The irony is throughout my research twelve years ago, they were always like, "Why are you asking us so many questions about writing, Crandall? We hate writing!" Well, I wanted to learn (and isn't it ironic that they've spoken at conferences, led Young Adult Literacy Labs, worked with CWP teachers, conducted interviews with authors, and even publish a poem, "Education. Education. Education" in S. Donovan's Rhythm & Rhyme: Poems for Student Athletes (2022).
They hate writing, but they love living their life as a story, which is why I love them both. This morning, I am thinking about the night when we were hanging out on Eastman in Cicero, eating chips and drinking coke, simply talking about Monrovia, Liberia. Lossine discussed a documentary on Vice about the war, The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia, when he said I should watch it with them. As we finished, and I was processing the violence, they both started talking and I asked, "Do you mind if I record this conversation." Through them, I began to understand the complexities of nations, colonialism, European imperialism, and the after-effect it has on African nations. It was that night I realized my history as a U.S. White, College-Educated male was aligned with their story as young men torn from their home during a brutal war. The history that afforded me a space to do as I do in the U.S. is directly tied to the history that started the civil war that landed them in refugee camps.
Education is what brought us together, though. The rest is history, and even if we all recognize that facing the ugly side is extremely important, the three of us bond over the fact that we're 'cut-ups' and clowns, although they'd say "Clowndell" is more clown than they are. I was disagree, but that's another story.
I put the Hula Hoop on a beach of Monrovia, simply because it is beautiful and serene. Yet, I recall the night my Explorer almost hit a rabbit, and Abu said, 'I remember the first time I saw a dead body. It washed ashore on the beach." That was another night of heavy conversation that has always stuck with me.
But we focus on the good. The joy. The importance of integrity and having a purpose in life.
Yes, I miss them on Mt. Pleasant and all the craziness that was our lives the past decade in Connecticut, but their beards finally came in (even Abu's) and I realize nothing sits still. Life has made them step up in big ways this year as their father passed away. There were many years we didn't know he was alive, but he was brought to the U.S. once found and just in time for college graduation (that's another story I'll never forget). The emotions felt were genuine and moving.
Writing out is not only exploring insects, bugs, trees, and fallen leaves. History should come first, and we can't ignore that much of our environmental tendency in our nation goes hand in hand with Western privileges. Save the Trees! (here's a t-shirt), No More Pollution (get a keychain), What You Can Do (here's a book, brochure, conference, and several papers).
We often forget that tragedy abounds in this world as a result of war, famine, environmental destruction, and poverty. I'm sure individuals trying to survive in those circumstances would scoff at the fact that I've been hula-hooping for a week to find new things to focus upon, while maintaining a daily blog.
Rich always reminds us that rambling needs to be critical, too, and we can't hide from the realities of the world. I have the twins to thank for that, and they remain two of the most important humans in my life...a lifeline to my soul and a way to be a better human being.
Happy Birthday, Abu & Lossine! Allah (God, Buddha, The Great Whatever) only knows what I'd be with out you. Elephant Shoe! Always have, and always will.
Make the day count as you always do and, in the meantime, take care of Syracuse for me until I can return.
And because it's National Day on Writing, what are you working on? How good are you at world history? Have you been able to draw any connections to the way you live life in the U.S. and how so many, elsewhere, live entirely different? What responsibilities do you have to speak out? What actions have you taken that speak louder than your words?