Shadows of a Man

By Virginia Egbujor

It all started with a duplicated, or a double, ‘Stop and Search’ procedure by the police, carried out on the same young man, in a 60 minutes interval. The investigative journalist to be; took it further, to explore the challenges and shadows, that becloud and dodge the paths of the man with a black skin.

What the student of journalism, discovered, was astounding to him; and was enough to raise the eyebrows of some reasonable people. At the end of his quest to know more, he believed; that he has created some awareness in a phenomenon that appears to have defied the course of time, and Shadowed the existence and perhaps, the Prosperity of some human beings with Predominance of melanin in their skin tone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546297611

Virginia Egbujor

Virginia Ada Egbujor is a literary fiction writer. (Novelist.) Her other Novels include: As the sky Darkened: the untold story of Biafra the homeland Footprints of the Amazons A lonely place to be: the tale of a migrant The Wounded Warrior. All published by Author house publishers.

Book preview

Shadows

of a

MAN

VIRGINIA EGBUJOR

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AuthorHouse™ UK

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

Phone: [phone]

© 2018 Virginia Egbujor. 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 09/27/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9762-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9761-1 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

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

Shadows Of A Man

About The Author

The book; Shadows of a man is

dedicated to all people, that feel marginalized, excluded, or treated with scorn and contempt. It is in recognition of those whose safety is often compromised due to their skin or region of birth.

The distinct, different and effective performance of the submission coordinator Francine Diola is fully acknowledged. I also appreciate all that contributed to the successful completion of the book: Shadows of man.

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SHADOWS OF A MAN

P eter was up early, though it was Saturday. He had a pressing need to complete his assignment. He had tossed and turned during the remaining sleeping hours. All must hand in their work by Monday or risk losing marks for late submission. He even left home before nine o’clock and it was rare for him. Saturdays, unless he had a part-time job at the near-by restaurant, is a day for a long lay-in. No one would begrudge that rare luxury to anybody who works very hard, as Peter Uka. In fact, the entire household is hard working. His mother was already at her place of work. So, would have his father. There was an unpleasant blip in his long itinerary; it was an accident while driving back from work. A car had hit his vehicle from behind and caused him to break abruptly, both his neck and shoulders were compromised.

As he passed his father’s bedroom, he went on his tip-toes, in order not to wake him. He had had days and nights of excruciating pain, despite the strong pain-killers the doctor had prescribed for the incessant pain. Ben however, takes pain-killers cautiously. He tells his family that, though he would like the pain to go away, the truth is that the relief of the drugs give him, is only temporary. He rationalises that ‘One must be careful; otherwise, they find themselves dependent on drugs’. He often gives statistics of the people who are ‘hooked’ on prescribed drugs. His wife, Adeline, would advise that it was necessary to get rid of the pain as long as it lasts, soon it would be over when the body heals. Thus, your welfare is improved, and you will not be in a very unpleasant mood as you tend to be of late. She laughed a little as she handed him a glass of water to take the next dose of Naproxen. Peter thinks that his mother is speaking with professional clout because she is a nurse. Like the doctor, as the old saying goes; both know better as far as pain relief, or alleviating pain is concerned.

As he walked, he felt that his back-pack was itching uncomfortably over his neck. It was wearing thin by its hand and might need to be changed. He has used it for a couple of years, and it has to bear a load of all those books, to and from the library and lecture halls. Sometimes he had used it for some emergency items of shopping, he picked up on his way home. That morning he had only books in the rucksack, the books he wished to return to the university library. Some are overdue for return and he’ll have a fine to pay.

He continued to walk. It was a long walking distance and what was more, it will not only save him bus or rail fare, it was good and substantial exercise. Good for his health he mused. He tries to heed the advice of his physical education teacher who counselled against being a modern cripple, as the majority of society is inclined to be. Those days in the secondary school, he was glad to have those spoon-feeding, like inputs from the PE teachers on exercising, walking, running and all the varieties of physical games. Indeed, it includes those of the dietician, the school nurse or health visitors. These days he thought as he continued, one is on his own the university does not have enough time or resources to live the lives of over eighteen males and females for them.

