Black Diamond

By Frank Benjamin Kamara

This book is a simple but an insightful and uplifting memories and reflections on the odyssey that took Frank Kamara to the United States of America from his village in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where a dream was just a dream, where opportunities were nonexistent, and where hope and bright future for all the young people were just fumes of fancy. This was in the late fifties, and there was only one young man who attended a secondary school from my village. The dream to aspire to higher education was just a wish-fulfillment fantasy, and the general population was poor and uneducated. However, things have changed considerably. Modern homes are being built, education is expanding, a secondary school and two primary schools have been established, and there is a plan for a super highway construction that will soon pass through the village.
There were several positive factors that were true about my village: First, we lived in nuclear families, in which all the members protected one another and provided the needs of everyone. Secondly, we always lived in families that had intense love to go around, except in my case. The only family member, my father, upon whom I could depend and receive my training, the love, the nurture, and the emotional support I needed as a growing young boy was not only physically, mentally, and verbally abusive but he was the individual whose subversive behavior almost ruined my life. He constantly reminded me about growing up to be a failure and that Id amount to nothing. For him, I was not expected to be educated, let alone to achieve anything in life. He compared me to a helpless girl. The verbal and physical assaults on me and my mother were daily occurrences. We were beaten up on regular basis. I went through a lot more that could have brought all his predictions to pass. My father, therefore, is the main reason for me to write this book. I hope it will inspire all the young people who are in despair and who are in abusive and hopeless situations to realize that they can develop self-worth, self-determination, and create for themselves the empowering nature of solid internal motivation that can defeat failure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504974455

Frank Benjamin Kamara

Frank Benjamin Kamara was born and raised in a small village in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He immigrated to the United States in 1970 to attend college to become a teacher. In the face of tremendous odds and challenges, and with the lack of financial resources to fund his education and his general welfare, he was determined to pursue his dream for a college education. He reflects on those days when he took full semester courses at the University of Indianapolis and simultaneously carried three odd jobs throughout the first few years of his college life to support himself and fund his education. He also reflects on those days when prolong starvation and the lack of all the basic necessities threatened his will to survive. He lost half his weight, he sometimes stayed in garages, while he was bedeviled by uncertainty and the fear that his dream would not be realized. He stayed steadfast with his commitment and self-determination, and in 1774, he received his undergraduate degree and his graduate degree in 1976. Frank taught elementary school in the Indianapolis public schools for three years and in the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township for thirty years. He taught various grade levels, but his final twenty-eight years were in the fourth grade. He was the coordinator of the program for the gifted students for ten years after receiving an endorsement from Purdue University. In 1995, Frank was nominated Southport Elementary School and Perry Township Teacher of the Year. He also received several awards for excellence in education from school administrators, parents, and community organizations including the Indiana Center for Leadership Development. In 2008, he received the Perry Township Award of Merit and the Martin Luther King Jr. Focusing on the Big Picture Award. Frank Kamara lives in Greenwood, Indiana, after his retirement in 2008.His first book, Grammar Skills for Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades, was published in 2011. He is presently writing his third book about the uses of newspapers in the classroom.

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2016 Frank Benjamin Kamara. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/17/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7444-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7443-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-7445-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901122

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction into My New World.

Chapter 2 A lesson to Behold.

Chapter 3 The Story Goes On.

Chapter 4 ‘Black Diamond’ the Title.

Chapter 5 Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Chapter 6 Freetown, the Capital of Sierra Leone.

Chapter 7 Kalangba, my Village and the Story about my Birth.

Chapter 8 What is the Family Story?

Chapter 9 My Grandmother.

Chapter 10 My Mother.

Chapter 11 My Father.

Chapter 12 Growing Up in an African Village.

Chapter 13 My First Day in School and Beyond.

Chapter 14 Ophidiophobia, the snake Panic in the Classroom.

Chapter 15 How I Became a Slave Boy in Gbendembu Village, and the plea with my Daddy Not to send me Away.

Chapter 16 Life Wasn’t Getting any Better in Gbendembu Village.

Chapter 17 My Encounter with an African Python or a Boa Constrictor

Chapter 18 My Graduation at the Gbendembu Primary School and the Return at Home.

Chapter 19 Moving On Up, and Preparing for Higher Learning.

Chapter 20 Going to Union College at Bundumbu for Teacher Training Diploma in Sierra Leone.

Chapter 21 Problems with College Education at Bunumbu.

Chapter 22 More Problems at Bunumbu College.

Chapter 23 My First Big Job as a School Headmaster.

Chapter 24 Preparation and the Pending Departure for the United States of America.

Chapter 25 Coming to America, June 16, 1970.

Chapter 26 My Arrival at J.F.K Airport in New York.

Chapter 27 My New Home in Indiana, United States of America.

Chapter 28 College Education at Indiana Central College (University of Indianapolis)

Chapter 29 My First Job in America.

