A PANTHER IN AFRICApov-tc.pbs.org/pov/downloads/2004/pov-apantherinafrica-trans.pdf · A Panther in...

A Panther in Africa 1

A PANTHER IN AFRICA PETE O’NEAL

Living here in Tanzania, you have to have a gun. We have spitting cobras, buffalo crash into our fences. There have been reports of lions roaming around.

But anyone who is not a Tanzanian requesting to possess a firearm must first get permission from their embassy. Now this is a crazy scenario. Pete O’Neal, former Black Panther, in exile, has to go to the United States embassy to request a license for a twelve

gauge shot gun, and it was a twelve gauge shot gun in 1970 that led to my spending thirty two years in Africa.

VOICE OVER PETE O’NEAL As a member of the Black Panther party, I was arrested on the very bogus charge of

transporting a gun across state lines. I had had some very serious run ins with the police in Kansas City and with the FBI as well. Policemen had seriously indicated that I would

die if I went to prison. So, my wife Charlotte, and I left the United States and chose to go into exile.

TANZANIAN (Speaks Swahili)

VOICE OVER PETE After having spent two years in Algeria, we came here to Arusha, Tanzania, and we’ve

been here ever since. PETE

Ah ha. This pipe goes to our village. (Pete speaks Swahili) So here’s where the elephants have been stepping.

TANZANIAN (Speaks Swahili)

PETE (Speaks Swahili) So these are how the elephants take and grab on with their tusks and

pull out the pipe and break them. Woah, that’s kinda scary. (Speaks Swahili) I’m hoping and praying that this’ll perhaps alleviate some of our water problems.

Doesn’t look every promising right now, but -- fingers crossed. TANZANIAN

(Speaks Swahili) VOICE OVER PETE

When I brought Charlotte out here she was nineteen years old. She had never been away from home, and I was thirty then. I cannot imagine that I would have been able to

succeed without her. I do not have the ability to deal with details; I can’t. Charlotte coordinates everything.

CHARLOTTE O’NEAL Pete. Pete. Sorry to be so rush rush, but I got another meeting this afternoon. I need to know how we can do today, cause you know I got to go to rotary. And then I got this...

PETE Can’t you see I’m trying to brush...

CHARLOTTE I know this is a runnin’ day.

PETE Um....


CHARLOTTE Uh huh, I’m just tryin’ to work out how we gonna do...

VOICE OVER PETE I can be a little impatient at times, and have developed into a grumpy old man.

PETE Are you leaving now? VOICE OVER PETE

And, uh, Charlotte is, uh, angelic by nature. PETE

I’m setting a new record for cholesterol. I’m gonna be the first person to have a cholesterol level of five hundred and eighty-nine and survive.

CHARLOTTE Oh really?

How are you? TANZANIAN NATIVE

(Speaks Swahili) CHARLOTTE

(Speaks Swahili) PETE

(Speaks Swahili) Hurry up. Come on. (Speaks Swahili) CHARLOTTE

Good Morning. How y’all doin’? VOICE OVER PETE

Our differing personalities have combined to create a whole that has been extraordinarily productive.

CHARLOTTE We’d like to welcome you all to the United African American Community Center. Myself, Charlotte O’Neal, my husband, Pete O’Neal, founded the United African

American Community Center in ninety one? PETE

Ninety one. CHARLOTTE

But we had been doing community work for years and years in Kansas City as members of the Black Panther party where we fed more than seven hundred and fifty children

every day, and had free medical clinics. PETE

When people think of the Black Panther party, mostly due to the media, they think of young men with guns in berets and leather jackets, and that’s true, but we were much

more than that. VOICE OVER PETE

The really good things about the Black Panther party was the manner in which it served the community.

ESTER WAROBI How old is he? STUDENT #1 How old is he?


STUDENT #2 He is eleven.

VOICE OVER PETE If you look at what we’re doing right now, you would find it difficult to distinguish the community work we were doing back in the day and the community work we’re doing

now. Do you know we’re dealing with ninety students a day? ESTER WAROBI

How are you, Asha? STUDENT #3

I’m fine alright. VOICE OVER PETE

If we have someone who has ability to teach English. We teach English. ROBERT MAFIE

You are involving yourself... VOICE OVER PETE

If we find volunteers who have computer skills, they teach computers to our young. MOLLY PULSIFER

Human. HIV is a human virus. VOICE OVER PETE

What we’re trying to do here is create a microcosm of what we feel the world should be. People of all races, all cultures, all traditions come together and live and work for

common goals. In nineteen sixty eight, I started to read about the Black Panther party. I went to Oakland,

California, and talked with the people who were running the party there, and we established the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther party.

PETE The Black Panther party is officially in Kansas City.

VOICE OVER PETE The Black Panther party came into existence to try to control these mad dog policemen

who were brutalizing people in the black community. TEACHER

About the black community. CHILDREN

About the black community. TEACHER Right on.

CHILDREN Right on.

VOICE OVER PETE Our breakfast for school children program, our counseling programs, our clothing

programs, all evolved from that original foundation. Before the Black Panther party, I did many things that by anyone’s standards would be considered wrong. The Black

Panther party turned my life dramatically around. PETE

I bet a lot of the...can you imagine how a lot of the elders in the village would, would view...“who is this?” Oh, that’s Mama Charlotte. They say, “who? What she doin’ with a


gun?” CHARLOTTE

Yeah. Is she goin’ huntin’ or what? Do you remember when we first came to Dar es Salaam to Tanzania. And I remember we walked out of that airport, and how warm it

was, and it was those, those coconut trees you know and I said, “Pete, I love this. This is like coming home.” And it really was, and you had this puzzled expression on your face,

I don’t know what that mean. PETE

Do you know when I got off the plane, and this is the truth, Charlotte, now all kidding aside now. I didn’t have a good feeling. I just didn’t, Sister. And we’ve talked about all this a lot, and I generally make light of it. But it was, it was to me it was just like I had gotten too far away from everything that I knew. And it amazes me how you didn’t feel

that way. CHARLOTTE

Mm, hmm. PETE

Uh, I guess you were just as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine, uh? Me, I was sayin’, “Ooooh, Boy.” I saw the tin roofs with the rusted iron and I said, “uh oh.” I said, “we are

in for some, for a different kind of life.” (Speaks Swahili)

VOICE OVER PETE I spend most of my life shopping and buying supplies. We feed twenty to thirty people daily. We’ve got our programs; we have student groups coming through; we’ve got all

these people visiting. We’ve got people on honeymoon, people just passing through. We are in constant motion.

