'm not completely adapted.
00:37:16That's what I'm trying to say.
00:37:25For the entire 32 years that I've been in exile,
00:37:29I have clung tightly to my African-American-ness.
00:37:34These are the people that made me who and what I am.
00:37:38There's millions of them.
00:37:40I have to hold on to every possible thread I can
00:37:44to maintain a connection.
00:37:46And I'm finding that there's a gulf developing.
00:37:51Whoa!
00:37:54Gotcha!
00:37:57That's an elephant for you.
00:37:59Wow!
00:38:01African-Americans come out here.
00:38:03I love them.
00:38:04I embrace them.
00:38:05I enjoy their company.
00:38:07I ain't never seen nothing like this.
00:38:10Never.
00:38:11But at the same time, I'm realizing they are so different from what I know.
00:38:19Oh, look at them.
00:38:20Look at them.
00:38:21The box is kicking each other.
00:38:24The box is wild, man.
00:38:26Look at this one here.
00:38:29I'm losing that connection with African-Americans.
00:38:36I'm kind of lost in a new man's land.
00:38:43Africa!
00:38:44Africa!
00:38:57Africa!mansuje
00:38:59Africa!
00:39:24We are very pleased to have you here.
00:39:30Each and every one of you here, we are so proud and happy to see this gathering of youths who
00:39:36have come together to share their culture and to learn about other cultures.
00:39:55I was just old rap from like my background, how I was raised.
00:40:00It's African-American. I'm African-American.
00:40:05All right, let me get the claps.
00:40:09Nah, not like that. Like a beat.
00:40:16I take my time to rewind and try to think, go back on all the things I used to do
00:40:20and all the knowledge I lacked.
00:40:21I didn't listen, make it with me, but they didn't come through.
00:40:23All the things I heard of God didn't seem to come true, so I did what I wanted to do.
00:40:27Then I ended up in jail, but I could tell that God was there for me, shedding his mercy.
00:40:31It kind of hurt me, but I started seeing the light.
00:40:34I know another game. It's like this.
00:40:37Layup. That's called a layup.
00:40:39You got to practice that. Michael Jordan do that.
00:40:43It's free throw.
00:40:45Say free throw.
00:40:46Free throw.
00:40:47Yeah, free throw.
00:40:48Free throw.
00:40:51That's how you do that.
00:40:54Oh!
00:40:56From here.
00:41:00Focus on this.
00:41:03Let it go.
00:41:04Let it go.
00:41:07Yeah.
00:41:10Yeah!
00:41:12That's how you do it.
00:41:14Yeah.
00:41:43All right.
00:41:45Give it up now.
00:41:46Take care of yourself.
00:41:47Do what I told you and remember.
00:41:49Do you hear me?
00:41:49Yeah.
00:41:50Huh?
00:41:51Remember.
00:41:51All right?
00:41:52That's all you got to do.
00:41:53All right.
00:41:54It's been good.
00:41:54It's been good, brother.
00:41:56Thanks for everything.
00:41:57All right.
00:41:57Huh?
00:41:57You take care of yourself.
00:41:59Much love, brother.
00:42:00All right.
00:42:01All right.
00:42:04Catch you, brother.
00:42:07All right.
00:42:08Good morning.
00:42:09Good morning.
00:42:10Good morning.
00:42:12Good morning.
00:42:16Good morning.
00:42:18Growing up as a child in Kansas City, I got into a lot of trouble, and the pull of the
00:42:24streets
00:42:25kind of got me.
