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00:00:00Living here in Tanzania, you have to have a gun.
00:00:11We have spinning cobras, buffalo crashing to our fences, there have been reports of
00:00:16lions roaming around.
00:00:19But anyone who is not a Tanzanian requesting to possess a firearm must first get permission
00:00:26from the embassy.
00:00:28Now this is a crazy scenario.
00:00:30Pete O'Neill, former Black Panther, in exile, has to go to the United States Embassy to
00:00:37request a license for a 12-gauge shotgun, and it was a 12-gauge shotgun in 1970 that
00:00:46led to my spending 32 years in Africa.
00:00:58As a member of the Black Panther Party, I was arrested on the very bogus charge of transporting
00:01:10a gun across state lines.
00:01:12I had had some very serious run-ins with the police in Kansas City and with the FBI as
00:01:18well.
00:01:19Policemen had seriously indicated that I would die if I went to prison.
00:01:23So my wife Charlotte and I left the United States and chose to go into exile.
00:01:33After having spent two years in Algeria, we came here to Arusha, Tanzania, and we've been
00:01:39here ever since.
00:01:45This pipe goes to our village.
00:01:55So here's where the elephants have been stepping.
00:02:06So these are how the elephants take and grab with their tusks and pull out the pipe and
00:02:12break them.
00:02:14Oh, that's kind of scary.
00:02:22I'm hoping and praying that this will perhaps alleviate some of our water problems.
00:02:27Doesn't look very promising right now, but fingers crossed.
00:02:31When I brought Charlotte out here, she was 19 years old.
00:02:45She'd never been away from home.
00:02:47And I was 30 then.
00:02:50I cannot imagine that I would have been able to succeed without her.
00:02:57I do not have the ability to deal with details.
00:03:00I can't.
00:03:01Charlotte coordinates everything.
00:03:23I can be a little impatient at times.
00:03:26And have developed into a grumpy old man.
00:03:29Are you leaving now?
00:03:30And Charlotte is angelic by nature.
00:03:38I'm setting a new record for cholesterol.
00:03:40I'm going to be the first person to have a cholesterol level of 589 and survive.
00:03:45Oh, really?
00:03:46I'm telling you.
00:03:51Yeah, two names of salsa.
00:03:53Hidatsa!
00:03:56Hidatsa!
00:03:57Hurry up.
00:03:58Come on.
00:04:03Morning.
00:04:04Good morning.
00:04:05How y'all doing?
00:04:06Howdy.
00:04:07Our differing personalities have combined to create a whole that has been extraordinarily productive.
00:04:16We'd like to welcome you all to the United African American Community Center.
00:04:22Myself, Charlotte O'Neill.
00:04:24My husband, Pete O'Neill.
00:04:26Founded the United African American Community Center in 91.
00:04:3091.
00:04:31But we have been doing community work for years and years in Kansas City as members of the Black Panther Party.
00:04:39Where we fed more than 750 children every day and had free medical clinics.
00:04:44When people think of the Black Panther Party, mostly due to the media,
00:04:48they think of young men with guns and berets and leather jackets.
00:04:52And that's true.
00:04:54But we were much more than that.
00:04:58The really good things about the Black Panther Party was the manner in which it served the community.
00:05:05If you look at what we're doing right now,
00:05:07you would find it difficult to distinguish the community work we were doing back in the day
00:05:12and the community work we're doing now.
00:05:14Do you know we're dealing with 90 students a day?
00:05:21If we have someone who has the ability to teach English, we teach English.
00:05:26If we find volunteers who have computer skills, they teach computers to our young people.
00:05:35Human.
00:05:37HIV is a human virus.
00:05:40What we're trying to do here is create a microcosm of what we feel the world should be.
00:05:45People of all races, all ethnicities, all ethnicities.
00:05:50What we're trying to do here is create a microcosm of what we feel the world should be.
00:05:55People of all races, all cultures, all traditions come together and live and work for common goals.
00:06:14In 1968, I started to read about the Black Panther Party.
00:06:19I went to Oakland, California.
00:06:21I talked with the people who were running the party there.
00:06:24And we established the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party.
00:06:28The Black Panther Party is officially in Kansas City.
00:06:34The Black Panther Party came into existence to try to control these mad dog policemen
00:06:40who were brutalizing people in the black community.
00:06:43About black community.
00:06:45About black community.
00:06:47Right on.
00:06:49Our breakfast for school children program, our counseling programs, our clothing programs,
00:06:55all evolved from that original foundation.
00:06:59Before the Black Panther Party, I did many things that by anyone's standards would be considered wrong.
00:07:08The Black Panther Party turned my life dramatically around.
00:07:13Sister Charlotte.
00:07:15I bet a lot of the, can you imagine, how a lot of the elders in the village would view,
00:07:20who is this? I'd say, oh, that's Mama Charlotte.
00:07:23They'd say, who? What's she doing with a gun?
00:07:26Is she going hunting or what?
00:07:30Do you remember when we first came to Dar Es Salaam, to Tanzania?
00:07:34And I remember when we walked out of that airport and how warm it was.
00:07:39Those coconut trees, you know.
00:07:42I said, Pete, I love this. This is like coming home.
00:07:46And it really was.
00:07:48And you had this puzzled expression on your face.
00:07:51I don't know what that meant.
00:07:53Do you know when I got off the plane here, and this is the truth, Charlotte,
00:07:56all kidding aside now, I didn't have a good feeling.
00:08:00I just didn't, sister.
00:08:02And we've talked about this a lot and I generally make light of it.
00:08:06But to me it was just like I had gotten too far away from everything that I knew.
00:08:11And it amazes me how you didn't feel that way.
00:08:14I guess you were just as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine, huh?
00:08:18For me, I was saying, oh, boy.
00:08:21I saw the tin roofs with the rusted iron, and I said, uh-oh.
00:08:27I said, we are in for a different kind of life.
00:08:35Here in Amagumpia.
00:08:37Here in Amagumpia.
00:08:45Wait a minute, wait a minute. How much, how much is it?
00:08:47We let you have it again?
00:08:49Hiya, Mama.
00:08:51Wayne Joe.
00:08:57Go to Kwanzaa.
00:08:59Ah, June Anglia, Kwanzaa.
00:09:01Mama Andiga.
00:09:05There's somebody over there.
00:09:20I spend most of my life shopping and buying supplies.
00:09:24We feed 20 to 30 people daily.
00:09:27We've got our programs. We have student groups coming through.
00:09:30We've got all these people visiting.
00:09:32We've got people on honeymoon, people just passing through.
00:09:37We are in constant motion.
00:09:48I have a peaceful kind of floating in the clouds nature.
00:09:53That's just me, and it balances out the way Pete is,
00:09:57because he's more hyper, and he sweats things more than I do.
00:10:03But he's very different from the way I remember him back in the day.
00:10:08I've watched him grow to be very tolerant of all kinds of people's opinions.
00:10:15Where I think years ago, if you wasn't down with the program,
00:10:20you know, you couldn't know all these same things to him.
00:10:24You know what I mean?
00:10:30We don't see any racial problems in Birmingham.