VOICE OVER CHARLOTTE I have a peaceful, kinda floating in the clouds nature. That’s just me, and it balances out the way Pete is, because he’s more hyper and he sweats things more than I do. But he’s very different from the way I remember him from back in the day. I’ve watched him

grow to be very tolerant of all kind of people’s opinions. CHARLOTTE

Where I think years ago if you wasn’t down with the program, you know, you couldn’t hardly say anything to him. You know what I mean?

ALABAMA MAN #1 We don’t see any racial problems in Birmingham.

PETE Oh, really?

ALABAMA MAN #1 No, Scott and I live there and we love it. We both live fairly Anglo lives, in, in Alabama. I don’t have the much interaction with, with inner city blacks or anything, but I don’t feel threatened walkin’ down the street. And there’s no chip on my shoulder, and as far as I

can tell, no chip on any of their shoulders. PETE

Well that was going to be my next question. How, I was going to ask you, how did you think blacks felt, now you’re talking about where, Birmingham?

ALABAMA MAN #1


But now Birmingham. Not, Not... PETE

Oh, of course not, but I wanted to ask you, how do they feel? How would you feel? ALABAMA MAN #2

See, I don’t agree with that assessment. I still notice that throughout, uh, the African American community, I still think there are a lot of young people who still sense some resentment and get choked by the anger of the resentment. And can’t break out of that, and, and almost, uh, wallow at times in the anger and the resentment. And instead of

taking that energy and moving forward, it’s, it, it serves as a, a hindrance to their moving forward.

PETE There may be some truth in that, but can you imagine how difficult it is to forge ahead...

ALABAMA MAN #2 I don’t know how...

PETE No you don’t, Sir. And when you, when you have never had an opportunity

educationally... ALABAMA MAN #1

But you don’t know what it’s like to be a white male in, in the South either. It ain’t all bread and roses. But I mean, it’s, it’s...

PETE But whites, whites weren’t slaves for centuries.

ALABAMA MAN #1 But we don’t live on the big rock candy mountain, and the money doesn’t grow on trees.

And it’s not even easy for a white person, either. It’s, it’s hard, Pete. PETE

It’s not easy, it’s not easy for whites? No, it’s not I agree with you. It’s not, but you certainly, in any kinda intellectual honesty, you can’t compare that with what blacks went

through. You’re too intelligent a man. ALABAMA MAN #1

No, no I definitely agree with that... PETE

To look at people, at people that were treated like cows and chickens... ALABAMA MAN #1

I definitely, one hundred percent... PETE

When it was against the law to know how to read for centuries... ALABAMA MAN #1

Now, what’s the solution? PETE

The sol..., the first thing? In all of these problems that we talked about, I can give you the solution. The first thing is to admit, and that’s hard. That’s the hardest thing; that’s the

hardest part. And particularly for whites, not a white man, never will be, but I can imagine this is the most difficult thing whites will ever have to do, is to admit

categorically that we have had serious problems. We can’t sugarcoat them. We can’t cast blame on the victim; we have to say, “hey, we screwed up. This was wrong. What


can we do to make it right?” Sister, sister, sister.

CHARLOTTE Hmmm. PETE

If you could’ve heard some of the stuff that came out of their mouth. CHARLOTTE

What? PETE

Part of the problem, no damnit, he said, “the problem.” And I’m paraphrasing. Was that, uh, that young blacks have resentment in their heart. Well, what in the Hell do you

expect? CHARLOTTE

So many people have a lack of knowledge about the sixties and seventies, and the whole, and the civil rights era and all that, you know.

PETE Yeah.

CHARLOTTE It’s like they’ve been livin’ in complete isolat...

PETE Isolation and have no idea about...

CHARLOTTE About the rest of the world.

PETE Yeah.

CHARLOTTE That’s, that’s what blows my mind, too.

PETE We’ll find people that’ll come in our presence now, and they’ll talk about social issues, and racial issues, and things like this, but these are things they don’t think about when

they’re not...They think that they have to do this in our presence. CHARLOTTE

But they mean well. PETE

That’s the killer. This is the killer. This is the killer. They think in their mind, that they are being as progressive, and they’re saying, “look, look, uh, it’s really your fault,” he

said. He said, “it’s your fault. Are you...you’re playing a big part of the problem.” And he means well. CHARLOTTE

Yup. PETE

I don’t like that. Do you? I know that’s a big part of what we talk about and what try to do. But I don’t like that. Do you?

CHARLOTTE You mean dealing with those issues?

PETE


No, I’m talkin’ about the whole cross cultural thing when it, when, when it brings that uncomfortable feeling. I really, I’m not going to do this, but I’d really just say, “hey, take

that shit outta here,” you know. VOICE OVER INTERVIEWER

Has there been any cooling off between you and the police in Kansas City? PETE

None whatsoever. There can never be any cooling off between the Black Panther party and the racist, uh, pigs, regardless of what level of pigs we’re talking about, until all

oppression has been ended. Until we’ve seen them all sent to their graves. VOICE OVER PETE

When I look at that footage, uh, I’m a little impressed with my self that I had the fortitude to say this, and to say it on national TV. I have no qualms about what we were struggling for in the Black Panther party. I think they were right. But when I see myself adopting a

totally unreasonable stance, it almost says to me, “I could’ve dealt with that better.” PETE

When Eldrich Clever made the statement that he would like to go into the Senate, uh, shoot his way into the Senate, and take McCullen’s head. Well while Eldrich is doing

that, I would like very much to shoot my way into the House of Representatives and get this racist lion Ikehart’s head.

