How I Was Birthed From A Mango Seed
The significance of mangoes for me is a cultural one, stemming from my first day on Earth. The moment I was brought home, my grandfather mentioned the warm tone of my skin and the slight redness on my cheeks. He said, “My likkle Bombay” , and smiled. From then on, my name in the family was Bombay, and I have carried the importance of that name since.
Bombay mangoes, a cultivar of mango indigenous to Jamaica / Photo Credits
Before I was born, my grandfather lived with my grandmother, my mother, and her siblings in St. Mary, Jamaica. Shortly after my mother’s younger sister was born, my grandfather determined the family would move to Kingston to be offered better job opportunities.
Jamaica is well-known for its beauty, making it a popular vacation destination. Patricia DeLeon (1944-), a U.S. Presidential Award recipient and Trustee Distinguished Professor for Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware was born in Port Maria, Jamaica.
St. Mary Parish Church, built in 1861/ Photo Credits
A common pest within these mangoes are spiders. Albert Crenshaw (1952-) talked at length about these bugs and how they impacted fruit.
A banana spider, a common pest/ Photo Credits
“I don't think directly. But what I told you about bugs, I realized later that that's hardcore. Anybody who wants to sit around and look at bugs all the time, you know, they (laughter)--either they're nuts or they see it as some kind of, you have some kind of enthusiastic interest in it. And apparently, that's where my scientific interest was kind of, was generated there, I think.
Not at that time. I just watched them. I knew what they were going to do, and I knew what they were, and I knew, I could see different ones. And I knew what, how they worked, and what time of the year they were going to be out. I mean, I was really, really into it. But I didn't, I wasn't so much into reading about them.” [6]
Patricia DeLeon talked about her youth in Jamaica, and the connection both her and the people had to the nature around her. The sight, sounds, and smells of her home country are with her until this day.
“Sights, sounds and--oh, the food in the tropics, were the fruits, the fruits, just you can't beat the--pineapple, bananas and, again, nature, the fruit. The flowers, the plants, the Lignum vitae, the Luminosi plants, the fish, the sea, the, yeah, that was it. We didn't--you know, that was what we had. And we really enjoyed it, and they really had an impact on us.” [1]
Patricia DeLeon / Photo Credits
In my household, those who are the most special get to be birthed from the fruit and favor, or look like, them. For my grandfather to designate me as the Bombay mango, it was the most special thing he could have called me. I was the one who reminded him of home.
Homesickness is something everyone feels at some point in their life. The emotional burden of change is oftentimes difficult to adjust to, and we tend to forget that sometimes, these changes are good.
Charles Smith (1938-) is a co-founder of the Chicago Theater Company, and he talked in depth about how homesickness caused him to uproot the life he had built for himself to return back to the way of living he had become accustomed to.
“And, then after Lai Chan, I just started going out experiencing the Japanese culture and that was really cool, you know, bought a car, bought me a half interest in a house, and--'cause I was, I was really intending to stay, you know. I was gonna be a lifer. I was gonna stay. And, after like about a year and a half it was time to re-enlist. And, the first sergeant ask if I wanted to--said "If I wanted to stay here and keep everything the way it was, the way it was then I was gonna have to re-enlist within like about three weeks." And then, I said, "Oh, yeah, I'll talk to you later." And, then something happened. I have no idea what happened. But, I got homesick. I actually got homesick. And, I've never, never felt that before. And, I decided I'd go home. I'll come back to the States and see what the deal was, was, going on here. And, you know, when he ask, (unclear), first sergeant, I think, I think I'm gonna go home. He said, "Well, you know you're gonna have to give all of this up," you know. 'Cause everybody knew that I had (laughter), you know, I had the car, I had the house, I had--everybody knew I had it made. And, I had a real nice job, you know, so. I said, "Naw, but I gotta, I gotta--I just wanted to get, I wanted to get back--somehow I wanted to get back to Chicago [Illinois]. And so, I was discharged in September, like September 3, 1963. Not, a few days after [Reverend] Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] made his big speech on Washington [D.C.].” [2]
Charles Smith / Photo Credits
Moments in time are what lead us to make the decisions we pursue throughout our life. Similarly to the moment in which he left the Marine Corps, my grandfather had a similar moment on one fateful day in St. Mary, Jamaica.
It all started with a mango. My grandfather had always loved mangoes, but the ones he had tasted in Jamaica were never quite as sweet as he had hoped. He had heard that the mangoes in the United States were different, sweeter, and juicier. So, one day, he decided to try one for himself.