00:42:27prior to becoming involved in the black panther party i wanted to be a pimp i had a new lincoln
00:42:35in 1965 i used to wear expensive suits and expensive shoes my hands were soft and i had
00:42:44manicured fingernails and i liked that i did but in this idea of of being known as a street hustler
00:42:52i wanted that i wanted to be known as a player as of this i did some stupid shit i
00:42:59did you know i'm
00:43:00talking little vulnerable girls into doing things that they didn't want to do and that they had no
00:43:08business doing and destroying people's lives in the process you ask me do i regret things you don't
00:43:15have the slightest idea what you're asking me and i'm not joking now you you you say does this this
00:43:21causes me extreme pain because you don't know what we're talking about i feel
00:43:32it's something that i know i cannot undo and i cannot undo it once and when i think about the
00:43:38people when a picture comes into my mind of the people that were involved when i think of the
00:43:43young girls and i'm a father than i have my daughter and i said lord don't ever let anything
00:43:50like this happen to my children and to think that i did this to someone's daughter to people's
00:43:56daughters that i would pray on them and and try to take advantage of them and and maneuver and
00:44:02manipulate for something just so horrendous that is painful and that stabs me in my heart when i think
00:44:10about that when i involve myself in community world the primary reason i do it is because it's helping me
00:44:21this is for my salvation this keeps me on the straight and narrow this helps me redefine my life
00:44:51hello how are you this is mr alex here okay thank you
00:44:58you know you know this old saying about beware of black men coming bearing big ideas so here i am
00:45:04with that that's new so tell me i made that up on the spur of the moment what i wanted
00:45:10to ask you
00:45:10alex my idea is i want to run it by you and get your input i want to do some
00:45:15computer classes where we
00:45:17can take small children nothing complicated and give them an introductory kind of thing and i don't know
00:45:23what is your thinking do you know of any software i think you mentioned software yeah i've seen
00:45:28software for toddlers i'm sorry three years old four years old they've got software okay i'm looking
00:45:34for old stuff i'm not looking for anything new or anything i'm looking for old stuff yeah i know what
00:45:40you're saying because you're limited as far as funds are concerned yeah um for these kids you need good
00:45:47good computers that software demands something pentium you cannot work with three four year old
00:45:52computers the good news is that even good computers even new computers are getting too print i hear
00:45:59exactly what you're saying i appreciate it and i'm understand the correctness of what you're saying but
00:46:04alex we're always in a money crunch so i know it is and i know it's tanzania i know it's
00:46:10poorly poorly and i
00:46:11i know we've got to get there slowly but i just want you to think about this if you can
00:46:15keep your eyes
00:46:17open it's all my efforts to secure a new computer were in vain i mean you know the economy is
00:46:25very tight
00:46:25in in tanzania at the moment so i noticed from the outstart that he was reluctant to commit himself to
00:46:50you know a few months ago i had feelings that something would take place uh with my legal
00:46:57situation but now i'm beginning to doubt it uh in the post 9 11 world uh overturning of a conviction
00:47:04of an old panther i doubt that that's going to happen anytime soon okay
00:47:35136 over 91 you see that it should be lower from just having got out of bed
00:47:48which indicates that if i had i been moving around
00:47:54the diastolic probably would have been close to 100
00:47:58and the systolic would have been probably around 150
00:48:04and that's just not good enough
00:48:14i work my ass off out here and then things somehow never get done
00:48:21i don't know
00:48:29i'm in a bit of a funk this morning
00:48:36not in a very good mood
00:48:51so as you know here's the well and this is a hundred and between 160 and 170 feet down
00:48:58and instead of pumping it's pumping
00:49:00it's pumping pure clean clean clean water brother imagine i'll walk you up here and show you the tanks
00:49:05okay geronimo g jaga the former geronimo pratt came to visit me man you talk about a reunion i had
00:49:14not seen him in 30 over 32 years geronimo was the field marshal of the black panther party
00:49:21in 1970 he was arrested on some trumped up murder charge he was convicted and spent 27 years in prison
00:49:33for crimes he did not commit this is the first tank that we built well this is some job you
00:49:41and shorty just put together we've been 30 years we've been hitting at it brother
00:49:46haven't stopped still going strong in 1997 he was released and the government in admitting
00:49:54that he was unjustly in prison made a financial settlement with him when he came out he asked me
00:50:01pete what can i do to be of assistance i said our primary major problem is water he said well
00:50:08give
00:50:08me your phone i gave it to him he called his associates in the united states and he had them
00:50:13transfer ten thousand dollars so that we could dig this well that could have that good spring taste to
00:50:22it you know good clean water so brother i would say between three and five hundred individuals are
00:50:32benefiting from the water project right on
00:50:37when you see the smile the joy on their face the realization that they don't have to walk today
00:50:43five miles to get a bucket of water that kind of makes it all worthwhile
00:50:54when geronimo came out we renewed our relationship so it's a table and this i've helped him when he was
00:51:01looking for a house i helped him when he wanted to buy certain items to furnish his home
00:51:08i've tried to help geronimo acclimate to life here in tanzania so i get the opportunity to see
00:51:15him on a regular basis now here we go that all right we cut him off right now geronimo is