VOICE OVER PETE The interviewer, when I said that I wanted to take Congressman Ikehart’s head, who

headed the investigation against me, he said, “now, when you say you want to take his head, you don’t mean that literally?” And I said...

PETE I mean it literally; I’d like to do that.

And perhaps I did. Perhaps at that time I was thinking that going into the, uh, House of Representatives and taking the head of, of Ikehart would somehow further the revolution.

Well, if that’s how I felt then, it’s not a reflection of how I feel now. What I need to do is just really practice the pronunciation. Muafaka. See I’m struggling

already. Muafaka. First tell me the meaning. What does it mean? OMAR MATATOLA

It means understanding. PETE

Understanding. Like between you and I? OMAR

Yeah. Say we quarreled on certain matters, and then we say, “ok, Pete, let’s forget about our differences.” That understanding is called muafaka.

PETE Good Lord in Heaven. (Speaks Swahili) Okay.

OMAR I understand why you try to avoid using that phrase.

PETE Yes I am because there’s a phrase in, in English that sounds very similar, and it means,

certainly does not mean understanding, you know. OMAR

When Peter came to Tanzania, he was young, provocative, and very rough. I remember,


you cannot talk to Peter three words without exchanging horrible words. One day in town, he had this Panga -- big knife. And I don’t what happened, but he chased a man with his knife, and a lot of people came out. And everybody was saying, “wow, wow

what this? What’s this?” Then, we saw it was Peter. In Tanzania we don’t do that. If you hate somebody. There is a way of giving him the message, “Bwana, I don’t like you.” But not chasing him in front of people with a panga, with a knife. It doesn’t happen.

When Peter came here, he had some problems in his mind. I think he has some frustrations from America. TANZANIAN NATIVE


(Speaks Swahili) TANZANIAN NATIVE


I love the Tanzanian people. I think they are a gentle, considerate, loving people. And things are so much more mellow here, so much more polite. But it’s hard for me. Often times, the elders will stop me and want to talk about some issue. I’m still with that little bit of Americanism in me will want to rush and do what I have to do. I am required to

visit regularly, to bring gifts when I do so. And I must express the highest form of respect. I have to struggle with it. Don’t do it this way, don’t say it that way, be polite.

This is a daily struggle for me. Yesterday, I received and e-mail about my legal case. My lawyer has done so much for

me, and he has done it pro bono. I haven’t had a cent to give him. This is going to be the year that something dramatic will take place with our efforts to have my conviction

thrown out, and my legal situation. I really believe that. PETE

Now, what was that woman that was the Attorney General under Clinton? Janet Reno, that’s it. This case even reached her desk. And, uh, she was in a sense sympathetic. She

said, “yes, I couldn’t agree more that uh, that his conviction was probably politically motivated.” She said, “but it’s going to have to be resolved in the courts, or either a

presidential pardon.” Anyway, we’ll see what happens. I’m confident, however, that eventually I will prevail. Somebody else give me a question.

COLLEGE STUDENT #1 What is that tattoo of?

PETE Oh, Lord, I knew someone would see that. You’re the first one...These were put on me

when I was in the Navy. This faded said “Pete.” This one says “Mom.” I’ve never in my life called my Mother Mom. Never in my entire life. Now the crème de la crème. You ready? Are we prepared for this? Is this one. Which is a...what could I, what could I

have been thinking? A turtle. Man, I’ve got stuff on me that I’ve said, “Lord, please let no one see it before I die.” You wanna know what I got in Hong Kong? Let me show you. You wanna see it? This is not going to be salacious or anything. Don’t get upset or worried. This is a black panther that I had put on in Hong Kong in nineteen fifty eight,

long before a Black Panther party was ever thought about. Isn’t that, isn’t that a little odd coincidence? Isn’t that something? Yeah.


VOICE OVER PETE We work with a lot of organizations, universities, and study abroad programs. Tours come out here and they give us donations for staying here with us. So, this is how we

survive financially. We operate and we function on a wing and a prayer. PETE

You see, the water situation, Sister, is bad. This could get disastrous, you know. Let me tell you everybody. May I make, make a suggestion? Please forgive the indelicate

subject at the dinner table. But when you pee, don’t flush the toilet. Do not flush the toilet when you pee, and uh, when you take showers, please be brief.

VOICE OVER PETE One of our major difficulties in living here in this village is our lack of water, and the fact

that our water supply is so uncertain. TANZANIAN MAN


When there’s no rain, everybody is battling trying to get a little bit more water. PETE

Oh, this can’t be. This is a holy mess. There’s a trickle of water coming in from the park. The water is the absolute last of our reserves. We have nothing else.

CHARLOTTE I had a real bad Sunday. I started gettin’ fever. And now I’m coughin’ a lot. I think it’s

bronchitis; I’ve had it before. Cause I’m throwin’ up. I can’t eat anything. Uh, and I been runnin’ a

temperature between a hundred and a hundred and one for three days. DOCTOR

Do you have headache? CHARLOTTE

Yes, it’s not real bad, but I do have headache. At first I thought it maybe was malaria, then...

DOCTOR Yeah. So, you’ll need some antibiotics also. You’ve got malaria.

CHARLOTTE So it’s a double whammy.

PETE So you’ve got bronchitis. You’ve got malaria.

CHARLOTTE And that’s all.

PETE Uh, do you know what I was afraid of? Typhoid. Mmmm hmmm.

CHARLOTTE But my head was...

PETE But your head was hurtin’ though?

CHARLOTTE Mmmm hmmm.

PETE


Yeah. Oh, yeah. CHARLOTTE

You want me to go, too? PETE

Yeah. Come on. Here we go. VOICE OVER CHARLOTTE

You gotta worry about things like malaria parasites. There’s other parasites that you gotta always be aware of. It’s all kinda problems that would be different in the states, or

not exist in the states. But then when I look around and see all these trees, and all this beauty, and the birds singin’.

