June 20, 2017 WHO'S GOING TO DANCE THE POLKA

While out running this morning, my comrade and I got into a discussion about--YET-- another way our  world has changed. One glance at the weekend section of The Day and the average reader is BOMBARDED with events. TOO MANY CHOICES.  IT'S CRAZY.  This, of course,  led to a lot of memories and laughs about simpler times--when there weren't so many choices. So without further ado.......Remember when The Wizard of Oz was only on ONCE a year--it was an EXCITING event. We couldn't wait--to pile around the television in awe--ESPECIALLY-- the first time we saw it in COLOR!! I can't tell you how long it took me to realize that the same actors played both roles--OKAY--I ONLY SAW IT ONCE A YEAR!!  Then we moved on to the fireworks...........When I was a kid--a trip to see the fireworks--was like going to Disney!! Heck--the fireworks were only ONCE a year and were PURE magic. Today--not so much.  Even a trip to Ocean Beach was cause for celebration when I was a kid. We would go  every summer  because it was home to a major event--POLKABRATION.   It would literally take over the boardwalk for at least a week every summer. The men would come dressed in their finery--white shoes, pants, belt--adorned with a red shirt and smiling face. The women came all gussied up too  in their fancy dresses--splashed with color and different designs. They really whooped it up-- dancing around the boardwalk from morning till dusk to the Dick Pillar Band.  Talk about a major event--this was a vacation for thousands of people--every year.  I know--I know--everything changes--it's what makes the world go round. Some changes are good and others-- NOT so much. No one knows this better than Okonko, the main character of Chinua Achebe's awarding winning novel from 1958 Everything Falls Apart. 

This wonderful piece of historical fiction actually paved the way for other African American writers. It has been translated into more than 50 different languages and sold over 20 million copies world wide. It is also a mainstay in high schools around the world because it is relevant--even today-- in many ways. This story takes place in the fictional village of Umuofia in the 1890s. Okonko is a leader in his Igbo village. He is a wealthy, hard-working, wrestling champion with an almost morbid obsession with masculinity--because his father is a weak man with zero standing in their tribe. Okonko always feels he has to prove himself, a need that eventually brings about his demise.  He has three wives and several children that he treats poorly. The story unfolds in three parts.  The first tells of Okonko's life, family history, society and the rituals of the Igbo people. The next section begins  when Okono and his family are banished from the tribe and must live in exile for  seven years--at a time when British colonialism comes to Africa.  In the final section, Okonko and his family return to the tribe and are distraught by the changes as Christian Missionaries have been converting the "African savages." Okonko wants to fight them but he does not have the support of his tribe. Find out what ultimately happens to Okonko, his family and the tribe when you read this benchmark in African literature. This masterpiece is only about 150 pages long--a mere 4 mile run--that tells about Western enlightenment by a man and family who lived through it.