00:10:33Oh, really?
00:10:34No. Scott and I live there, and we love it.
00:10:36We both live fairly Anglo lives in Alabama.
00:10:41I don't have that much interaction with inner-city blacks or anything,
00:10:45but I don't feel threatened walking down the street,
00:10:47and there's no chip on my shoulder,
00:10:49and as far as I can tell, no chip on any of their shoulders.
00:10:51Well, that was going to be my next question.
00:10:53I was going to ask you, how did you think blacks felt there?
00:10:56You're talking about where, Birmingham?
00:10:58But now Birmingham, not four years ago.
00:11:00No question, but I wanted to ask you, how do they feel?
00:11:02I don't agree with what Claire says,
00:11:04but I still notice that throughout the African-American community,
00:11:08I still think there are a lot of young people who still sense some resentment
00:11:11and get choked by the anger and the resentment,
00:11:14and can't break out of that,
00:11:16and almost wallow at times in the anger and the resentment,
00:11:21and instead of taking that energy and moving forward,
00:11:24it serves as a hindrance to them moving forward.
00:11:29There may be some truth in that,
00:11:31but can you imagine how difficult it is to forge ahead?
00:11:34I don't know how.
00:11:35No, you don't, sir.
00:11:36And when you have never had an opportunity educationally, when you...
00:11:40But you don't know what it's like to be a white male in the South either.
00:11:43It ain't all bread and roses.
00:11:45But whites weren't slaves for centuries.
00:11:48They don't live on the big rock candy mountain,
00:11:50and the money doesn't grow on trees,
00:11:52and it's not even easy for a white person either.
00:11:55It's hard, Peter.
00:11:57It's not easy for whites.
00:11:59No, it's not. I agree with you.
00:12:01It's not, but you certainly, in any kind of intellectual honesty,
00:12:04you can't compare that with what blacks went through.
00:12:07You're too intelligent a man to look at people
00:12:11that were treated like cows and chickens,
00:12:15against the law to know how to read for centuries.
00:12:18Now, what's the solution?
00:12:20The first thing in all of these problems that we talked about,
00:12:23I can give you the solution.
00:12:25The first thing is to admit, and that's hard.
00:12:28That's the hardest thing. That's the hardest part,
00:12:31and particularly for whites.
00:12:33Not a white man never will be,
00:12:35but I can imagine this is the most difficult thing whites will ever have to do,
00:12:38is to admit categorically that we have had serious problems,
00:12:43we can't sugarcoat them,
00:12:45we can't cast blame on the victim.
00:12:48We have to say, hey, we screwed up.
00:12:50This was wrong.
00:12:52What can we do to make it right?
00:12:57Sister, sister, sister,
00:12:59if you could have heard some of the stuff
00:13:01that came out of their mouth.
00:13:03Lord.
00:13:04Part of the problem, or no, damn it, he said the problem,
00:13:07and I'm paraphrasing,
00:13:09was that young blacks have resentment in their heart.
00:13:15Well, what the hell do you expect to have?
00:13:19So many people have a lack of knowledge about the 60s and the 70s,
00:13:23and the Civil Rights era and all of that, you know?
00:13:27It's like they've been living in complete isolation.
00:13:30Isolation and have no idea.
00:13:32Or even about the rest of the world.
00:13:34That's what blows my mind, too.
00:13:36We'll find people that will come in our presence now,
00:13:39and they'll talk about social issues
00:13:41and racial issues and things like this,
00:13:43but these are things they don't think about
00:13:45when they think they have to do this in our presence.
00:13:49That's the killer.
00:13:51This is the killer.
00:13:53They think in their mind
00:13:55that they are being as progressive,
00:13:58and they're saying, look, look, it's really your fault,
00:14:01he said it's your fault,
00:14:03or you're playing, you're a big part of the problem,
00:14:06but he means well.
00:14:08I don't like that, do you?
00:14:10I know that's a big part of what we talk about and what we try to do,
00:14:13but I don't like it, do you?
00:14:15You mean dealing with those issues?
00:14:17No, I'm talking about the whole cross-cultural thing,
00:14:20when it brings that uncomfortable feeling.
00:14:24I'd really, I'm not going to do this,
00:14:26but I'd really just say, hey, take that shit out of here.
00:14:30Has there been any cooling off
00:14:32between you and the police in Kansas City?
00:14:34None whatsoever.
00:14:36There can never be any cooling off
00:14:38between the Black Panther Party and the racist pigs,
00:14:41regardless of what level of pigs we're talking about,
00:14:44until all oppression has been ended,
00:14:46until we see them all sent to their graves.
00:14:48When I look at that footage,
00:14:50I'm a little impressed with myself
00:14:52that I had the fortitude to say this
00:14:54and to say it on national TV.
00:14:57I have no qualms about what we were struggling for
00:15:00in the Black Panther Party.
00:15:02I think they were right.
00:15:04But when I see myself adopting a totally unreasonable stance,
00:15:09it almost says to me, I could have dealt with that better.
00:15:13Eldridge Cleaver made the statement
00:15:15that he would like to go into the Senate,
00:15:17to shoot his way into the Senate and take McClellan's head.
00:15:20While Eldridge is doing that, I would like very much
00:15:23to shoot my way into the House of Representatives
00:15:25and take the racist lion Icard's head.
00:15:27The interviewer, when I said that I wanted to take
00:15:30Congressman Icard's head,
00:15:32who headed the investigation against me,
00:15:35he said,
00:15:37Now, when you say you want to take his head,
00:15:40you don't mean that literally.
00:15:43And I said, I mean it literally.
00:15:45I'd like to do that.
00:15:47And perhaps I did.
00:15:49Perhaps at that time I was thinking
00:15:51that going into the House of Representatives
00:15:54and taking the head of Icard
00:15:56would somehow further the revolution.
00:15:59Well, if that's how I thought then,
00:16:02it's not a reflection of how I feel now.
00:16:07What I need to do is just really practice the pronunciation.
00:16:11Tu me pata...
00:16:13See, I'm getting struggling already.
00:16:15Try to use it.
00:16:17Tu me pata...
00:16:19Marfucka.
00:16:22First, tell me the meaning. What does it mean?
00:16:25The meaning is understanding.
00:16:27Understanding, like between you and I.
00:16:29Say we quarreled on certain matters,
00:16:32and then we said, OK, let's forget about our differences.
00:16:36So that understanding is called muafaka.
00:16:40Good Lord in heaven.
00:16:45Muafaka.
00:16:47Muafaka.
00:16:49I understand why you try to avoid using that phrase.
00:16:53Yes, I am, because there's a phrase in English
00:16:57that sounds very similar,
00:16:59and it means, certainly does not mean understanding, you know.
00:17:05When Peter came to Tanzania,
00:17:08he was young, provocative, very rough.
00:17:12I remember,
00:17:15you cannot talk to Peter
00:17:19three words without exchanging horrible words.
00:17:26One day in town,
00:17:29he had this panga, a big knife,
00:17:32and I don't know what happened,
00:17:34but he chased a man with his knife.