00:51:34married to a
00:51:35lovely young woman joju cleaver this is eldridge and kathleen cleaver's daughter when we had the
00:51:43international section of the black panther party in algeria we had a nursery and i can remember
00:51:48joju cleaver being pretty little baby with big heads okay y'all let me go on and do some work
00:51:54y'all come out tonight if you want i'm gonna be out there okay all right you ready doctor
00:52:02how many y'all get hey get the uh oxygen ready in there y'all get all 9-1-1
00:52:07here we go get it out
00:52:08look at him that's too much to warm up with no it's all i can see all you got and
00:52:13this is what i do
00:52:14i said it's too much to warm up right now you're doing them all
00:52:21see i try to teach him penitentiary he didn't stay in the pen long enough to learn how to drive
00:52:26out
00:52:26this can't you always warm up if you don't warm up is that what's wrong with me seriously yeah
00:52:32you have iron shoulder oh really yeah if you start lifting on stuff without warming it you lift real
00:52:37light first okay and then you start lifting heavier okay you're gonna change the the doohickey back
00:52:42there you want to change it yeah you gotta start light i see lift that and see see like that's
00:52:50very
00:52:50light okay that's what you want that's what i want yeah back then in prison you know people's more of
00:52:56a
00:52:56scholar he was passing through soliday and it wasn't it was a different setting you know i wish
00:53:02it would have remained like that by the time i got in but he went to the galva club toastmasters
00:53:07and
00:53:08they were taught diction and oration and pronunciation and speechifying and all that
00:53:17and iron will make you eat if you're trying to lose weight you cannot drive no iron because iron
00:53:24gives you hunger pains that you can't imagine your shot partner will you tie my hair for me
00:53:32shot yourself i like to go behind but he's getting his hair on
00:53:40jojo this is a mental activity don't wait don't be messing with this
00:53:51that's your kind of workout he said it makes you hungry now you gotta wait
00:54:07wait a minute you sat there and told me if you're gonna do this you got to eat that's what
00:54:12you said
00:54:12you did say that i said it would make you well i'm i'm going along with your flow
00:54:25i'm coming tomorrow i'm gonna set up our little uh
00:54:28and then look what i'm recording for you
00:54:35that song now yeah bunchy carter and blue lures running up down central avenue
00:54:43black panther thing and all the women together that's right before bunchy got killed
00:54:48that song came out bring back memories don't yeah
00:54:54it's interesting that i last saw geronimo in 1970 less than a month before i left the united
00:55:00states and i think it was a couple of months after that that he was arrested
00:55:06and while my exile could in no sense compare to the suffering that he endured being in a horrendous
00:55:15prison situation the fact that i have been in exile constitutes a sort of cultural and emotional prison
00:55:26that you can have male friends of your tribe people with similar cultural interests similar political
00:55:35interests and develop close bonded relationships with with other men like this this is something
00:55:43that's been missing in my life we left all of that he said peace set up to call his bed
00:56:03i'm gonna finish this chair then i'm gonna have to go and finish the curtains when i come back
00:56:10here yeah let's just do this again to be a big project man
00:56:16i'm gonna glue them dawn curtains up here and be done she's not gonna know the difference we just put
00:56:22glue
00:56:22up there and tell this is a new style straight out of pass
00:56:46it's right at 10 years since my mother was last here and i'm a little nervous about it i uh
00:56:53i know it's probably going to be a little bit of awkwardness there initially because we haven't
00:56:59seen each other in such a long time and i can hear it in her voice when i'm talking to
00:57:04her on the
00:57:04phone i said she's nervous too
00:57:12she said they lost the baggage and she's got to fill out a form old woman got to fill out
00:57:19a form
00:57:23here you take this take this here's the key to take this take that you want hold the money hold
00:57:30the
00:57:39money hey lady what you doing down here look at you how you doing all right don't worry about it
00:57:47how
00:57:47you feel i've been out there raising holy hell yeah let me put you on out of here
00:58:01good lord almighty
00:58:07you're gonna leave these with
00:58:10saw that you got one of these monster froze on your head
00:58:13you got one of them big military afros
00:58:20oh lord i just grabbed them up and i said let them look at this might be something in here
00:58:26they might
00:58:27know but what were you talking about you was going to throw them away 10 years ago because they were
00:58:33collecting and powering up
00:58:37i've got a bunch of pictures of you too though i'm gonna throw them away
00:58:42i think i'm gonna burn them today i'm gonna burn them today i'm gonna burn them today
00:58:47i went went to sleep and then woke up in a dream i didn't know what i was doing this
00:58:52morning and i said
00:58:53where am i i said oh i guess that must have all been a dream me being in a wheelchair
00:58:58me coming
00:58:59over here because i didn't think i'd come back over here again and had that mosquito net over you
00:59:05yeah i guess and i reached out and it touched that and i said oh what is it they got
00:59:10me tied up
00:59:11oh my god they're tired of trying to see she's gonna get into pearly gates tonight
00:59:29you know they have health tips on i don't know about your cholesterol but basically that's bad for
00:59:36let's see these there yeah yeah i know where i shouldn't eat these all right really shouldn't
00:59:41i'm gonna this is the last time i'm gonna ever buy them you want something no you don't care for
00:59:46a little bit no i don't okay
00:59:56you don't care for sure
00:59:59i'm not going to
01:00:18Hello, doctor. How are you, sir?
