To My Uncle Tarkwa Atta – A Tribute (30) Final

Feature Article To My Uncle Tarkwa Atta – A Tribute (30) Final

FRI, 10 AUG 2012

Uncle Tee,
like all else,
every thing
with
a beginning
also
has an end…
it is a parting
of the ways,
end of a
fairly long and
checkered race
of life…
you have finally
crossed over
from the present
into the past;
you have become
the stuff of memory,
and very soon,
you will become
the vintage stuff
of legends
and myths,
like all
the rest,
both great
and small…
it is a
parting of
the ways
and already,
you have become
the stuff
of poetry
and songs,
a lesson
for our youths
and those yet
to arrive…
it is a parting
of the ways,
though,
it is neither
the first
of its kind
nor will it be
the last
of the same…
alas,
in the end,
you succumbed
to the grim truth
of death,
which is also
the essence
of life…
and now,
to rise
once more
with the Christ
in whom
you so dearly
believed,
you must first go
the corrupt way
of all flesh
and blood –
it is a
parting of
the ways;
alas,
the seemingly
endless bolts
of deftly
woven fabric
of lies,
deliberate
omissions
and double-talk
by minions
and hangers-on,
leeches and
piranhas of
the public dole,
could not sustain
even a strand
of hair
on your scalp,
let alone
extend your time
and life
on Earth by
a split-second's
breath;
death,
too,
is integral
to the beauty
of life,
which is a gift
of charity
and grace,
not
sheer
desire…
it is a
parting
of the ways,
it was your
maker and
creator who
both
bequeathed
and
bereft…
8/10/12

Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD, taught Print Journalism at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, for more than 20 years. He is also a former Book Review Editor of The New York Amsterdam News.. More He holds Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) in English, Communications and Africana Studies from The City College of New York of The City University of New York, where he was named a Ford Foundation Undergraduate Fellow and the first recipient of the John J. Reyne Artistic Achievement Award in English Poetry (Creative Writing) in 1988.

The author was part of the "socially revolutionary" team of undergraduate journalists at City College of New York (CCNY) of the City University of New York (CUNY), who won First-Prize certificates for Best Community Reporting from the Columbia University School of Journalism, for three consecutive years, from 1988 to 1990.

Born April 8, 1963, in Ghana; naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Kwame (an educator) and Dorothy (maiden name, Sintim) Okoampa-Ahoofe; children: Abena Aninwaa, Kwame III. Ethnicity: "African." Education: City College of the City University of New York, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1990; Temple University, M.A., 1993, Ph.D., 1998. Politics: Independent. Religion: "Christian—Ecumenist." Hobbies and other interests: Political philosophy.

CAREER: Ghana National Cultural Center, Kumasi, poet, 1979–84; Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, worked as instructor in English; Technical Career Institutes, New York, NY, instructor in English, 1991–94; Indiana State University, Terre Haute, instructor in history, 1994–95; Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, member of English faculty. Participant in World Bank African "Brain-Gain" pilot project.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, National Council of Teachers of English, African Studies Association, Community College Humanities Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Essay award, Nassau Review, 1999.Column: Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD

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To My Uncle Tarkwa Atta – A Tribute (30) Final

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