00:17:38So a lot of people came out, and everybody was saying,
00:17:41wow, wow, what is this, what is this?
00:17:44And then we saw it was Peter.
00:17:48In Tanzania, we don't do that.
00:17:51If you hate somebody,
00:17:53there is a way of giving the message that,
00:17:56well, I don't like you.
00:17:58But not chasing him in front of people
00:18:01with a panga, with a knife,
00:18:05it doesn't happen.
00:18:08When Peter came here,
00:18:11he had some problems in his mind.
00:18:15I think he has some frustrations from America.
00:18:38I love the Tanzanian people.
00:18:41I think they are gentle, considerate, loving people.
00:18:45And things are so much more mellow here,
00:18:48so much more polite.
00:18:50But it's hard for me.
00:18:52Oftentimes the elders will stop me
00:18:55and want to talk about some issue.
00:18:58I'm still with that little bit of Americanism in me,
00:19:01want to rush and do it.
00:19:03I have to do it.
00:19:05I am required to visit regularly
00:19:08to bring gifts when I do so,
00:19:11and I must express the highest form of respect.
00:19:15I have to struggle with it, don't do it this way,
00:19:19don't say it that way, be polite.
00:19:22This is a daily struggle for me.
00:19:29Yesterday I received an email
00:19:32about my legal case.
00:19:35My lawyer has done so much for me,
00:19:38and he has done it pro bono.
00:19:41I haven't had a cent to give him.
00:19:44This is going to be the year
00:19:47that something dramatic will take place
00:19:50with our efforts to have my conviction thrown out
00:19:54and my legal situation.
00:19:56I really believe that.
00:20:03Now, what was that woman
00:20:05that was the attorney general under Clinton?
00:20:08Janet Reno, that's it.
00:20:10This case even reached her desk,
00:20:13and she was, in a sense, sympathetic.
00:20:16She said, yes, I couldn't agree more
00:20:19that his conviction was probably politically motivated.
00:20:22She said, but it's going to have to be resolved in the courts
00:20:26or either our presidential pardon.
00:20:28Anyway, we'll see what happens.
00:20:30I believe that eventually I will prevail.
00:20:33Somebody else give me a question.
00:20:35What's that tattoo over there?
00:20:37Oh, Lord, I knew someone would see that.
00:20:40You're the first one.
00:20:42These were put on me when I was in the Navy.
00:20:45This faded, said Pete.
00:20:47This one says, Mom, I've never in my life called my mother Mom,
00:20:51never in my entire life.
00:20:53Now, the creme de la creme, you ready?
00:20:56Are we prepared for this?
00:20:58This one, which is a...
00:21:00What could I have been thinking?
00:21:02A turtle?
00:21:04Man, I've got stuff on me that I said,
00:21:07Lord, please let no one see it before I die.
00:21:10You want to know what I got in Hong Kong?
00:21:13Let me show you.
00:21:15This is not going to be salacious or anything.
00:21:18Don't get upset or worried.
00:21:20This is a Black Panther that I had put on in Hong Kong in 1958,
00:21:24long before a Black Panther party was ever thought about.
00:21:27Isn't that a little odd coincidence?
00:21:29Isn't that something?
00:21:31We work with a lot of organizations, universities,
00:21:34and study abroad programs.
00:21:36Tourists come out here and they give us donations
00:21:39for staying here with us.
00:21:41So this is how we survive financially.
00:21:43We operate and we function on a wing and a prayer.
00:21:57See, we're talking about water situation, sister, it's bad.
00:22:00This could get disastrous, you know.
00:22:02Let me tell you, everybody, may I make a suggestion?
00:22:05Please forgive the indelicate subject at the dinner table,
00:22:09but when you pee, don't flush the toilet.
00:22:12Do not flush the toilet when you pee.
00:22:15And when you take showers, please be brief.
00:22:19One of our major difficulties in living here in this village
00:22:23is our lack of water
00:22:25and the fact that our water supply is so uncertain.
00:22:32When there's no rain, everybody's battling
00:22:35trying to get a little bit more water.
00:22:38Oh, this can't be.
00:22:40This is the water supply.
00:22:43Trying to get a little bit more water.
00:22:45Oh, this can't be.
00:22:48This is a holy mess.
00:22:51There's a trickle of water coming in from the park.
00:22:55The water is the absolute last of our reserves.
00:22:58We have nothing else.
00:23:07I had a real bad stomach ache.
00:23:09I started getting pain from this, and now I'm coughing a lot.
00:23:12I've had it before, and now I'm throwing up.
00:23:15I can't eat anything.
00:23:18I've been on a temperature between 100 and 101 for 3 days.
00:23:24Do you have a headache?
00:23:26Yes. It's not real bad, but I do have a headache.
00:23:29At first I thought maybe it was malaria.
00:23:32Then I see joy.
00:23:43There's scant malaria.
00:23:45So you will need some antibiotics also to get malaria.
00:24:02So it's a trouble, man.
00:24:04So you got bronchitis, you got malaria.
00:24:07Yes, sir.
00:24:09You know what I was afraid of? Typhoid.
00:24:13I'm not hearing it.
00:24:15But your head was hurting, though.
00:24:18Yeah.
00:24:22Oh, yeah.
00:24:24Yeah, come on.
00:24:26Yeah, here we go.
00:24:29You got to worry about things like malaria parasites.
00:24:32There's other parasites that you got to always be aware of.
00:24:36There's all kind of problems that will be different in the states and non-existent in states.
00:24:41But then when I look around and see all these trees and all this beauty and the birds singing,
00:24:47I know I can go around the compound and go into the classroom
00:24:51and see all those students, you know, working and thriving.
00:24:56Any kind of inconvenience that we experience is nothing compared to that.
00:25:01Because I know we wouldn't be able to live a life like this in the states.
00:25:06Charlotte is probably one of the most positive human beings that I've ever met in my life,
00:25:11and she can deal with anything.
00:25:14But we get malaria far too much.
00:25:17We actually are getting malaria three and four times a year.
00:25:27It's the most horrendous disease.
00:25:29I think malaria kills more people in sub-Saharan Africa than anything else, including AIDS.
00:25:36The parasites hide in the liver, and at times of stress, they come out.
00:25:41Okay, you take all these medicines and things like that,
00:25:44but it doesn't completely rid them out of your body.
00:25:48You can't think, you can't breathe, you can't eat.
00:25:51Aching and chills and sweating and fever.
00:25:55It's horrible.
00:25:58This is just taking too great a toll on our bodies, you know.
00:26:05It's so nice we've got a show like this we can enjoy.
00:26:08Isn't it nice?
00:26:10As Albert Einstein said, the world is a dangerous place to live in.
00:26:14Not because people do evil, but because people sit by and love them.
00:26:20Good point, Paul.
00:26:23Congratulations, you've qualified for the state tournament.
00:26:25I know this is going to happen, watch this.
00:26:28He's upset about something.
00:26:31Yeah, you can see it right there.
00:26:33Look at that old tight face.
00:26:37Oh, now that's smart.
00:26:40Is that a teacher?
00:26:42Yeah, I think she flipped out or something.