Chapter 30 The Need for More Money, Required More Jobs.

Chapter 31 Graduation at Indiana Central College in 1974.

Chapter 32 Teaching career at The Indianapolis Public Schools System.

Chapter 33 Permanent Teaching Job and the move to Perry Township Schools.

Chapter 34 The Metropolitan School District of Perry Township.

Chapter 35 The Transfer to Southport Elementary School in Perry Township Schools.

Chapter 36 Frank’s views on Educational Issues and other Documents Presented to The Department of Education of Indiana 1996 as Required for the ‘Teacher of the Year’ program.

Chapter 37 Philosophy of Education and Philosophy of Teaching.

Chapter 38 School Emphasis and Classroom Innovations.

Chapter 39 Educational Issues and Trends.

Chapter 40 The Teaching Profession.

Chapter 41 National Teacher of the Year.

Chapter 42 Photographs highlighting some events at Southport Elementary School.

Chapter 43 The Teacher of the Year Speech and Remarks.

Chapter 44 Frank’s Speech:

Chapter 45 Teacher of the Year Awards and other Awards.

Chapter 46 Summer School Teaching in Perry Township Schools.

Chapter 47 Voices on American Education and Questionnaire for Interviews:

Chapter 48 Some Memorable Classroom Incidents.

Chapter 49 Becoming a United States Citizen.

Chapter 50 Memorable Events in my Life.

Chapter 51 My Most Memorable Jobs

Chapter 52 Trivial Matters.

Chapter 53 A Little About me and my Place in the Classroom.

Chapter 54 Retirement and self-reflection.

Chapter 55 A Letter from Frank Kamara to America.

Chapter 56 More Awards and Recognition.

Thanks to my daughter Frances Boinky Kamara Brown for her technical and clerical assistance during the writing of this book.

I dedicate this book to my Mother Ya Boinky Kamara, the quintessential Matriarch of the family, who was my source of strength, my anchor, and my reservoir of love and kindness. To my grandmother Ya Tata, the gentle, loving, and caring sage who held the precious memories, the secrets, and the history about the family.

Both my mother and grandmother were relegated the responsibilities for raising me as a child in the absence of a patriarchal love, nurture, care, and emotional attachment.

I also dedicate this book to my African children: Kande Kamara, Florence Kamara, Francis Kamara, and Marian Kamara.

And always to my daughter Frances Boinky Kamara, who is my love and my soul. To my grandson Lucas Brown, granddaughter Kiara Kamara, and all my grandchildren in Sierra Leone.

To all my friends and co-workers in Perry Township Schools, my mentors and supporters Jerry Allen, Steven West, Willa Thomas, Gladys Richardson and Ned James Loos.

Chapter 1

Introduction into My New World.

My life’s story in America by all means should endeavor to encompass completely the good and pleasant times of excitement and enjoyment, the exciting events of success, the great memories of the past, and the feeling of euphoria for adopting the new culture. There was the need for me for conformity and acceptance, the feeling of belonging to a complex culture, and the process of integration into it. Furthermore, there was the desire for me to do the right things to belong to this culture. I believed then that I could accomplish these issues through contacts with other people especially those of African descent who were already in America, and also with the American people themselves. To be able to achieve this goal, it was incumbent on me not only to interact with everybody and indulge in their social activities, but also to emulate and practice their lifestyle and the fashions of the day. While all these factors had their cultural effects on me, I also considered the fact that the story about my life in the new world could not be complete until I included the sour experiences that I encountered in the time of desperation and my failures, the period of the human impossibilities, and the challenges that came on my way during my first few years in the United States. I tried to incorporate in my life the social existence of the style of what the black man was all about. These experiences included the latest fashion of the time that attracted the girls, the mannerisms of the average black man, the way he talked, walked, and his general attitude about family and towards other people.

In the process of learning more about how the Africans who had already been here before my arrival were able to adjust to the new culture, and how they had already established a vibrant immigrant community in the Indianapolis area, I came to realize that they made a deliberate effort to connect with the black and the white communities. I also discovered that they had done so by casting their social network not only in Indianapolis, but also in some cities around Indiana. As a result, the bond and friendship among all of us became stronger and stronger over a period of time. The African community became very popular as we created an African club to promote activities and events in which the men and women from different areas in Indiana could gather together to share our experiences. These social gatherings composed mainly of activities to showcase the African culture and its heritage. These events were organized by Africans especially during the entire weekends in which all-night dancing, drinking, eating, and serious associating were the main highlights. The unspoken and informal activity that became a custom in such gatherings was the fierce competition in a healthy way concerning which men and women that attended our parties were wearing the best and the latest fashion in clothing. It was like a fashion show. The boys were notoriously avid and passionate about this event because the girls took notice. Even the dance moves had to be impressive, original, and new. The boys ordered their men’s outfit from the latest catalogs. Their preferences included high heel shoes, large flashy hats, and big bottom pants. They sometimes even travelled to Chicago stores to do some shopping there. Such parties went on from Friday nights until Sunday mornings.