CHARLOTTE I know I can go around the compound and go into the classrooms and see all those

students, you know, workin’ and thrivin’. Any kinda inconvenience that we experience is nothin’ compared to that. Cause I know that we would not be able to live a life like this

in the States. No way. VOICE OVER PETE

Charlotte is probably one of the most positive human beings that I’ve ever met in my life. And she can deal with anything, but we get malaria far too much. We actually are getting

malaria three and four times a year. INTERCOM VOICE

Hello. (Speaks Swahili) PETE


It’s the most horrendous disease. I think malaria kills more people than, in Sahara and Africa, than anything else, including AIDS. The parasites hide in the liver, and at times

of stress they come out. Ok, you take all these medicines and things like that, but it doesn’t completely rid them out of your body. You can’t think; you can’t breathe; you

can’t eat. Aching, and chills, and sweating and fever. It’s horrible. This is just takin' too great a toll on our bodies, you know.

CHARLOTTE It’s so nice we’ve got a show like this...

PETE Yeah, it is. Isn’t it nice? TV (BOSTON PUBLIC)

Albert Einstein said, “the world is a dangerous place to live in. Not because people do evil, but because people sit by and let them.”

CHARLOTTE Good point, Flo

Congratulations, you qualify for the State Funding. PETE

I know this was gonna happen -- watch this. He, he’s upset about something. Yeah, You can see it right there. Look at thim, all tight faced. Oh, now that’s, that’s smart.

CHARLOTTE Is that a teacher?

PETE


Yeah, I think she flipped out or something. Look at her. PETE

We gonna have another student-teacher affair development here? See I see through all that squish. He's running that squish but getting closer to her

CHARLOTTE [laughs]

TV

White middle class kids. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m neither. Not everything is black and white, Mr. Jackson.

Standardized tests are. I’m speaking now, Sir.

PETE Uh, oh!

TV The testing boards confirm a broad spectrum...

It’s funny how fifty three percent of white kids answered that same questions correctly, when only twenty two percent of black kids did.

How do you know this? I know it, cause I read about it.

PETE Well, run it, then.

TV Education teaches us to remember the three R’s are reading, remember, and regurgitate.

PETE Uh, oh!

TV And that sucks. So what you gonna suspend me now?

PETE Oh, that was a good one. Wasn’t it?

The whole idea behind the Heal the Community program is that we want to take young African Americans, preferably those from a challenged background, and expose them to

traditional African life with the hope that this will inspire them to go back to their communities and create a better way. When I think about these young people, Marty and

Derek, I think about myself and all the mistakes I made. All the misguided goals that I’ve had in my life. If I can play a part in steering some other young African American away from the pitfalls that I jumped willingly into, that is extremely important to me.

PRINCIPAL Good morning, Derek.

DEREK HARRIS I just didn’t think I’d have been picked to go to Tanzania, for the simple fact that I didn’t

feel that I wasn’t doing that good in school. As a young person, I was still, you know what I’m saying? Breaking into people’s houses, I went to jail a couple times for stuff like that. So, I wasn’t tryin’ to do right at the time, know what I mean? And, I don’t

know, I changed, and that’s why I’m here today. MARTY YOUNG


I done bad things. I smoke weed; I stopped goin’ to school. I done a lotta bad things. So, I’m lookin’ for this trip to benefit me, to help me. I don’t know no one ever been to Africa, outta like the black community. I’m glad I’m one of them first ones to go.

DEREK Ah, so these is like ID’s or something?

BRIAN O’NEAL Yes, Sir. Federal government ID. That’s better than a driver’s license actually.

DEREK Man, I’m excited man, but I’m tryin’ to... I don’t know what to do. I’m kinda nervous.

How you feelin’ Marty? PETE

Let me give these brothers a hand. What’s your name now? MARTY Marty. PETE

This is Marty. How you doin’, Home. Karibu Sana. The that makes you Derek, right? You all in?

DEREK We all in?

PETE Karibu Sana. That means welcome.

CHARLOTTE I’m Charlotte.

PETE Come on, my man. So, this is your first time out the country?

MARTY Uh, yeah, yeah.

PETE You as well?

DEREK Yeah. PETE

Ok, alright, ok. Have you done much traveling? MARTY

No. PETE

Are you ready for some, for some unique adventures? DEREK

Yeah. Somethin’ new, somethin’ new. PETE

We gonna give ‘em to ya. We gonna give ‘em to ya. CHARLOTTE

That’s what it’s about. Yeah. DEREK

I’m like, Man... PETE


We’re gettin’ ready to get serious on ya. DEREK

It’s not like America; we ain’t in America no more. PETE

Oh, no. Oh, no. CHARLOTTE

We let the ancestors know that you all have returned. And we wanna welcome you as children of Africa who have come home. You’re right back here where you started,

Brother. The ancestors know y’all are in the house. PETE

Any of you all know anything about twelfth street? Twelfth street still there? MARTY

Yeah, oh yeah. PETE

That was my spot, Brother. Yeah. You know the little round, the bowl? Do they still have that cannon? That little cannon?

DEREK Yeah yeah.

PETE Some of the fondest memories I have from Kansas City is on a weekend in Paseo Park.

Is Paseo swimming pool still there? MARTY

Naw. PETE

It’s gone? MARTY

Yeah all that’s gone. CHARLOTTE

Oh no. PETE

Is Paseo Park still there? Tell me that’s still there. Yeah. And brothers and sisters, that’s right. And brothers and sisters still gather there on the weekend and things, uh?

DEREK Naw, naw it’s not like that.

PETE Do you remember that Charlotte? Do you remember Paseo Park, how we would go down there take a blanket, put a blanket? We would. I guess that lends truth to the notion that

the Kansas City I knew really no longer exists, you know. … Brothers, do you realize that we are going off deep in the bush to a remote Maasai village? People who come out

here as tourists never experience this. TANZANIAN

(Speak Swahili) PETE

They said that we are completely welcome here, and that anything you want to do here, you’re more than welcome to do it because you’re not visitors. You have arrived home.

