ktravula - a travelogue! » Rudy Wilson

Launching Festschrift Honoring Rudolph G. Wilson

Kola — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:10:12 +0000

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Acquaintances of Rudy Wilson (Papa Rudy):

Kindly consider this note your official invitation to the launching of a book in Honor of Rudy Wilson on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 12 Noon at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE).

Since his retirement from SIUE as Assistant Provost for Cultural and Social Diversity and a professor in School of Education, a group comprising of friends and mentees of Rudy Wilson has put together a short festschrift titled, Multiculturalism in the Age of the Mosaic: Essays in Honor of Rudolph G. Wilson. The book, edited by Dr. Michael O. Afolayan, Assistant Director for Academic Affairs, Illinois Board of Higher Education, with a foreword by Dr. Venessa Brown, Assistant Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Social Work at SIUE, came out in September.

This important one-hour event will take place at the Morris University Center (Hickory/Hackberry Room). There will be short readings from the chapter on “Reflections” written by friends and colleagues of Rudy, brief statements from invited guests, and a response from Rudy Wilson.

Please mark your calendar, and be there to honor this “Man of the People!”

Happy Birthday Papa Rudy

Kola — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:01:10 +0000

Of the most memorable persons I met during the Fulbright year, “Papa” Rudy Wilson stands out in a special place. My adopted grandfather, the retired professor of education is without doubt one of the happiest fellows you want to be around, and to talk to. Charming, kind-hearted, and down to earth. Thanks to him, I had one of the best times in Edwardsville, and very fun moments. It was in his house that I celebrated my last birthday, and it was with him that I visited several places of interest around the American midwest. Very many visiting students and scholars from this continent have him to thank for much of their sigh-seeing and fun get-togethers.

Papa Rudy now works in retirement as a storyteller about the days and lessons of slavery. He is fun soul. I consider myself blessed to have met him.

Today, he turns 75 years on earth, and I want to use this medium to wish him happiness and more years of humour, heroism, happiness and hope along with his children and grandchildren all over the United States, and countless adopted children all over the world.

He is the best grandfather anyone could ever have. Send him a birthday card if you can at rwilson AT siue.edu, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

Here’s to the next seventy-five years. Yes, why not.

Man or Men American

Kola — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:51:36 +0000

This is another old video in which we tried to interrogate American English pronunciations during a leisure moment.

Following Lincoln

Kola — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:37:01 +0000

On Thursday last week, I went to Springfield, the capital of Illinois to see sites around the life of one of America’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln. I went in company of my host Prof Wilson who was visiting the place himself for the eighth time in company of visiting students and scholars. African students and visiting scholars to SIUE has this 75 year old retired professor to thank for his effort in bridging the knowledge gap between the two sides of the world. For years, he has taken it upon himself to make sure visiting students/scholars visit sites of historical and cultural significance in the United States, most times out his own pocket. In his company, I have visited Principia, Carbondale, and now the Lincoln home, Presidential Library, and tomb in Springfield. “Remi Raji was here too,” he mentioned as we were heading out of the Lincoln’s burial place, referring to the Nigerian poet and writer whose book Shuttlesongs America was written on his return from the United States in the summer of 1999. ”And it was all too emotional for him. This was where he broke down and cried.”

Here is a short video I made of the visit. I’ll put up some pictures soon when I can.

For me, it was a moving experience going through the life of one of the defining figures of modern America. As complex a figure as he was, it is impossible to ignore his contribution to the country and the world at large. The Presidential Library & Museum itself was an archeological wonder, a befitting tribute to an uncommon man and a great president.

Happy Anniversary Rudy

Kola — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:14:20 +0000

My host “grandparents” here at Edwardsville, Papa Rudy Wilson and his wife Laverne today marked their fortieth Wedding Anniversary. Yes, forty.

According to legends, he met her in 1969 at a get together where she (while being involved with another man) had attended with a male friend. He approached her and asked her to dance. She looked at him and gave him a look that must have meant nothing but “Hell no! Who do you think you are?” He refused to give up. Rather, he started tapping his shoes right there in front of her with the best of his dance moves. And, after perhaps shaking her head wondering what gave him so much confidence, she got enamoured and agreed to a dance. Three months later, she had left the person to whom she was previously engaged, and got married to Rudy. They’ve been together ever since, and blessed with grown up children.

To celebrate, Papa Rudy, now over seventy-one years old, bought his wife a card with some very nice words, a very nice present that she won’t disclose. In turn, she brought him a card, and a silver bracelet that she was wearing for him in the photo. I asked her what drew her to him, and she says it was his sensitivity, although its first manifestation was never what she quite expected. They had gone out on a first date to watch a movie, and halfway throughout the movie, Papa Rudy had tears gushing from his eyes. He looked towards her and asked her for a tissue, and she didn’t quite know how to react. In her mind were the thoughts:

1. What kind of man is this that cries in a movie?

2. What kind of man is this that cries in a movie on a first date with a woman?

3. What kind of man is this that cries in a movie on a first date with a woman and then asks her for a tissue?

The event must have been memorable for her to recall over and over again with a twinkle in her eyes, and fondness in his. She’s from Mississippi while he’s from South Carolina (but not related, even though he won’t rule it out, to the Senator Joe Wilson of the “You Lie!” fame). They’ve been through many things together, yet they’re still going strong.