At this point, I must admit: mangoes are a euphemism for hope and discovery, and with my grandfather’s birthday coming up on April 4, I wanted to highlight the sacrifice and determination he exhibited to bring his entire family to the United States. I was the first of his grandchildren born in the United States, but I was the manifestation of a dream he had when he was working countless hours in Jamaica.
My grandfather
His journey to the United States was not an easy one, but it was one that was driven by a deep sense of purpose and a desire for a better future. And it is a reminder that sometimes, the sweetest things in life are the ones that require the most effort and sacrifice. Looking back on my grandfather's story, I am struck by the power of a simple experience to inspire change. A taste of a mango may seem like a small thing, but for my grandfather, it was a catalyst for a life-changing decision.
Today, as I reflect on my grandfather's legacy, I am grateful for the sacrifices that he made and the opportunities that he created. I am proud of the values that he instilled in me and the example that he set for our family.
And I am reminded that, like a mango seed, we all have the potential to grow and thrive if we are given the right conditions and opportunities. It is up to us to seize those opportunities, and to use them to create a sweeter, more fulfilling life for ourselves and those around us.
Hope is the strongest tool that we have. Fran Harth (1940-) served as an associate producer at Channel 5 in Chicago and WBBM 2. When she was asked about the hope that many immigrant parents want for their children and families, she discussed how they promote pursuing an education.
Fran Harth / Photo Credits
“Well, I hope that, that all African Americans are able to be what they want to be, have dreams. Do you know a lot of African American children don’t even have dreams? To have dreams and to become all they can be. I want that, and I think all parents want that for that--their children. I remember seeing years and years ago a West Indian woman who was in New York City [New York]. She I think was up in Harlem [New York, New York], maybe Brooklyn [New York], maybe Queens [New York], I don’t know, one of them. And she couldn’t speak good English, but she said, “I send my child to school every day. I make sure he’s dressed and he’s fed, but he don’t read.” And she had tears. “Why he don’t read?” She wants the best for her child, as I wanted the best for my children [Raymond Harth, Jr. and Douglass Harth]. And I think that all parents want the best for their children.” [3]
Education meant everything to my grandfather. He hadn’t graduated high school, but it was because he couldn’t afford it and he had to work to support his growing family. Because of this, he required both his children and grandchildren to receive their high school diploma. There were some who were his favorite of course - my mother, aunt, and sister who received various Master’s degrees. He loved to see us pursuing higher education.
Lt. Col. Donald Campbell (1935 - 2017) was a long standing member of the Maricopa County Community College District Board and a retired military veteran. When asked about how he viewed the importance of education and what it does for this country, he was adamant about accentuating its importance.
Well, I think one of the, the main things about education, that is the, quote, boardwalk of this country. Without education, we probably wouldn't be where we are today. And that's not just the Stanfords [Stanford University, Stanford, California] and the Harvards [Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts] and Princetons [Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey] and all, but all of the systems around. Because the community college system first started in 1900 in Joliet, Illinois, as junior colleges. Then, they became community colleges because they wanted to broaden the things they were doing. But, the fact that we have probably the largest college system in the world in this country at its four year schools, two year schools, high schools, elementary schools, and even private schools like the University of Phoenix [Tempe, Arizona], you know, and others, which is the thing that allows this country to elevate its, its academics, its, its, its whole system of functioning and move not just from the traditional farming systems that we were and then to the manufacturing industrial system, but now into the academic, the technical systems that we're moving into now. And that's why so many young people have to stay in school because a lot of the jobs that used to be available here are gonna be in other countries and people there will be doing those jobs.” [4]
Lt. Col. Donald Campbell / Photo Credits
Education, hope, mangoes. It all seemed so complex, and it was. Everything had a reason, a purpose, a reason for why I have a sense of destiny. For me, that mango seed represented the sacrifices that my grandfather had made for his family, and the opportunities that he had created for us. It was a reminder of the importance of hard work, determination, and the belief that anything is possible.
The sweetness, or reward of sacrifice is that that leads the decisions we make. Jewell Jackson McCabe (1945-) was the founder of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, president of Jewell Jackson McCabe Associates. She was also the first female finalist for the executive directorship of the NAACP. She talked about how the sugar from the sweet bread she would eat still makes her smile to this day.
“I actually had a, with other friends, a black gourmet club, but I was never a pastry person. But my grandmother could make biscuits. I mean one of the great delights for me was if I was ever ill, she would take an apple, and what she could do to an apple was just scary. I mean she'd take a spoon and scoop it out. It was applesauce by the time she finished with, you know, lacing it with, you know, lots of butter and brown sugar and you know. And once you, you got that, you know, everything was just hunky dory and comfortable. And she could make seven layer coconut cakes and you know. It was just the--and ambrosia to die for, because it was always fresh coconut and lots of oranges and apples and great things.'“ [5]
Jewell Jackson McCabe / Photo Credits
Shirley Ann Jackson (1946-) became the first woman to receive her Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1973. She chaired the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for four years and was named president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999. She talked about how the nectar from bees is extremely similar to the sweetness my grandfather identified with.