VOICE OVER PETE


The Maasai have to struggle to do everything. They have to rub sticks together and use leaves just to make a fire. They walk miles for water. Now by American standards, these people have nothing. But they have held on to their traditional ways with honor. And I

think we can all learn from something from that example. SUPEN OLE KASIKASI

We use this for perfume. After maybe five minutes, my clothes will bring a good smell. DEREK

I don’t think I smell foul, but let me get some of this. SUPEN

Somebody who wanted to brush his teeth. MARTY

He said this is for teeth. SUPEN

Yes. Teeth. MARTY

Tea? SUPEN Teeth.

DEREK Toothbrush?

SUPEN Yes. Toothbrush for us.

MARTY That’s how you brush your teeth?

SUPEN Yes. You can clean your teeth.

MARTY Man, you got people with no lights, no water, toothbrushes, deodorant. I mean like,

dang. It be like dang, this is different. DEREK

It ain’t gonna be the way we want it to be. It ain’t gonna be what we’re accustomed to. We just gotta keep goin’ through it, you know what I’m sayin’? And it’s hard. Ain’t like

the city life. MARTY

No cars, no buildings. It’s just land. DEREK Yeah.

MARTY I miss like the traffic. The noise. Horns, sirens. There ain’t no McDonald’s around here. I was born in the United States of American. I’m not a Massai. I don’t feel like I’m part of their tribe. I’m, I’m African American. I wasn’t born here in Africa. My ancestors

came from here, but I’m African American. See what I’m sayin’? DEREK

I just feel like dang man you just can’t talk to nobody really, you know what I’m sayin’? I mean, I know they want to talk to us, and we want to both talk, but I don’t feel like, like

I have that bond between us.


MARTY It’s just me and this dude here. I mean, I mean, yeah. I asked them, “you wanna play

some ball?” “No.” And it makes it boring, man. DEREK

When we here chillin’, we may wanna go out there and hoop, but, I mean one on one is cool too, get a sweat or something.

MARTY But we get tired of that, man. Just...

DEREK We only here for twenty days; we can go back. We gotta open door to go back, but Pete,

thinkin’ this man to be here for thirty years is like man, I can’t even think about it. I don’t even want to cause, I know, I know I wouldn’t wanna do it. You know what I’m

sayin’? MARTY

The little experience I’ve had here, it’s hard. I know you miss home. PETE

Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, and I can understand that, but in terms of missing home, that’s kind of a weird thing, Man. I miss some parts of it, you know. I miss my Mama; I miss

my brother. I’ve got children I haven’t seen. I miss them. But I have become so immersed in this society, that I’m almost kinda lost between two worlds. Does that make

any sense? DEREK

Like you ain’t African American no more? PETE

No no, not that I’m not, Home. No, not that, not that. But that I just can’t grasp what it, what the values and the mind sets of African Americans are as much and as easily as I did

in the past. And you know that scares the Hell, that scares me worse than anything. I don’t want that to happen. You know, I don’t wan that. And here’s the kicker, Man. Say

I win my case tomorrow, I get an e-mail, “Pete we won! It’s all over.” I’m not sure I would get on a plane and go back. I know I would not go back to live.

MARTY You adapted. You adapted to here.

PETE That’s it! I, I have, Man. And at the same time, I’m not completely adapted. That’s what

I’m tryin’ to say. Yeah. VOICE OVER PETE

For the entire thirty two years, that I’ve been in exile, I have clung tightly to my African Americanness. These are the people who made me who and what I am.

DEREK There’s millions of them!

VOICE OVER PETE I have to hold on to every possible thread I can to maintain a connection, and I’m finding

that there’s a gulf developing. MARTY

Gotcha! That’s an elephant, Dude! Wow! VOICE OVER PETE


African Americans come out here. I love them; I embrace them; I enjoy their company. MARTY

I ain’t never seen nothin’ like this. Never. VOICE OVER PETE

But at the same time I’m realizing they are so different from what I know. DEREK

Oh, look at them, look at them. They just kickin’ each other. It’s wild man. VOICE OVER PETE

I’m losing that connection with African Americans. I’m kind of lost in a no man’s land. TANZANIAN

(Speak Swahili) PETE

We are very pleased to have each and every one of you here. We’re so proud and happy to see this gathering of youths that have come together to share their culture and to learn

about other cultures. DEREK

I’m just gonna do a rap, from background. From how I was raised. I’m African American. Alright, let me get claps, like. Naw, not like that, like a beat. (Raps for the

Crowd) MARTY

I know another game, it’s like this. Lay up, that’s called a lay up. You gotta practice that. Michael Jordan do that. Free throw. Say free throw.

TANZANIAN NATIVE Free throw.

MARTY Yeah.

TANZANIAN NATIVE Free throw.

MARTY That’s how you do that. From here. Focus on this, let it go. Yes. Yeah.

DEREK That’s how you do it.

PETE Alright, give it up now. Do what I told you, and remember. Do you hear me?

DEREK Yeah. PETE

Remember. Thanks for everything. You take care now. Much love, Brother. VOICE OVER PETE

Growing up as a child in Kansas City, I got into a lot of trouble. And the pull of the streets kind of got me. Prior to be becoming involved in the Black Panther party I wanted

to be a, a pimp. I had a new Lincoln in nineteen sixty five. I used to wear expensive suits, and expensive shoes. My hands were soft and I had manicured fingernails, and I liked that. I did. But in this idea of, of being known as a street hustler. I wanted to be known as a player, as a this. I did some stupid shit. I did. And you know, I’m talking little vulnerable girls into doing things that they didn’t want to do, and that they had no


business doing. And destroying people’s lives in the process. You ask me, “do I regret things?” You don’t have the slightest idea what you’re asking me.