Peter turned a corner and saw two Policemen standing about ten yards from himself. One Policeman waved to him and indicated that he should come to him. He walked straight to the Policeman. His colleague turned to focus on another group of young people approaching in the opposite direction. Peter greeted the Policeman as the good upbringing he has, advised. His mother taught him, and his younger brother Jude, to always be courteous to all, more so to Police officers. She is aware of the peril young men, particularly black young men; go through in towns, cities, and rural parts of the country. All mothers know the creed and teach their sons to obey any order or command given to them by the officer on duty or off duty. The Police officer appeared to have focused his attention on Peter’s ruck-sack and perhaps did not hear his greetings. Peter spoke up louder and said ‘Hello’, he then answered half-heartedly as he tensely blurted out, ‘Put down the bag’. Peter rolled the bag over his neck and shoulder and placed it on the raised part of the pavement and stood aside with is arms folded across his chest. The officer diligently unzipped all the pockets and facets of the ruck-sac and scrupulously searched it. He even opened the pages of the library books Peter was taking back to the university library. He never spoke a word to Peter as he searched the ruck-sac. When that was done, he asked Peter to raise his hands for a body-search. To which he complied meekly. When that too was done, he asked Peter to turn out his pockets, take of his shoes and pull up his socks. As that was going on another Police officer joined, but merely looked on, perhaps the police officer admired how docile the young black man was. He appeared to be a much more senior officer than the officer performing the search. One wonders what thoughts going on in his mind. A more experienced one at that instance. Perhaps if it was really necessary to carry out the exercise given that the twenty-one-year-old ‘black man’ is a university student coming close to the end of his studies in English language and media studies. Well his library books and his response to the Police officer’s questions denote to that. What about his docile demeanour, how is intelligence assessed? How much does the officer in question have? Peter thought long and hard as he picked up his bag, put back on his socks and shoes and crossed the rail station. He hurried as he continued to rehearse the lessons his parents incessantly taught him and his brother. Their attention is focused on them and not on his sister Christine. They are the ones at risk for a complex phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is not only the United Kingdom and Europe. It is global to say the least.

Peter can remember these safety lessons, even as an eleven-year-old, or earlier. This is the stop and search law. It can apply to Jude his mother lectured. He is nearly ten and Criminal responsibility starts at that tender age. A young black or white child can be slapped with a criminal record that would follow them through life, as long as they are ten years or above. He could hear in his ears his father’s addition to his mother’s lessons, and it will be more likely a ten-year-old black child and less likely a Pakistani, white or Chinese child’. Then he could still see his mother, appearing very dejected at that point and nodding several times in sequence. She would continue in the same, but resigned tone. a Police officer has powers to stop and search you, if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect that you are carrying illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property, or something which one could use to commit a crime. A crow-bar could be one of them. His mother would add. So, she started to warn them early in their lives. She had made them understand that compliance is the key to safety. Accept the search without any question. Show no aggression to officers of the law; according to them, they are keeping the people safe and preventing crimes. Who are we to object or question? His mother would ask, throwing her hands up in utter helplessness. Then he could remember his father mumbling: it all goes wrong in the process, for instance, focussing on a given colour or people; pre-judging, and having the mind already made up about high rate of criminal behaviour of black young men. Peter’s mother often at that point would tell her husband, with the children present. I often think we could send the boys home to my brothers. They could do their secondary school and university and return when they are thirty or more. Then she would burst out laughing at what their father would call ridiculous kneejerk cure to the present situation.