00:26:45Look at her.
00:26:51We're going to have another student teacher.
00:26:55A fad developing there.
00:26:58See, I see through all that squish.
00:27:01He's running that squish for getting closer to it, you see.
00:27:05White middle class kids, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm leaving.
00:27:08Not everything is black and white, Mr. Jackson.
00:27:10Standardized tests are...
00:27:12I'm speaking now, sir.
00:27:14Uh-oh.
00:27:15Testing board is comprised of a broad spectrum...
00:27:18It's funny, 53% of white kids answered that same question correctly when only 22% of black kids did.
00:27:23How do you know this?
00:27:25Well, run it then.
00:27:32Uh-oh.
00:27:39Oh, that was a good one, wasn't it?
00:27:42Hmm.
00:27:50The whole idea behind the Hilda Community Program
00:27:54is that we want to take young African Americans,
00:27:58preferably those from a challenged background,
00:28:02and expose them to traditional African life
00:28:06with the hope that this will inspire them to go back to their communities
00:28:10and create a better way.
00:28:14When I think about these young people, Morty and Derek,
00:28:17I think about myself and all the mistakes I made,
00:28:21all the misguided goals that I've had in my life.
00:28:25If I can play a part in steering some other young African American
00:28:30away from the pitfalls that I jumped willingly into,
00:28:35that is extremely important to me.
00:28:38Come on, Derek.
00:28:40I just didn't think I'd have been picked to go to Tanzania
00:28:43for the simple fact I didn't feel that I was doing that good in school.
00:28:46As a young person, I was just bad, you know what I'm saying?
00:28:48Stealing and breaking into people's houses
00:28:50and went to jail a couple times for stuff like that.
00:28:52I wasn't trying to do right at the time, you know what I mean?
00:28:55And I don't know. I changed. That's why I'm here today.
00:28:59I done bad things.
00:29:01I smoked weed.
00:29:03I stopped going to school.
00:29:06I done a lot of bad things.
00:29:09So I'm looking for this trip to benefit me, to help me.
00:29:14I don't know no one ever been to Africa.
00:29:17I like the black community.
00:29:19I'm glad I'm one of them first ones to go.
00:29:23So these are like IDs or something?
00:29:25Yes, sir. Federal government ID.
00:29:27That's better than a driver's license, actually.
00:29:29I'm excited, man, but I'm trying to chill.
00:29:33Man, I'm like, man, I'm happy.
00:29:35I don't know what to do, man. I'm kind of nervous.
00:29:37How you feeling, Mark?
00:29:39Trip of a lifetime.
00:29:50Let me give these brothers a proper...
00:29:51Hello, how you doing?
00:29:52What's your name, Nagy?
00:29:53This is Morty.
00:29:54How you doing, homie?
00:29:55How you doing, ma'am?
00:29:57Doesn't that make you Derek, right?
00:29:59How you doing, brother? You all right?
00:30:00We all right.
00:30:01You're doing too well.
00:30:11So brother, this is your first time out of the country?
00:30:13Yeah.
00:30:14It is?
00:30:15You as well?
00:30:16Yeah.
00:30:17Okay, all right, okay.
00:30:18Have you done much traveling?
00:30:20No, one time.
00:30:21Were you ready for some unique adventures?
00:30:24Yes.
00:30:25We're going to give them to you.
00:30:26We're going to give them to you.
00:30:29This is it.
00:30:30This is it.
00:30:31We're getting ready to get serious.
00:30:32It is the same.
00:30:33America, we ain't in America no more.
00:30:35You know what I'm saying?
00:30:36No, no.
00:30:44Let the ancestors know that you all have returned.
00:30:49And we want to welcome you as children of Africa who have come home.
00:31:01You're right back here where you started, brother.
00:31:13The ancestors know y'all in the house.
00:31:20Any of you all know anything about 12th Street?
00:31:22Is 12th Street still there?
00:31:23Yeah, 12th Street's still there.
00:31:25That was my spot, brother.
00:31:26Uh-huh, right by the island.
00:31:28That was my...
00:31:29You know the little...
00:31:30The bowl?
00:31:31Uh-huh.
00:31:32Do they still have that cannon?
00:31:33Yeah, right there.
00:31:34That little cannon there?
00:31:35That was it.
00:31:36Some of the fondest memories I have of Kansas City
00:31:39is on a weekend in Purcell Park.
00:31:42Is Purcell Swimming Pool still there?
00:31:44No.
00:31:45It's gone?
00:31:46Yeah, that's gone.
00:31:47Oh, no.
00:31:49Purcell Park's still there.
00:31:50Tell me that's still there.
00:31:51Yeah.
00:31:52And brothers and still...
00:31:53Yeah, there you go.
00:31:54And brothers and sisters still gather there on the weekend and things, huh?
00:31:57No, no.
00:31:58It ain't like that.
00:31:59It ain't like that.
00:32:00I was doing it.
00:32:01Do you remember that, Charlie?
00:32:02Yeah.
00:32:03Do you remember Purcell Park, how we'd go down there
00:32:05and just take a blanket and put a blanket?
00:32:07We would.
00:32:08Well, I guess that lends truth to the notion
00:32:11that the Kansas City I knew really no longer exists, you know?
00:32:19Brothers, do you all realize that we're going off deep in the bush
00:32:23to a remote Messiah village?
00:32:26People that come out here as tourists never experience it.
00:32:32He said that we are completely welcome here
00:32:35and that anything that you want to do here,
00:32:38you're more than welcome to do it because you're not visitors.
00:32:41You have arrived.
00:32:43Put your head back.
00:32:49The Messiah have to struggle to do everything.
00:32:52They have to rub sticks together and use leaves just to make a fire.
00:32:57They walk miles for water.
00:32:59Now, by American standards, these people have nothing,
00:33:03but they have held on to their traditional ways with honor,
00:33:07and I think we can all learn something from that example.
00:33:12We put here.
00:33:15This is so central.
00:33:18We use it for perfume.
00:33:22After maybe five minutes, my clothes will be a good smell.
00:33:28It might not smell like fire, but it's a good smell right now.
00:33:33Just do it like this.
00:33:36There's more.
00:33:42Somebody who wanted to use toothbrushes, he has teeth.
00:33:45He said this is good for your teeth.
00:33:47Yeah, toothbrush.
00:33:49Teeth.
00:33:51Teeth.
00:33:53Toothbrush.
00:33:55Yeah, toothbrush.
00:33:59It's toothbrush for us.
00:34:01Yeah, to brush your teeth.
00:34:03To brush your teeth.
00:34:06So now you can clean your teeth easier.
00:34:12You got people with no lights, don't have water, toothbrushes, deodorant.
00:34:18I mean, dang, sometimes, man, you be like, dang, this is different.
00:34:22It ain't gonna be the way we want it to be.
00:34:24It ain't gonna be what we're destined to, I'mma say it like that.
00:34:26Like now, we just gotta keep going through it, you know what I'm saying?
00:34:29And it's hard.
00:34:32Ain't like the city life, boy.
00:34:34No cars, no buildings.