PETE And I’m not joking now. You say, I say this causes me extreme pain because you don’t know what we’re talking about. I feel...it’s something that I know I cannot undo, and I cannot undo it once. And when I think about the people, and a picture comes into my

mind of the people that were involved. When I think of the young girls, then I’m a father and I have a daughter. And I say, “Lord, don’t ever let anything like this happen to my

children.” And to think that I did this to someone’s daughter. To people’s daughters that I would prey on them and, and try to take advantage of them and maneuver and

manipulate for something just so horrendous. That is painful and that stabs me in my heart when I think about that.

When I involve myself in community work, the primary reason I do it is because it’s helping me. This is for my salvation; this keeps me on the straight and narrow. This

helps me redefine my life. Hello.

SECRETARY. Hello. PETE

How are you? Is Mr. Alex in? SECRETARY.

Hmmm, mmmm. Go right in. PETE

Thank you. You know, you know this old saying about beware of black men coming, bearing big ideas. So here I am.

ALEX RIGHOLT Yes, yes so they tell me.

PETE I made that up on the spur of the moment.

ALEX Oh, alright.

PETE What I wanted to ask you, Alex. My idea is, I wanna run it by you and get some input. I wanna do some computer classes where we can take small children, nothing complicated,

and give them an introductory kinda thing. And I don’t know... what is your thinking? Do you know of any kind of software. I think you mentioned something...

ALEX There’s software, yeah. I’ve seen software for toddlers that starts at three years old, four

years old. PETE

Uh, huh. ALEX

That kind of software. PETE

Uh, huh. I’m looking for old stuff. I’m not looking for anything new; I’m looking for old stuff.


ALEX Yeah, I know what you’re saying because you’re limited as far as funds are concerned.

PETE Yes.

ALEX Um, for these kids you need good computers. That software demands something

Pentium you cannot work with three, four year old computers. The good news is that good computers, even new computers are getting cheaper and cheaper.

PETE I hear exactly what you’re saying. I appreciate it, and I understand that correctness of what you’re saying, but Alex, we’re always in a money crunch. So, I know it is and I know it’s Tanzania, and I know it’s poorly poorly, and I know we’ve got to get there

slowly, but I just want you to think about this if you can. ALEX

Mmm, hmmm. PETE

Keep your eyes open. VOICE OVER PETE

All my efforts to secure a new computer were in vain. Well, you know the economy is very tight in Tanzania at the moment. So I noticed from the out start that he was

reluctant to commit himself to anything. You know, a few months ago, I had feelings that something would take place, with my

legal situation. But now I’m beginning to doubt it, in the post nine eleven world overturning the conviction of an old Panther. I doubt that that’s going to happen anytime

soon. PETE

OK… [sighs]… A hundred and thirty six over ninety one. You see that should be lower from just having got out of bed. Which indicates that had I been movin’ around, the

diastolic probably would been close to a hundred. And the systolic probably would’ve been around a hundred and fifty. And that’s just not good enough. I work my ass off out here. And then things somehow just never get done. I don’t know. I’m in a bit of a funk

this mornin’. I’m not in a very good mood. So as you know, here’s the well. This is a hundred, between a hundred and sixty,

hundred and seventy feet down. GERONIMO JI JAGA It’s steady pumpin’ up?

PETE It’s pumpin’. Pure, clean

GERONIMO Clean... PETE

Clean water, Brother. Let's take a walk over here and I'll show you the tanks. GERONIMO

Ok. VOICE OVER PETE

Geronimo Ji Jaga, the former Geronimo Pratt, came to visit me. Man you talk about a


reunion. I hadn’t seen him in thirty, over thirty two years. Geronimo was the Field Marshal of the Black Panther party. In nineteen seventy, he was arrested on some

trumped up murder charge. He was convicted and spent twenty seven years in prison for crimes he did not commit.

PETE This is the first tank that we built.

GERONIMO Mmm, hmmm. Well, this is some thing...you and Charlotte put together these thirty

years. PETE

We been hittin’ at it, Brother. Haven’t stopped. GERONIMO

Ain’t gonna stop. VOICE OVER PETE

In nineteen ninety seven, he was released and the government, in admitting that he was unjustly imprisoned, made a financial settlement with him. He came out, he asked me,

“Pete, what can I do to be of assistance?” Our primary, major problem is water. He said, “well give me your phone.” I gave it to him. He called his associates in the United

States, and he had them transfer ten thousand dollars so we could dig this well. PETE

Doesn’t it have that good, spring taste to it? GERONIMO

Oh yeah. Good clean water. PETE

So, Brother, I would say between three and five hundred individuals are benefiting from the water project.

GERONIMO Right on.

VOICE OVER PETE When you see the smile, the joy on their faces the realization that they don’t have to walk

today five miles to get a bucket of water, that kinda makes it all worth while. When Geronimo came out, we renewed our relationship.

GERONIMO So, it’s a table and this? VOICE OVER PETE

I helped him when he was looking for a house. Helped him when he wanted to buy certain items to furnish his home. I’ve tied to help Geronimo to acclimate to life here in

Tanzania. So I get the opportunity t see him on a regular basis now. GERONIMO

Wooo. Well that was a good one there. Here we go. PETE

Is that all right? VOICE OVER PETE

Geronimo is married to a lovely young woman, Joju Clever. This is Eldridge and Kathleen Clever’s daughter. When we had the international section of the Black Panther party in Algeria, we had a nursery. And I can remember Joju Clever being a pretty little


baby with big ears. PETE

Let me go home and do some work. Y’all come out tonight if you want. (Speaks Swahili)

You ready, Doctor? GERONIMO

Hey, get that oxygen ready in there. PETE

Call nine one one. Here we go. GERONIMO

Look at you work. What’s this? PETE

No, it’s all you got and this is what I do. GERONIMO

I say that’s too much to warm up with, isn’t it. You’re doing them all! Now see, I tried to teach him penitentiary...he ain’t been in the pen long enough to drive iron. You always

warm up. Always warm up. PETE

Is that what’s wrong with me? Seriously. GERONIMO

Yeah, you don’t start liftin’ on stuff without warmin’ it. You lift real light first, and then you start liftin’ heavy.