By now Peter had approached the University gates. He walked straight to the library. He regretted the delay on his way. He had planned to be early enough to lay his hand on the text book he needed to complete the assignment. He was happy when he saw a single copy of Hutchinson and Waters copy of ‘English for specific purposes’ on the rack. There has been a scramble for a few copies in the library. He got other texts and went to document and stamp them. He read magazines on the general principles of media studies. Media studies was added recently. He had originally wanted English language studies as a single major degree. He added media studies, perhaps as a contingency measure, because events on the ground indicate that there may be less prospects of a career as an English major. As far as he is concerned the language should be classified as a mother tongue in principle, but in reality: skin and face and last name syndrome would blow him off his choice. Peter has always been pragmatic and analytical from an early age. The events around him make him score low marks on the wish of being an English teacher to a class full of white pupils. They may be more interested in fiddling with their mobile phone or tablet gadget, rather than learn English language from a black teacher of English. There may have been a mistake, their young minds would insinuate. To think of Peter, the white and other ethnic groups would protest to the head teacher for hiring a black teacher for one of the crucial subjects in the curriculum. He was sure that he does not raise his colour or race all the time to cover his inadequacies or live a negative and grumpy life or run a ‘grievance industry’ he smiled. But it is the truth. Seeing is believing. He thinks he has seen it all in his young life. To all those other people who accuse the black people of the charges he has stated above, he thinks he has a simple revelation, it is not a pleasant place to be, ‘in the shoes of a man with a black skin’. His mother keeps saying to her children "please, please keep an open mind and persevere harder, because you have to do that ten times harder than anyone else before a minimal existence can be etched out. It was no pleasant existence always being devoid of opportunities and worthwhile prospects if one chooses to have life a little ordinary like the white or other ethnic boy or girl who sits next to you in the classroom and lecture hall’. He looked around instinctively as he sat in front of the computer in the library. He probably tried to reassure himself because he may appear to be going overboard in the analysis of the society that he was born in and has grown into maturity. He would be twenty-two soon, in six weeks. Though, he may be the envy of people almost all over the world for being born in the British Empire. The entity that is regarded as the epitome of civilisation, so called democracy, justice, and fairness, but the truth is; in real terms it has a shocking record of inequality, and Peter believes that one with ‘Black skin’ is everyone’s ‘Bull’s-eye’. Peter’s father Ben always advises him to get on with it, find detours here and circumvent the mountains and hills. Be pragmatic, seek for things that work. He however, concedes that there is no smooth playing field, but he agrees that any black person, who is not paranoid now and again, may have something wrong with them.

His father in his benevolent attitude to life says to them, Children it could be worse, when I remember the all Black Country I left for here, soon after the genocidal civil war.

Peter collected the texts he had borrowed from the library. He was reminded to watch the dates for return as stamped, as the elderly gentleman hinted that he narrowly escaped a fine, which would have occurred if the books had not been returned on that day. Peter nodded in acceptance. He went out of the library and continued to think about the strategy of a pragmatic approach to life, as his father had advised. His thoughts centred on the media studies aspect of his degree. He thought he would have even added acting courses. Would he have secured a job as an actor? In-fact, if one thinks of it, it may be a few avenues for a job for his race. He knows there is keen competition. In effect how many black characters are in the cast of a movie? Shakespeare had only one ‘Othello’ that was gracious of him even at his own time. What would he play if there were no slave roles? Then he thought of the fuss caused at only the mention of a ‘black actor’ playing ‘James Bond’ a preserve of white actors. So, what would he have done with an ‘English single honours Bachelors degree’; even if he had a 1 or 2-1 excellence? He shook his head. Perhaps become a writer of fiction with his high command of the language. Whether he writes fiction, poetry or classroom texts, the key to success is to find the correct audience, a willing publisher and the theme in-Vogue and finally be among the favourable ethnic base. It’s a long way to Tipperary he muttered as he walked.

Peter reached the railway station and crossed the barriers. He was again flagged towards a Police officer. He was again asked to be searched. He thought it was a joke; he was searched about three hours ago. However, he allowed himself to be searched again. He thought about asserting himself and insisting that he had been subjected to the process a few hours earlier on that very day. But his mother’s constant words and common sense prevailed, as he was subjected to what could be seen as dehumanising acts. He saw many white men of his age stroll past. There were also Chinese, and Asians that walked past him. The other Police officers did not bat an eyebrow. He gnashed his teeth as the officer completed his search. There were only library books in his rucksack. There was no need to protest. He would be accused of resisting to be searched. He could have been restrained, shot or aspirated as prevalent in America or killed in jail or forced to commit suicide in jail through depression and a state of hopelessness. He picked up his bag, put back on his shoes, and with huge irony, smiled broadly at the officer.