Chapter 2

A lesson to Behold.

Our forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama made history when he became the first African American to hold that highest office. He became an American dream. As we already know his life’s background, his story is an enduring narrative of the American melting pot, its possibilities, and uniqueness. It was therefore only befitting when he emphasized this in one of his speeches that in no other country on earth that his story was possible, meaning that it was only in America his story was possible. His statement was significant. It’s a lesson to behold and one that is applicable to all of us who live here now or had migrated into the United States at one point or the other, irrespective of our place of origin, class, race, and ethnic affiliation. We came for prosperity and to experience the American dream. President Obama has described his personal struggles as a young person, moving around quite a bit in the absence of a father who abandoned him, and his struggles to reconcile with the social perception of his multiracial heritage and identity. Yet he worked hard, and successfully made his way through Occidental College, Columbia University, and eventually at Harvard Law School where he became the first African American editor of the Harvard Law Review. His life’s story means that with hard work, self-determination, goal setting, and commitment to success, one can reach their potentials in America because the opportunities do exist. This is the American spirit. No place on earth is a utopia. Neither there is a place that is a replica of paradise on earth. Every country has its problems and America is not the exception. Indeed here, we do have our ups and downs, but we always come out on top. We may now live in difficult times where social, economic, security concerns, and political problems abound, but historically, America has always steered and reformed its way out of its problems, whether during the Great Depression, wars, and other setbacks, this country has always worked hard and recaptured its superiority and might. As an immigrant like me, looking in from the outside, now an American citizen who has lived in the United States for over forty years, I understand the culture quite a bit. I’m a little wary about the critics of America who tend to exaggerate the weaknesses of this country and ignore its strengths and greatness. There is no other country in the world like the United States where we enjoy the ideals of democracy, freedom of speech and religion, the right to vote which we should, our stable government, and all the opportunities for social mobility. Those who have not gone anywhere and have never traveled to places around the globe in their lifetime, and have not experienced how other people live their lives in misery and suffering in different cultures, may not be able to compare America to anything else. Those who do travel around the world will always come back home with great appreciation of America for its great institutions of science, medicine, and education. They will cherish and treasure the simple things of life that we enjoy every day and which we take for granted. These may include the high standard of living compared to that in other countries, the good highways, our clean water, industries, our homes, supermarkets, hospitals, wealth and possessions, mode of transportation, and our military power.

Although my life’s story may not be as consequential and as noteworthy as that of President Obama who has made great achievements in life, and even though my achievements if any, may even be less important compared to those great things that have been accomplished by many immigrants in America who have aspired to greater things than I have, and have contributed much more to the American culture than I have, yet I believe that the similarities and the experiences that are common to all of our lives are the same. In fact the challenges and the obstacles I experienced when I was growing up in my native country of Sierra Leone were such that any prospect or hope of migrating to America someday was just an impossible dream. But with some luck and prayer, my dream was realized. However, coming to America was not enough. I had new challenges to overcome. This is why President Obama’s statement is inspiring to me. I believe that it’s only in America my story is also possible. But achieving my goal did not come easy. It wasn’t possible by doing nothing. I had a dream and a focus to get a good education and to become a school teacher. With hard work, commitment, self-sacrifice and determination, I was able to realize the goal I set for myself.

Chapter 3

The Story Goes On.

I was born in a remote village in the northeast area in Sierra Leone into a well-established, a dominant, a vibrant, and a nuclear family, headed by my mother, the family matriarch, who was the senior wife of my father’s three younger wives. My father, the patriarch, was the family’s head of this huge household made up of my grandmother (my fathers’ mother), uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and other distant relatives. My father was a prominent member of the chiefdom which was ruled by my ancestors for decades. The village was founded by my great, great, grandfather who was known to be the first ruler that took ownership of all the land that surrounds the village including the farmlands that extended miles away. These lands were owned by my grandmother’s ancestors and were passed on to generations. This was how we inherited all the land around Kalangba.

The most enduring thing that influenced the course of my life, especially during my childhood was the undeniable love and care I was fortunate to get from my mother and grandmother. They were largely relegated the unflinching commitment of instilling in me the sense of security, self- preservation, self-esteem, and goal-setting. My grandmother passed away not too long after I left home in 1970 for the United States of America. They said that she died because she missed me a lot. My father was deceased in 2005 and the account about my relationship with him is continued in this book on other pages. My mother is still alive in 2015 at about the age of 95. The account of my early childhood unto manhood is well documented in this book in later chapters.

The important process for goal-setting and creating a dream begins much early with American children than those in the culture in which I grew up. However in my case, the dream I formulated for myself at an early age was not influenced by any external motivation, but one that attracted me internally and naturally. My dream was to become a school teacher. I remember role-playing as a teacher