00:34:36It's just land.
00:34:38I miss, like, the traffic.
00:34:40Like the noise, horns, sirens.
00:34:44There ain't no McDonald's around here.
00:34:48I was born in the United States of America. I'm not a Maasai.
00:34:52I don't feel like I'm part of their tribe.
00:34:55I mean, I'm African American.
00:34:57I wasn't born here in Africa.
00:34:59My ancestors came from here, but I'm African American.
00:35:02You see what I'm saying?
00:35:04I just feel like, dang, man, you just can't talk to nobody, really, you know what I'm saying?
00:35:07I mean, I know they wanna talk to us and we wanna both talk,
00:35:10but I don't feel like I have that bondage with them still.
00:35:14It's just me and this dude here.
00:35:16I mean, I ask them, you wanna play some ball? No.
00:35:21Hey, come on. Come on, fellas.
00:35:24Where the other boys at, man?
00:35:27And it makes it boring, man.
00:35:30Like, when we here chillin', we may wanna go up there and hoop, but...
00:35:34I mean, one-on-one, it's cool, too.
00:35:36We get us, you know, get us in a sweat or something.
00:35:38But you get tired of that, man.
00:35:40We know we only here for 20 days and we can go back.
00:35:43We got an open door to go back.
00:35:45And to think of this man to be here for 30 years,
00:35:47it's like, man, it ain't even...
00:35:49I can't even think about it, man. I don't even want to,
00:35:52because I know I wouldn't wanna do it, you know what I'm saying?
00:35:55The little experience I had here, man, it's hard.
00:35:58I know you miss home.
00:36:00Well, yeah. I miss home.
00:36:02Yeah, and I can understand that.
00:36:04But in terms of missing home, that's kind of a weird thing, man.
00:36:09I miss some parts of it.
00:36:11You know, I miss my mama, I miss my brother,
00:36:14I've got children I haven't seen, I miss them.
00:36:17But I have become so immersed in this society
00:36:22that I'm almost kind of lost between two worlds.
00:36:25Does that make any sense?
00:36:27Like you ain't an African-American?
00:36:29No, no, no, not that I'm not home, no, not that, not that.
00:36:33But that I just can't grasp
00:36:37what the values and the mindsets of African-Americans are
00:36:44as much and as easily as I did in the past.
00:36:49And you know what scares the hell out of me?
00:36:51I mean, that scares me worse than anything.
00:36:53I don't want that to happen.
00:36:55You know, I don't wanna lose that.
00:36:57And here's the kicker, man.
00:36:59Say I win my case tomorrow, I get an email, Pete, we won.
00:37:02You know, it's all over.
00:37:04I'm not sure I would get on a plane and go back.
00:37:07I know I would not go back to live.
00:37:09You adapted.
00:37:10Yeah, that's it.
00:37:11You adapted to here.
00:37:12I have, man.
00:37:14And at the same time, I'm not completely adapted.
00:37:17That's what I'm trying to say.
00:37:25For the entire 32 years that I've been in exile,
00:37:29I have clung tightly to my African-American-ness.
00:37:34These are the people that made me who and what I am.
00:37:38There's millions of them.
00:37:40I have to hold on to every possible thread I can
00:37:44to maintain a connection.
00:37:46And I'm finding that there's a gulf developing.
00:37:54Gotcha!
00:37:57That's an elephant for you.
00:37:59Wow!
00:38:01African-Americans come out here.
00:38:03I love them, I embrace them, I enjoy their company.
00:38:07I ain't never seen nothing like this.
00:38:09Never.
00:38:11But at the same time, I'm realizing
00:38:14they are so different from what I know.
00:38:19Oh, look at them, look at them!
00:38:21The monks is kicking each other.
00:38:24That monk is wild, man.
00:38:26Look at this one here.
00:38:29I'm losing that connection with African-Americans.
00:38:36I'm kind of lost in a no-man's land.
00:38:39African-American music
00:39:10African-American music
00:39:28We are very pleased to have each and every one of you here.
00:39:31We're so proud and happy to see this gathering of youth
00:39:35who have come together to share their culture
00:39:38and to learn about other cultures.
00:39:54I'll just rap from my background, how I was raised.
00:39:59African-American. I'm African-American.
00:40:02All right, let me get the claps.
00:40:05No, not like that. Like a beat.
00:40:12I take my time to rewind and try to think, go back
00:40:15on all the things I used to do and all the knowledge I lacked.
00:40:18I didn't listen, make it with me, but they didn't come through.
00:40:21All the things I heard of God didn't seem to come true,
00:40:24so I did what I wanted to do.
00:40:26Then I ended up in jail, but I could tell that God was there for me.
00:40:30It kind of hurt me when I started seeing the light.
00:40:33I know another game. It's like this.
00:40:36That's called a layup.
00:40:38You got to practice that. Michael Jordan did that.
00:40:41It's free throw. Say free throw.
00:40:45Free throw. Yeah, free throw.
00:40:47Free throw.
00:40:50That's how you do that.
00:40:55From here.
00:40:58Talk is all this.
00:41:02Let it go.
00:41:06Yes!
00:41:10Yeah! That's how you do it.
00:41:27All right.
00:41:29Give it up now.
00:41:31Take care of yourself. Do what I told you.
00:41:33And remember. Do you hear me?
00:41:35Yeah. Huh? Remember.
00:41:37All right? That's all you got to do.
00:41:39It's been good. It's been good.
00:41:41It's been good, brother.
00:41:43Thanks for everything.
00:41:55Thanks for everything.
00:41:57You take care of yourself.
00:41:59Much love, brother.
00:42:04Thank you, brother.
00:42:17Growing up as a child in Kansas City,
00:42:20I got into a lot of trouble.
00:42:23And the pull of streets kind of got me.
00:42:28Prior to becoming involved in the Black Panther Party,
00:42:31I wanted to be a pimp.
00:42:34I had a new Lincoln in 1965.
00:42:38I used to wear expensive suits and expensive shoes.
00:42:42My hands were soft, and I had manicured fingernails,
00:42:45and I didn't like that. I did.
00:42:48But in this idea of being known as a street hustler,
00:42:52I wanted that. I wanted to be known as a player, as a this.
00:42:56I did some stupid shit. I did.
00:42:59You know, I'm talking little vulnerable girls
00:43:04into doing things that they didn't want to do
00:43:07and that they had no business doing
00:43:09and destroying people's lives in the process.
00:43:12You ask me, do I regret things?
00:43:15You don't have the slightest idea what you're asking me,
00:43:17and I'm not joking now.
00:43:19You say, this causes me extreme pain
00:43:22because you don't know what we're talking about.
00:43:25I feel...
00:43:31It's something that I know I cannot undo,
00:43:35and I cannot undo it once,
00:43:37and when I think about the people,
00:43:39when a picture comes into my mind
00:43:41of the people that were involved,
00:43:43when I think of the young girls,
00:43:45and I have a father, then I have my daughter,
00:43:48and I said, Lord, don't ever let anything like this
00:43:51happen to my children,
00:43:53and to think that I did this to someone's daughter,
00:43:56to people's daughters, that I would prey on them
00:43:59and try to take advantage of them
00:44:02and maneuver and manipulate
00:44:04for something just so horrendous.