PETE Ok, You wanna change the do-hickey back there. You gonna change it?

GERONIMO You gotta start light.

PETE I see.

GERONIMO Lift that, and see how it is.

PETE Light, that’s very light.

GERONIMO Ok, that’s what you want.

PETE That’s what I want.

GERONIMO Yeah. Back then in prison you know, Pete was more of a scholar. He was passin’

through solitary, and it was a different setting, you know. I wish it would’ve remained like that by the time I got in, but Pete when to the gavel club, toast masters, and they were

taught diction and oration and pronunciation and speechifying and all that. And iron will make you eat. If you tryin’ to lose weight, you cannot drive no iron,

because iron gives you hunger pains that you can’t imagine. PETE

Your shot partner. Will you tie my hair for me, Charlotte? JOJU CLEVER JI JAGA


Gettin’ his hair all done nice. PETE

Joju, this is a mental activity. Don’t be messin’ with this. JOJU

That’s your kind of workout. PETE

He said it makes you hungry. You gotta work it... Now wait, now wait just a minute. You sat there and told me, if you gonna do this, you got to eat that’s what you said. You

did say that! GERONIMO

I said you it will MAKE you eat... PETE

Well, I’m, I’m going along with the flow. Look, look, look what I’m recordin’ for you. GERONIMO

That’s song there? PETE Yeah.

GERONIMO Bunchy Carter and Blue Lewis runnin’ down Central Avenue. Doin their Black Panther

thing, and all the and all the women chasin’ em. That was right before Bunchy got killed. That song came out.

PETE Bring back memories, don’t it?

GERONIMO Yeah.

VOICE OVER PETE It’s interesting that I last saw Geronimo in nineteen seventy, less than a month before I left the United States. And I think it was a couple of months after that he was arrested.

And while my exile could in no sense compare to the suffering that he endured being in a horrendous prison situation. The fact that I have been in exile constitutes a sort of

cultural and emotional prison. That you can have male friends of your tribe. People with similar cultural interests, similar political interests, and develop close bonded

relationships with other men like this. This is something that’s been missing in my life. GERONIMO

Pete’s settin’ on the corner of his bed, staring at the wall. CHARLOTTE

I’m a finish this chair, and then I’m gonna have to go and finish the curtains when I come back. PETE

Yeah, let’s just do this. It’s gettin’ to be a big project now. We could glue them darn curtains up here and be done. She not gonna know the difference. We just put glue up

there. I tell her this a new style straight outta Paris. Okay. How’s that? CHARLOTTE

Mmm, hmmm. Oh, that’s fine. PETE

Okay. I’m there. Lookin’ good my side.


VOICE OVER PETE It’s right at ten years since my Mother was last here, and I’m a little nervous about it. I,

uh, I know it’s probably going to be a little bit of awkwardness initially, because we haven’t seen each other in such a long time. And I can hear it in her voice when I’m

talkin’ to her on the phone. I think she’s nervous, too. AIRLINE WORKER


She said they lost her baggage, and they, she’s gotta fill out a form. Old woman gotta fill out a form. Here you take this; take this; take this; take that. You wanna hold the

money? Hold the money. Here. Can I go help my Mama? Yes. Hey Lady. What you doin’ down here. Look at you!

FLORENE O’NEAL They done lost half my luggage.

PETE Oh, don’t worry about it. How you feel?

FLORENE Okay. PETE

I been out there raisin’ holy Hell.

FLORENE Sure enough?

PETE Yeah. Let me push you on outta here.

Good Lord almighty. Mm, mm, mm. You gonna leave these with me? FLORENE

Mmm, hmmm. PETE

Charlotte, you got one of these monster ‘fros on your head here. You got one of them big military afros. CHARLOTTE

Uh, huh. Now look at him. PETE

Oh, Lord. FLORENE

I’m just glad you like these. I said, “let them look at these. There might be somethin’ in here they might know.”

PETE Now what were you talkin’ about you were gonna what with these pictures?

FLORENE I was gonna throw’em away ten years ago. Cause they were collecting and piling up.

And. Mmm, hmm. PETE

I got a bunch of pictures of you, too, though. I’m gonna throw them away. I said, “I’m gonna burn them today.”


FLORENE You gonna burn’em today?

PETE Burn them today.

FLORENE I went to sleep, and I thought I woke up in a dream. I didn’t know what I was doin’ this mornin’. And I said, “where am I. Oh, I guess that must’ve all been a dream.” Me bein’

in a wheel chair; me coming over here, cause I didn’t think I’d come back over here again. PETE

And had that mosquito net over you. FLORENE

Yeah, and I reached out and I touched that I said, “Oh, what is this? They got me tied up.”

PETE They done tied her up! Tryingt o see if she's gonna get in the pearly gates or not.

FLORENE I don’t know about your cholesterol, but they say that’s bad for ya.

PETE These here? Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t eat these. I really shouldn’t. That’s the last time

I’m gonna ever buy’em. Want some? FLORENE

No. PETE

You don’t care for a little bit. FLORENE No, I don’t.

PETE Ok. Oh, Lord.

FLORENE Please don’t eat that whole bag of chips.

PETE I’m not gonna eat it. I’m through.

PETE Hello, Doctor. How are you, Sir.

JAPHET URASA (Speaks Swahili)

PETE Can I introduce you to my Mother? Please, Sir.

JAPHET Oh, it’s your Mother?

PETE It’s my mother and then I’m going to let you find out about the blood test I took. Would

you let me do so? JAPHET

Yes.


PETE This is my Mother. This is Doctor Urasa.

FLORENE Good morning, Doctor Urasa.

JAPHET Good morning, Mrs. O’Neal. Pete is a good friend of mine.