01:00:21Fine, sir.
01:00:23Can I introduce you to my mother?
01:00:25Please, sir.
01:00:26Oh, this is my mother.
01:00:27My mother.
01:00:28And then I'm going to ask you if I can get a blood test.
01:00:32Would you let me do something?
01:00:33Yes, I'll let you do it.
01:00:35This is my mother.
01:00:39This is Dr. Rasa.
01:00:41Good morning, Mr. Rasa.
01:00:42You have been fine, thank you.
01:00:44Yeah, Pete is a great friend of mine.
01:00:45Yeah, well, that's good.
01:00:46And this man has pulled Charlotte and I, too, for these 30 years.
01:00:50They talk about you all the time, like you're friends and family.
01:00:53Yes.
01:00:54Uh-huh.
01:00:54So how are you getting on?
01:00:55I'm doing very well, thank you.
01:00:57You know I had knee surgery.
01:00:59Now, I'm not coming for consultation or anything.
01:01:02No, no, no.
01:01:02But I just want to tell you, I had knee replacement.
01:01:05Yes.
01:01:05And I walked with a cane.
01:01:07That's right.
01:01:07And you need to get on him about his high blood pressure medicine, too.
01:01:11I take mine every day.
01:01:13He needs to take it.
01:01:14Yeah, he should take it every day.
01:01:15Every day.
01:01:16That's right.
01:01:17Yes, that's right.
01:01:18Mama and doctor talking to me.
01:01:19Yes, that's right.
01:01:20I'm going to start taking it every day.
01:01:22Yeah.
01:01:22Yeah, not just a promise.
01:01:24No.
01:01:24Do it for real.
01:01:25I'm on the phone.
01:01:29I will not smoke in front of my mother.
01:01:33My father passed away from lung cancer.
01:01:37And to her, smoking is an instant death sentence.
01:01:40So I hired him.
01:01:45He can't fool me.
01:01:46Not at all.
01:01:47I've known him all his life, so you know I know him.
01:01:50And I can tell when he's not telling me the truth.
01:01:54I know it.
01:01:56He's always doing something.
01:01:59When he was doing the Black Panther thing, I worked for the U.S. Treasury Department.
01:02:04And he come in front of my building and did a demonstration.
01:02:08I wanted to hit him so bad, you know, and tell him to go away.
01:02:12And I said, why did you come in front of my building?
01:02:15Here I am, the FBI calling me in and questioning me.
01:02:19And he said, no, that's where I needed to be.
01:02:21That's where I wanted to be.
01:02:22And got me in hot water, yes.
01:02:24He said, no, it's not going to get you in trouble.
01:02:26I know what I'm doing.
01:02:27I know what I'm doing.
01:02:30Mmm.
01:02:31Yeah, look, it was all white and pretty and fresh.
01:02:34And the day before you came, then the rain started.
01:02:36This is probably the last chance I'm going to have to be with my mother.
01:02:43I know this.
01:02:44I'm not going to say it to her, you know, of course.
01:02:46She struggled to make this trip.
01:02:50I am about to be 63 years old.
01:02:52I think she's 83 years old.
01:02:56This is the last one.
01:03:02Him, I know I can't think of his name.
01:03:05This is Joe, isn't it?
01:03:06Joe Brenner?
01:03:07No, that's Uncle Willie.
01:03:08That's Uncle Willie.
01:03:09Oh, is it?
01:03:10Yeah.
01:03:10Charlie.
01:03:11Yeah.
01:03:12With his peanut head.
01:03:14Here's a question I want to ask you.
01:03:16Why didn't you tell him?
01:03:19There's that picture.
01:03:20That deformed baby.
01:03:21Oh!
01:03:23You know what?
01:03:23This looked like a baby that came out before the time was up.
01:03:27You know what?