00:44:07That is painful, and that stabs me in my heart
00:44:10when I think about that.
00:44:13When I involve myself in community work,
00:44:17the primary reason I do it is because it's helping me.
00:44:21This is for my salvation.
00:44:23This keeps me on the straight and narrow.
00:44:26This helps me redefine my life.
00:44:43Hello.
00:44:45How are you?
00:44:47This is Mr. Alex here.
00:44:49Okay, thank you.
00:44:51You know there's an old saying about
00:44:54beware of black men coming bearing big ideas,
00:44:57so here I am with a...
00:44:59That's news, so tell me.
00:45:01I made that up on the spur of the moment.
00:45:04All right.
00:45:06What I wanted to ask you, Alex,
00:45:10my idea is I want to run it by you and get your input.
00:45:14I want to do some computer classes
00:45:16where we can take small children, nothing complicated,
00:45:19and give them an introductory kind of thing.
00:45:22And I don't know, what is your thinking?
00:45:24Do you know of any software?
00:45:26There's software, yeah.
00:45:28I've seen software for toddlers.
00:45:30Three years old, four years old, they've got software.
00:45:33I'm looking for old stuff.
00:45:35I'm not looking for anything new or anything.
00:45:38I'm looking for old stuff.
00:45:40Yeah, I know what you're saying
00:45:42because you're limited as far as funds are concerned.
00:45:45Yeah.
00:45:46For these kids you need good computers.
00:45:48That software demands something pentium.
00:45:51You cannot work with three-, four-year-old computers.
00:45:54The good news is that even good computers,
00:45:57even new computers are getting temperance.
00:45:59I hear exactly what you're saying, I appreciate it,
00:46:02and I understand the correctness of what you're saying.
00:46:05We're always in a money crunch.
00:46:07So I know it is, and I know it's Tanzania,
00:46:09I know it's poorly, poorly,
00:46:11and I know we've got to get there slowly,
00:46:13but I just want you to think about this if you can.
00:46:16Keep your eyes open.
00:46:18All my efforts to secure a new computer were in vain.
00:46:23You know, the economy is very tight in Tanzania at the moment,
00:46:28so I noticed from the outstart
00:46:30that he was reluctant to commit himself to anything.
00:46:36Yeah.
00:46:49You know, a few months ago I had feelings
00:46:53that something would take place with my legal situation,
00:46:57but now I'm beginning to doubt it.
00:47:00In the post-9-11 world,
00:47:02overturning of a conviction
00:47:04of an old panther,
00:47:06I doubt that that's going to happen any time soon.
00:47:12Okay.
00:47:34136 over 91.
00:47:38You see, that should be lower from just having got out of bed.
00:47:48Which indicates that had I been moving around,
00:47:54the diastolic probably would have been close to 100,
00:47:59and the systolic would have been probably around 150.
00:48:04And that's just not good enough.
00:48:14I work my ass off out here.
00:48:17And then things somehow never get done?
00:48:21I don't know.
00:48:29I'm in a bit of a funk this morning.
00:48:32And, uh...
00:48:36Not in a very good mood.
00:48:51So, as you know, here's the well,
00:48:54and this is between 160 and 170 feet down.
00:48:59It's pumping.
00:49:01Pure, clean water, brother.
00:49:04I'll walk you up here and show you the tanks.
00:49:07Geronimo Jijaga, the former Geronimo Pratt,
00:49:10came to visit me.
00:49:12Man, you talk about a reunion.
00:49:14I had not seen him in over 32 years.
00:49:18Geronimo was the field marshal of the Black Panther Party.
00:49:22In 1970, he was arrested on some trumped-up murder charge.
00:49:28He was convicted and spent 27 years in prison
00:49:33for crimes he did not commit.
00:49:36This is the first tank that we built.
00:49:39Well, it's a solemn job you and Charlotte
00:49:41have put together over these 30 years.
00:49:45We've been hitting at it, brother.
00:49:47Still going strong.
00:49:49In 1997, he was released,
00:49:52and the government, in admitting that he was unjustly imprisoned,
00:49:56made a financial settlement with him.
00:49:59When he came out, he asked me,
00:50:01Pete, what can I do to be of assistance?
00:50:03I said, our primary major problem is water.
00:50:07He said, well, give me your phone.
00:50:09I gave it to him. He called his associates in the United States,
00:50:12and he had them transfer $10,000
00:50:16so that we could dig this well.
00:50:20It has that good spring taste to it, you know.
00:50:24That's a lot of water.
00:50:26Good, clean water.
00:50:28So, brother, I would say between 300 and 500 individuals
00:50:32are benefiting from the water project.
00:50:34Right on.
00:50:38When you see the smile, the joy on their faces,
00:50:41the realization that they don't have to walk today
00:50:44five miles to get a bucket of water,
00:50:47is it all worthwhile?
00:50:54When Geronimo came out, we renewed our relationship.
00:50:58So it's a table and this, huh?
00:51:00I've helped him when he was looking for a house.
00:51:03I've helped him when he wanted to buy certain items to furnish his home.
00:51:08I've tried to help Geronimo acclimate to life here in Tanzania
00:51:13so I get the opportunity to see him on a regular basis now.
00:51:25Here we go.
00:51:27That all right?
00:51:29We'll cut him off.
00:51:33Geronimo is married to a lovely young woman, JoJu Cleaver.
00:51:37This is Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver's daughter.
00:51:42When we had the international section of the Black Panther Party in Algeria,
00:51:46we had a nursery, and I can remember JoJu Cleaver
00:51:49being a pretty little babe with big heads.
00:51:52OK, y'all, let me go on and do some work.
00:51:54Y'all come out tonight if you want.
00:51:56I'm going to be out there soon enough.
00:51:58OK.
00:52:00All right, you ready, doctor?
00:52:02Hey, get the oxygen ready in there.
00:52:05Call 911. Here we go.
00:52:07Look at him!
00:52:09That's too much.
00:52:11No, it's all I can. It's all you got.
00:52:13And this is what I do.
00:52:15I said it's too much to warm up with.
00:52:17They're doing them all.
00:52:21See, I tried to teach him penitentiary.
00:52:24He didn't stay in the pen long enough to learn how to drive.
00:52:27You always warm up.
00:52:29Is that what's wrong with me?
00:52:31Seriously.
00:52:33Oh, really?
00:52:35Yeah, if you start lifting on stuff without warming it.
00:52:37OK.
00:52:39OK.
00:52:41You going to change the doohickey back there?
00:52:43You want to change it?
00:52:45I see.
00:52:49Like that. It's very light.
00:52:51That's what I want.
00:52:53Back then, in prison, you know,
00:52:55Pete was more of a scholar.
00:52:57He was passing through, solidary,
00:52:59and it was a different setting, you know?
00:53:01I wish it would have remained like that
00:53:03by the time I got in.