He decided to get on the bus for the rest of the journey home. He became fearful and thought it could be a day of woes. Though he had been a victim of an infamous and unabated ‘search the black man’ process before, it has never happened in the sequence it has occurred on that day. As he settled on the bus, he called his friend and course-mate Thomas. He is a little older and had huge experience in the antics of the street and how it affects the black man. Peter more or less, has lived a cloistered life. Protected by his, almost over-sensitive and protective mother. Thomas jokes that he has not been what he calls street-wise. Thomas listened to Peter’s story and let off a big laugh. Peter added gently it is not amusing Thomas. I am only laughing at your reaction to today’s experience, have you not been subject to this before? I have, Peter replied, but not twice in a space of about four hours. Thomas himself is a twenty-five-year-old black man from the Caribbean; a hot-bed for resentment and frequent object of searching by the Police began to reassure and advise Peter. Listen Peter, according to the law, the Police has a right to conduct a search of your bag or body, namely clothing, shoes and so-on. Then he rehashed the well-known letters and words of the law. The only objection I, and other well-meaning people have is; the targeted searching of black young men Peter said that while they wear searching him, even for the second-time in a short period, other young people were trooping past and starred and gave him dirty looks, as if I was a common criminal, there were Asians, whites, Chinese and what have you. Yes Peter, maybe you are not aware, as you are black, that you are seven-times more likely to be stopped and searched than white, Asian, Chinese or any other ethnic group of young men. As I said, Thomas continued, we will talk after our presentations on Monday, but whatever you do, don’t resist any stop and search, you could end up dead or perhaps some marijuana may be shoved into your rucksack to justify the excessive force used to search you or kill you. I pray none of us is a victim again. I have a catalogue of names of young black men, who have lost their lives in the hands of Police racial profiling, targeting and discrimination. I mean the notion that all black men are guilty until proven innocent. Speak to you later, he said as he hung-up. He sounded a little emotional as he ended his well-meaning advice.

Peter walked past some rows of houses before he got to his family home. He believed he was right to choose media studies, which could afford him the skills to practice as a journalist. His effective communication ability will be asset too. He would like the world to know the fate of the man with the black skin, whether he is from Africa, Caribbean islands or Asia or the Middle-east of the world. The next is to confront the, enduring question of securing employment from the prejudiced systems. But there is again good news journalism can afford. He could employ himself and work with those who would want the truth despite its bitterness or bitter taste in the mouth.

No one was in the house when he arrived home. He put his bag in his room and winced when he took it off his shoulder. He shrugged as he remembered what the bag went through that day. Then he walked into the lounge and sprawled himself over the sofa. Presently he heard a car stop in the drive. It was the taxi bringing his father back from his check-up with his doctor for his whip-lash injury.

Peter asked how his father was feeling and how the medical review went. Ben started a long narrative including the observations of his condition by the doctor, his prescription medication and some of the reactions from the prescribed drugs. He also added the criminal investigation carried out on the driver who drove into the back of his vehicle. The driver’s council or solicitor had indicated the acceptance of fault – namely dangerous driving and endangering life. His doctor has had a request to provide a detailed report on the physical and psychological impact of the accident. His doctor’s practice has agreed to contact other members of the team who have dealt with his care; this includes the occupational therapist, physio, and the psychological impact of the accident on his health. Ben continued to narrate and update his son. Then Peter asked his father the reaction of his work place since he had been off work for over twelve weeks. He knew it was a delicate issue. Ben informed his son that the director of his department is maintaining accepted protocol, regarding staff absence from work owing to ill health. He went on to say that he receives weekly updates from his employers; the local council. By and large, he continued with the cynical smile, I’m reaching the end of the period. A lot of changes have taken place in view of the small budget. It’s been difficult to have money and budget as elastic as we would like. Obviously, the last letter from the manager is that I’ve four weeks to return to work. The period of absence from work has been drastically cut. It is now less than six months, in-fact it is four now, instead of nine months at least as was the case before the financial crash. He managed to give a weak chuckle. What would happen then dad? Peter asked