01:03:27And they put it out in the sun and all.
01:03:29You know what they told me?
01:03:30And they what?
01:03:30They said, Grandma told me, said, I'm going to give you some money.
01:03:33Can you take him to a place and have his picture taken?
01:03:37And I said, yeah, I will.
01:03:40I wrapped you all up.
01:03:41This looks like a baby that's drunk.
01:03:43And the man said, I never.
01:03:47Oh, Lord have mercy.
01:03:49Where did you get this thing from, brother?
01:03:51I looked for all those.
01:03:52She had them all.
01:03:53Are you sure that's me?
01:03:54Yeah, I'm sure that she did.
01:03:55What was wrong with it?
01:03:57I packed you up there to that place.
01:03:59And the man said, I ain't got no chair to fit him.
01:04:01He said, yeah, so he said, oh, I got something.
01:04:07I'll take his wicker chair and put him in it.
01:04:11You know, what gets me as a baby looks confused.
01:04:22I want to be a teacher.
01:04:25I want to be a teacher.
01:04:27Good.
01:04:28Please listen to me.
01:04:29My father's name.
01:04:31My father's name.
01:04:32My mother's name.
01:04:34My mother's name.
01:04:36Okay, go on.
01:04:37My father's name is fine.
01:04:39My mother's name is Raulet.
01:04:42My father is Kawa.
01:04:45Kawa.
01:04:48I want to be a teacher.
01:04:51We have changed the name of our organization
01:04:54from the United African American Community Center
01:04:58to the United African Alliance Community Center.
01:05:11We feel that the word alliance better describes
01:05:15the relationship of Africans from the continent
01:05:19and the diaspora working together.
01:05:36I am happier here.
01:05:38I feel that I'm more productive here
01:05:41than I have ever been in my entire life.
01:05:46Particularly now that I've seen my mama
01:05:47and I've had the chance to interact with her.
01:05:51Even the desire to visit briefly the United States
01:05:55is beginning to wane.
01:06:05I don't want to miss this new year.
01:06:07This is a special new year.
01:06:09And one thing that makes it extra special
01:06:12is that Mama Florine O'Neal is in the house tonight.
01:06:16Give her a hand, y'all.
01:06:18This is my mom.
01:06:20Mama Florine, you got to say something.
01:06:23I'm sorry.
01:06:23I'm sorry to interrupt you, Jenna,
01:06:26but you've got to say something.
01:06:31Oh, wait a minute now.
01:06:33I've got to stop in.
01:06:34I don't need any music with my introduction.
01:06:37Oh, cut it out.
01:06:39No.
01:06:47Oh, shut up.
01:06:49We're so very pleased to have all of you here with us.
01:06:52And as we prepare to welcome the year 2003,
01:06:56be aware that in true Kansas City style,
01:07:02we're going to bring it in with a bang.
01:07:14and we're going to make it in to the stands.
01:07:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07:26Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:28Yes, yeah, yeah.
01:07:36Okay, now, here's what I'm doing, I got one in the round, but I got the safety on, okay?
01:07:48Okay, we're cool, we'll wait until it's ready.
01:07:5320 seconds, 19, 18, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 4, 3, 2, 1!
01:08:14One, two, one, two, one, two, one!
01:08:23One, two, one!
01:08:28One, two, one!
01:08:35Oh, yeah...
01:08:43I have never in my life lived in any community as long as I have lived in Arusha, Tanzania.
01:08:56I'm trying to make sure I'm saying the right thing here now.
01:09:02I'm not going to return to the United States ever again.
01:09:09They can have my peace of Kansas City.
01:09:11I give it back to them with a free heart and a clear conscience.
01:09:15To take it further, I am at the point now, and I have given this a lot of thought.
01:09:22This is not a frivolous decision that I've made.
01:09:27I'm going to apply to become a citizen of the Republic of Tanzania.
01:09:49Happy New Year!
01:09:50Yeah, Happy New Year!
01:09:52Here's my family.
01:09:54Thank you!
01:10:19Two young men who had been out here with some program or another
01:10:22were receiving their Eagle Scout badges or something
01:10:27and they wanted a letter of recommendation from me.
01:10:31They had used me as their reference
01:10:34and the Scoutmaster was asking me,
01:10:36Mr. O'Neill, would you please send the letter of recommendation
01:10:40and we will act upon it immediately.
01:10:43I thought that was ironic as hell.
01:10:46Black Panther recommending Eagle Scouts.
Comments