00:53:05Pete went to the gavel club,
00:53:07toastmasters, and they were taught
00:53:09diction and oration
00:53:11and pronunciation
00:53:13and speechifying
00:53:15and all that.
00:53:17And iron will make you eat.
00:53:19If you're trying to lose weight,
00:53:21you cannot drive no iron
00:53:23because iron gives you hunger pains
00:53:25that you can't imagine.
00:53:27Your shot, partner.
00:53:31Will you tie my hair for me, sir?
00:53:34He's in his hair all the time.
00:53:39JoJo, this is a mental activity.
00:53:41Don't be messing with this.
00:53:50That's your kind of workout.
00:53:52He said it makes you hungry.
00:53:54He got a winner.
00:54:03Mm-hmm.
00:54:07Now wait a minute.
00:54:09You sat there and told me
00:54:11if you're going to do this, you've got to eat.
00:54:13That's what you said. You did say that.
00:54:15Well, I'm going along with the flow.
00:54:25I'm coming tomorrow.
00:54:27I'm going to set up our little...
00:54:29Look what I'm recording for you.
00:54:34That song there,
00:54:36Bunchy Carter and Blue Lewis,
00:54:39running up and down Central Avenue,
00:54:41Black Panther thing,
00:54:43and all the women,
00:54:45that was right before Bunchy got killed.
00:54:47That song came out.
00:54:49Bring back memories, don't it?
00:54:51Yeah.
00:54:53It's interesting that I last saw Geronimo
00:54:55in 1970,
00:54:57less than a month
00:54:59before I left the United States,
00:55:01and I think it was a couple of months
00:55:03after that
00:55:05that he was arrested.
00:55:07And while my exile
00:55:09could in no sense
00:55:11compare to the suffering
00:55:13that he endured being in a horrendous
00:55:15prison situation,
00:55:17the fact that I
00:55:19have been in exile
00:55:21constitutes a sort of
00:55:23cultural and emotional prison
00:55:25that you can have
00:55:27male friends
00:55:29of your tribe,
00:55:31people with similar cultural interests,
00:55:33similar political interests,
00:55:35and develop close,
00:55:37bonded relationships
00:55:39with other men like this.
00:55:41This is something that's been
00:55:43missing in my life.
00:55:45Peace, Dr. Cornelius,
00:55:47stay here.
00:55:59I'm gonna finish this chair,
00:56:01then I'm gonna have to go
00:56:03and finish the curtains
00:56:05when I come back.
00:56:07Yeah, let's just do this.
00:56:09It's getting to be a big project, man.
00:56:13I'm gonna have to glue
00:56:15them door and curtains up here
00:56:17and be done.
00:56:19She's not gonna know the difference
00:56:21if we just put glue up there.
00:56:23Tell her this is a new style,
00:56:25straight out of Paris.
00:56:28Okay.
00:56:30There you go.
00:56:32How's that?
00:56:34Mm-hmm, it opens fine.
00:56:36Okay.
00:56:38Okay, I'm there.
00:56:40Looking good on my side.
00:56:42It's right at 10 years
00:56:44since my mother was last here,
00:56:46and I'm a little nervous about it.
00:56:48I know it's probably going to be
00:56:50a little bit of awkwardness there.
00:56:52It's gonna be a little bit
00:56:54of a struggle,
00:56:56a little bit of awkwardness there initially
00:56:58because we haven't seen each other
00:57:00in such a long time.
00:57:02And I can hear it in her voice
00:57:04when I'm talking to her on the phone.
00:57:06I say, she's nervous too.
00:57:08Mm-hmm.
00:57:10Mm-hmm.
00:57:12She said they lost the baggage,
00:57:14and she's gotta fill out a form.
00:57:16Old woman gotta fill out a form.
00:57:22Here, you take this.
00:57:24Take this.
00:57:26Take this.
00:57:28Take that.
00:57:30You want to hold the money?
00:57:32Hold the money.
00:57:34Can I go help my mama?
00:57:36Yeah.
00:57:38Hey, lady.
00:57:40What you doing down here?
00:57:42Look at you.
00:57:44How you doing?
00:57:46Don't worry about it.
00:57:48How you feel?
00:57:50I've been out there raising holy hell.
00:57:52Let me put you on out of here.
00:58:00Good
00:58:02Lord almighty.
00:58:06You gonna leave these with me?
00:58:08Mm-hmm.
00:58:10Charlotte, you got one of these
00:58:12monster fro's on your head.
00:58:14You got one of them big
00:58:16military afro's on.
00:58:18Uh-huh.
00:58:20Oh, Lord.
00:58:22I just grabbed them up,
00:58:24and I said, let them look at this.
00:58:26There might be something in here
00:58:28they might know.
00:58:30I was gonna throw them away 10 years ago
00:58:32because they were collecting
00:58:34and piling up.
00:58:36Mm-hmm.
00:58:38I got a bunch of pictures of you too.
00:58:40I'm gonna throw them away today.
00:58:42I think I'm gonna burn them today.
00:58:44You're gonna burn them today?
00:58:46I'm gonna burn them today.
00:58:48I went to sleep and then woke up
00:58:50in a dream. I didn't know what I was doing
00:58:52this morning. And I said, where am I?
00:58:54I said, oh, I guess that must have all
00:58:56been a dream. Me being in a wheelchair
00:58:58and me coming over here
00:59:00because I didn't think I'd come back over here again.
00:59:02And had that
00:59:04mosquito net over you.
00:59:06Yeah, and I reached out and it touched that
00:59:08and I said, oh, what is it?
00:59:10It got me tied up.
00:59:12Tied up?
00:59:14Trying to see if she's gonna get into
00:59:16a wheelchair tonight.
00:59:30You know they have health tips
00:59:32on TV.
00:59:34I don't know about your cholesterol, but they said
00:59:36that's bad for cholesterol.
00:59:38Yeah, I know. I shouldn't eat these.
00:59:40I really shouldn't.
00:59:42This is the last time I'm gonna ever buy them.
00:59:44You don't care for a little bit?
00:59:46No, I don't.
00:59:58I'm not gonna eat it.
01:00:14Hello, doctor.
01:00:16How are you, sir?
01:00:20Can I introduce you to my mother?
01:00:22Please, sir.
01:00:24And then I want to ask you
01:00:26if I can get a blood test.
01:00:28Would you let me do so?
01:00:32This is my mother.
01:00:36This is Dr. Rasa.
01:00:38Good morning, Mrs. O'Neil.
01:00:40Yeah, I'm fine, thank you.
01:00:42This is a good friend of mine.
01:00:44Yeah, well, that's good.
01:00:46And this man has pulled Charlotte and I through
01:00:48for these 30 years.
01:00:50They talk about you all the time, like you're a friend
01:00:52and family.
01:00:54How are you getting on?
01:00:56I'm doing very well, thank you.
01:00:58You know I had knee surgery.
01:01:00Now, I'm not coming for consultation or anything,
01:01:02but I just want to tell you,
01:01:04I had knee replacement.
01:01:06And I walked with a cane, that's right.
01:01:08And you need to get on him about his high blood pressure
01:01:10medicine, too.
01:01:12I take mine every day, he needs to take his.