FLORENE Yeah, well that’s good.

PETE Well this man has pulled Charlotte and I through for at least thirty years.

FLORENE They talk about you all the time. Like you friend and family.

PETE Yes.

FLORENE Mmm, hmmm.

JAPHET So, how are you getting on?

FLORENE I’m doing very well, thank you. It’s, you know I had knee surgery? Now I’m not coming

for consultation or anything. JAPHET

Yeah. FLORENE

Now, I just want to tell you I had knee replacement, and now I walk with a cane. That’s right.

JAPHET Yes.

FLORENE And you need to get on him about his high blood pressure medicine, too. I take mine

every day. JAPHET

Yes, he should take his every day. FLORENE

Every day. That’s right. PETE

That’s, that’s right. I’m gonna start takin’ it every day. FLORENE

Not just a promise. PETE No.

VOICE OVER PETE I will not smoke in front of my Mother. My Father passed away from lung cancer. And

to her, smoking is an instant death sentence. So, I hide it. VOICE OVER FLORENE

He can’t fool me. Not at all. I’ve known him all his life, so you know I know it. And I


can tell when he’s not tellin’ me the truth. Mmm, hmm. I know it. He’s always doing something. When he was doin’ the Black Panther thing, I worked for the U.S. Treasury department. And he come in front of my building and did a demonstration. I wanted to hit him so bad. You know, and tell him to go away. And I said, “ why did you come in front of my building. Here I am, FBI callin’ me in and questionin’ me. And you...” And he said, “No, that’s where I needed to be; that’s where I wanted to be.” It got me in hot water, yes. He said, “It’s not gonna get you in trouble. I know what I’m doin’; I know

what I’m doin’.” Hmmm. PETE

This was all white, pretty, and prim. The day before you came, the rain started. VOICE OVER PETE

This is probably the last chance I’m going to have to be with my Mama. I know this. I’m not gonna say it to her, you know of course. She struggled to make this trip. I am

about to be sixty three years old. I think she’s eighty three years old. This is the last one. PETE

Him I know and can’t think of his name. This is Joe, isn’t it? Joe Brown? FLORENE

No. That’s Uncle Willy. PETE

That is Joe Brown. FLORENE

That’s Uncle Willy. PETE

Oh, is it? FLORENE

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Here with his peanut head. PETE

Now here’s a question I wanna ask you. How you tell that’s me? FLORENE

Oh, there’s that picture! PETE

That deformed baby! FLORENE

You know who... PETE

This look like a baby who came out before his time. FLORENE

You know what... PETE

And they put it out in the sun and all. FLORENE

You know what they told me? PETE What?

FLORENE They said, Grama told me, “I’m gonna give you some money. Can you take him to a


place and have his picture taken?” And I said, “Yeah I will.” I wrapped you all up. PETE

This look like a baby that’s drunk. FLORENE

Oh, Lord, have mercy. PETE

Where did you get this thing from? FLORENE

I looked for ‘em. PETE

Are you sure that’s me? FLORENE

I’m sure that’s you. PETE

What was wrong with me? FLORENE

I brought you up there to that place. And the man said, “I ain’t got no chair to fit him.” Yeah, so he said, “I got somethin’ I‘ll have to take this wicker chair and put him in it.”

PETE You know, what gets me is the baby looks confused.

ANGEL JOSEPHAT I want to be a teacher.

STUDENT #4 I want to be a teacher.

ANGEL Good. Please listen to me. My father’s name.

STUDENTS My father’s name.

ANGEL My mother’s name.

STUDENTS My mother’s name.

ANGEL Okay go on. STUDENTS

My father’s name is Fayedh. My mother's name is Naura. VOICE OVER PETE

We have changed the name of our organization from the United African American Community Center to the United African Alliance Community Center. We feel that the word alliance better describes the relationship of Africans from the continent and the rest

of the world working together. PETE


I am happier here. I feel that I am more productive here than I have ever been in my entire life. Particularly now that I’ve seen my Momma and I’ve had the chance to


interact with her. Even the desire to visit briefly the United States is beginning to wane. CHARLOTTE

Here we are this new year. This is a special New Year. And one thing that makes it extra special is that Mama Florene O’Neal is in the house tonight,, give her a hand y’all.

Mama, I’m sorry, but you gotta say somethin’. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, but you gotta say somethin’.

FLORENE Oh, now wait a minute. I gotta stop him. I don’t need any music with my introduction.

Oh, cut it out. No CROWD [cheering]

PETE [singing] Bring it on down

Oh Shut up. PETE

We’re so very pleased to have all of you here with us. And as we prepare to welcome the year two thousand and three, be aware that in true Kansas City style. We’re gonna bring

it in with a bang. MUSIC PETE

Okay now, here’s what I’m doing. I got one in the round, but I got the safety on, okay? Okay, we cool. We'll wait until it’s ready. Twenty seconds.

GERONIMO Twenty Seconds, I'm off.

PETE Nineteen.

GERONIMO Eighteen.

PETE Fifteen. Ten. Nine. Eight.

GERONIMO Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. [gun shot] Boom. One more. [gun shot]

Boom. MUSIC

VOICE OVER PETE I have never in my life lived in any community as long as I have lived in Arusha,

Tanzania. I'm trying to make sure I'm saying the right thing here now. I’m not going to return to the United States -- ever again. They can have my piece of Kansas City. I give it back to them with a free heart, and a clear conscience. To take it further, I am at the point now, and I have given this a lot of thought, this is not a frivolous uh, uh decision that I’ve made. I’m going to apply to become a citizen of the Republic of Tanzania.

MUSIC CREDITS

VOICE OVER PETE Two young men, who had been out here with some program or another, were receiving there Eagle scout badges or something. And they wanted a letter of recommendation


from me. They had used me as their reference. And the Scout master was asking me, “Mr. O’Neal would you please send the letter of recommendation and we will act upon it

immediately.” I thought that was ironic as Hell. Black Panther recommending Eagle scouts.

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