Ah, we used to have these things, they're basically like weeds, called holly hocks in our backyard. And so I used to watch the bees fly into the flower, and I would be watching them, you know, sampling. And I wanted to study them more closely, but they would fly away, of course. And so I decided that I wanted to capture them. I never was enamored about having an insect collection because, other than maybe the ability to do the anatomy, these were dead things. And I wanted to study them as live creatures. And so because of the nature of the holly hock flower, it was easy to close the petals and pluck the flower and drop it into a mason jar or a mayonnaise jar and punch holes in it. And so I was just interested in questions, and I'm still like that, questions that said, that tried to answer what would happen if there was a different diet and if one had an artificially produced diet, meaning sugar and so on, would that make these bees behave differently. If I put in the bumble bees with yellow jackets and wasps, who would emerge, and would they behave differently? And if I kept them in the dark or in a cool place, what would happen versus being in the light and a warmer place. So I used to keep them, you know, under our, I mentioned that we would go into the basement from the yard and go a half level down. And then to go up on the main floor of the house through the back porch, one had to go a half level up. So that meant that there was a distance under the back porch that was a crawl space. And so when I started collecting the bees, I knew we weren't gonna keep them in the house as such. [7]
Search terms:
· Jamaica + fruit (25 stories)
· Homesick ( 75 stories)
· Hope (8413 stories)
· Higher education + importance (44 stories)
· Sugar (803 stories)
Bugs ( 501 stories)
Bees (341 stories)
References:
1. Patricia DeLeon (The HistoryMakers A2013.081), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 27, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Patricia DeLeon describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Jamaica
2. Charles "Chuck" Smith (The HistoryMakers A2005.167), interviewed by Larry Crowe, July 18, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Charles "Chuck" Smith describes his experiences living in Japan and his leaving the U.S. Marine Corps
3. Fran Harth (The HistoryMakers A2013.225), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 23, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 7, story 7, Fran Harth describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community
4. Lt. Col. Donald Campbell (The HistoryMakers A2007.206), interviewed by Jacques Lesure, July 13, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 7, Lt. Col. Donald Campbell talks about the importance of education
5. Jewell Jackson McCabe (The HistoryMakers A2007.181), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, June 20, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 8, story 6, Jewell Jackson McCabe describes her family's food traditions
6. Albert Crenshaw (The HistoryMakers A2013.002), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 21, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 8, Albert Crenshaw talks about his fascination with insects, especially spiders
7. Shirley Ann Jackson (The HistoryMakers A2006.102), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, September 22, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 3, Shirley Ann Jackson discusses her interest in math and her bee collection
Ambassador Check- In: This week, Tierney and I recently completed an interview with the U.S. Department of Labor about our experience as Student Ambassadors for The HistoryMakers Digital Archive.
We shared how we were selected to be Student Ambassadors for The HistoryMakers Digital Archive through our involvement with The Legacy Museum. As Student Ambassadors, we are tasked with promoting the archive, and demonstrated this to our interviewer Regina Jones.
During the interview with the U.S. Department of Labor, we further discussed the impact that our experience as Student Ambassadors had on our personal and professional growth. We were able to develop valuable skills in communication, leadership, and organization as they worked to promote the archive and use our creativity to increase engagement.
I explained that “Being a Student Ambassador for The HistoryMakers Digital Archive was a transformative experience for me. It allowed me to develop my leadership skills and gave me the opportunity to make a tangible impact on my campus and in my community.”
Tierney added, “The experience taught me the importance of preserving and sharing the stories of African Americans who have made significant contributions to American history and culture. It was an honor to contribute to the archive and help make these stories more accessible to people around the world.”
The U.S. Department of Labor was interested in learning more about how The HistoryMakers Digital Archive is helping to promote the preservation of Black history on HBCU campuses.
As Student Ambassadors for The HistoryMakers Digital Archive, we are elated to be able to help promote this mission by sharing the stories of local African American leaders and innovators in their community.
Ambassador Outreach: we finished our Black History Month Contest. In terms of submissions, we had three people attempt to submit but only had one student submit a full presentation. Despite the various outreach events we had and the creation of both graphic and audio content to increase engagement, Tierney and I have determined that we must do more in order to get more students engaged and probably change the type of contest for next time. With that being said, Dominique Jenkins won the first prize for the competition, in which he created a company designed to sell shea butter and had an array of amazing professionals in his program.