01:01:14Yeah, he should take his every day.
01:01:16Every day, that's right.
01:01:18Mama and Dr. Thomas.
01:01:20I'm going to start taking it every day.
01:01:22Yeah, not just a promise.
01:01:24No.
01:01:30I will not smoke in front of my mother.
01:01:32My father
01:01:34passed away from lung cancer,
01:01:36and to her, smoking is
01:01:38an instant death sentence.
01:01:40So I hide it.
01:01:44He can't fool me.
01:01:46Not at all.
01:01:48I've known him all his life, so you know I know him.
01:01:50And I can tell when he's not telling me
01:01:52the truth.
01:01:54I know it.
01:01:56He's always doing
01:01:58something.
01:02:00When he was doing the Black Panther thing,
01:02:02I worked for the U.S. Treasury Department,
01:02:04and he come in from
01:02:06my building and did a demonstration.
01:02:08I wanted to hit him so bad,
01:02:10you know, and tell him to go away.
01:02:12And I said, why did you come
01:02:14in front of my building? Here I am,
01:02:16the FBI calling me in and questioning
01:02:18me, and he said, no, that's where I
01:02:20needed to be, that's where I wanted to be.
01:02:22It got me in hot water, yes.
01:02:24He said, no, it's not going to get you in trouble.
01:02:26I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm
01:02:28doing.
01:02:30It's all
01:02:32white and pretty and fresh.
01:02:34The day before you came, then the rain started.
01:02:36This is probably
01:02:38the last chance I'm going to have to be
01:02:40with my mother.
01:02:42I know this.
01:02:44I'm not going to say it to her, you know, of course.
01:02:46She struggled to make this trip.
01:02:50I am about to be 63 years old.
01:02:52I think she's 83
01:02:54years old.
01:02:56This is the last one.
01:02:58You know, I know I can't think of his name.
01:03:00This is Joe, isn't it, Joe Brown?
01:03:02No, that's Uncle Willie.
01:03:04That's Uncle Willie.
01:03:06Charlie.
01:03:08With his peanut head.
01:03:10Here's a question I want to ask you.
01:03:12Why didn't you tell Terrence
01:03:14there's that picture?
01:03:16That deformed baby.
01:03:18You know what?
01:03:20This look like a baby that came out
01:03:22before time was up.
01:03:24And they put it out in the sun.
01:03:26You know what they told me?
01:03:28Grandma told me,
01:03:30said, I'm going to give you some money.
01:03:32Can you take him to a place
01:03:34and have his picture taken?
01:03:36I said, yeah, I will.
01:03:38I wrapped you all up.
01:03:40This look like a baby that's drunk.
01:03:42Oh, Lord, have mercy.
01:03:46Where did you get this thing from?
01:03:48I looked for a little.
01:03:50Are you sure that's me?
01:03:52I'm sure that's you.
01:03:54I'm sure that's you.
01:03:56I packed you up there to that place
01:03:58and the man said,
01:04:00I ain't got no chair to fit him.
01:04:06He said, oh, I got something.
01:04:08I'll take his wicker chair
01:04:10and put him in it.
01:04:12What gets me is the baby looks confused.
01:04:14My teacher.
01:04:16I want to be a teacher.
01:04:18I want to be a teacher.
01:04:20Good.
01:04:22Please listen to me.
01:04:24My father's name.
01:04:26My father's name.
01:04:28My mother's name.
01:04:30My mother's name.
01:04:32Okay, go on.
01:04:34My father's name was fired.
01:04:36My mother's name in the war.
01:04:38My trouble in school.
01:04:40My mother's name in the war.
01:04:42My trouble in school.
01:04:50We have changed the name
01:04:52of our organization
01:04:54from the United African American
01:04:56Community Center
01:04:58to the United
01:05:00African Alliance
01:05:02Community Center.
01:05:04We feel that
01:05:06the word alliance
01:05:08better describes
01:05:10the relationship of Africans
01:05:12from the continent
01:05:14and the diaspora
01:05:16working together.
01:05:18Go.
01:05:20I am happier here.
01:05:22I feel that
01:05:24I'm more productive here
01:05:26than I have ever been
01:05:28in my entire life.
01:05:30Particularly now that
01:05:32I've seen my mama
01:05:34and I've had the chance
01:05:36to interact with her.
01:05:38I feel that I'm more productive
01:05:40than I have ever been
01:05:42in my entire life.
01:05:44Particularly now that I've seen
01:05:46my mama and I've had the chance
01:05:48to interact with her.
01:05:50Even the desire
01:05:52to visit briefly
01:05:54the United States is beginning
01:05:56to wane.
01:06:04Don't miss this new year.
01:06:06This is a special
01:06:08new year and one thing
01:06:10that makes it extra special
01:06:12is that Mama
01:06:14Chlorine O'Neal is in the house
01:06:16tonight. Give her a hand y'all.
01:06:20Mama Chlorine, you've got to say something.
01:06:22I'm sorry.
01:06:24I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner
01:06:26but you've got to say something.
01:06:32Wait a minute now. I've got to stop him.
01:06:34I don't need any music
01:06:36with my introduction.
01:06:38Oh, cut it out.
01:06:46Oh, shut up.
01:06:48We're so very pleased
01:06:50to have all of you here with us
01:06:52and as we prepare to welcome
01:06:54the year 2003
01:06:56be aware
01:06:58that in true
01:07:00Kansas City style
01:07:02we're going to bring it in with a bang.
01:07:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07:18Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07:22Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07:26Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:28Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07:30Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:32Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:07:34Okay, now
01:07:36here's what I'm doing.
01:07:38I've got one in the round
01:07:40but I've got safety on, okay?
01:07:47Okay, we're cool.
01:07:49We'll wait until it's ready.
01:07:5340 seconds.
01:07:5719.
01:08:0015.
01:08:0210.
01:08:049.
01:08:068.
01:08:087.
01:08:104.
01:08:123.
01:08:142.
01:08:161.
01:08:18Go.
01:08:20Yeah.
01:08:22Yeah, yeah.
01:08:24That's good.
01:08:28Wow.
01:08:30Wow.
01:08:32Wow.
01:08:38Yeah.
01:08:40I have never in my life lived in any community as long as I have lived in Arusha, Tanzania.
01:08:55I'm trying to make sure I'm saying the right thing here now.
01:09:02I'm not going to return to the United States ever again.
01:09:09They can have my piece of Kansas City.
01:09:11I give it back to them with a free heart and a clear conscience.
01:09:16To take it further, I am at the point now, and I have given this a lot of thought, this
01:09:22is not a frivolous decision that I've made, I'm going to apply to become a citizen of
01:09:33the Republic of Tanzania.
01:10:03Two young men who had been out here with some program or another were receiving their Eagle
01:10:25Scout badges or something, and they wanted a letter of recommendation from me.
01:10:32They had used me as their reference, and the Scoutmaster was asking me, Mr. O'Neill,
01:10:37would you please send the letter of recommendation, and we will act upon it immediately.
01:10:43I thought that was ironic as hell, Black Panther recommending Eagle Scouts.