The only thing that annoys Papa Rudy these days is not related to his marriage, but his name. It’s the fact that once every hour on radio or on television since winter began, the song “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer” comes on to play. According to him, it reminds him of growing up with class bullies who put a red nose on him in school, and put him in the centre of a circus-like Christmas attention. Apparently, not all songs are politically correct. In any case, I have now been banned from singing that song (which happened to be one of my favourite Christmas songs) whenever I’m within his sight. Sigh.

Happy Anniversary Rudy and Laverne. Thank you for all your love.

Connecting With A Certain Past (2)

Kola Tubosun — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:37:52 +0000

When I was going to Rudy Wilson’s house on Monday, I had my flash drive along with me for one purpose: to be able to copy a few pictures of mine which Rudy told me he had kept in his photo album since 2002/3 when we had first met in Nigeria. I didn’t put much hope on it, but I remembered him as one of the African-American professors on that trip to my University in Ibadan who had a camera and was busy clicking away while the programme went on. We had gathered to honour our new University Professor, Francis Egbokhare who was then the youngest professor in the University with poems, prose, jokes and testimonials. We also read out a few love letters of his that a few conspirators had previously colluded with his beautiful wife to make public. It was a jolly get-together back then. I didn’t put much hope on it because I didn’t believe that Rudy indeed had me in any of his shots. And in any case, it was a long time ago. The fact that he didn’t remember me on the first meeting, and I had to remind him of the event, only confirmed to me that I was on an almost wild goose chase.

It was a pleasant surprise therefore to open those thick photo albums and find, after about thirty minutes of browsing, a few pictures of my campus days that brought back great memories. As it turned out, my paper images have indeed preceded my arrival in the United States by a few more years than I could have confidently taken credit for just a few days ago. And to my pleasant surprise, I also found a few more candid shots of others people from Ibadan in that thick album. I promptly removed them, with permission, and scanned them into my flash drive. Let me share them with you here, along with a few other shots that I took today. Those pictured in the old photos would surely remember the thrills of those campus times.

Click on the images to enlarge

God Bless America!

Kola Tubosun — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:27:56 +0000

Today is a beautiful day of many surprises. I’m still reeling from the exhilaration of the very distinguishing welcome, and I don’t know where to begin. It is not up to twenty-four hours ago when I talked about the generousity of my hosts, and now, with both hands full and head spinning as if in the clouds, I realize how blessed I am, and how blessed in return my hosts must be – for it holds true every time that givers never lack. Today was a welcome event for international scholars/students.

Here’s how it all started. I had woken up iin the morning feeling all dull and lethargic, and I didn’t feel like going out. I looked at my blog and found that I had made only one reflective post on the 19th. I thought of making some more posts on America’s awkward signs, London from above, the taste of strawberry, but I got lazy and played around the internet instead. Then I got an email from my secondary supervisor here, who is Nigerian, and he arranged for me to come over to school to meet up with him. Reluctantly, I got up and did so, and we went over a few of the things I needed to know as a faculty member. I went from there to my department (of Foreign Languages) and was hijacked by the Chair, Belinda, who invited me to lunch with other new and old members of the faculty. They were from Spain, McGraw Hill (the publishers), Germany, Mexico, France, and Nigeria (Me). It was a good lunch. I had to teach everyone how to correctly pronounce my name.

In the evening, Reham and I attended the International Welcome for foreign students/scholars where we were treated to a very large banqet. It was organised by the Internation Hospitality Programme people: the guys that gave me that spectacular fruity choclatey welcome. Along with plenty to eat, there was also plenty to take away. There was a hospitality stand where students could get cutleries, beddings, electronics and plenty many other things to take home, all for free. The most unique part of the evening was where students got to sign up with host familes for “adoption”. As a foreign student/scholar, your host family would be responsible for making you birthday cakes, taking you out to occasional dinners, calling you when you’re sick, and generally doing things your parents might do if they were here. It is a very responsible programme, and Sai says he was moved almost to tears by how caring these adoptive parents could be, and how seriously they took their “parenting” jobs. My adopted parents now include an Indian father and an American mother.

My second family has an African-American parent, both already almost of grandparenting age. Very nice. They’ve asked me for what I need, and I told them I’d make a list when I can. I can’t think of anything right now. I have their home addresses, and I will be visiting them soon, on my new bike. Yea, I finally got a bike, and in less than fourty-eight hours after I put it in my notes to self. Well, let me tell you about how I got it, but not before this report. Sometimes during this evening’s programme, our names were drawn in a lottery, and twelve lucky people out of about three hundred of us were picked out randomly to be given gifts. I was the second draw, and I was presented with a bag of even more stationeries: jotters, pens and pencils, and a branded SIUE t-shirt. Now what were the chances that I would make that list of twelve out of that large number? I was never a lucky person when it came to odds, and yet there I was with a bag of free gifts. Then came Papa Rudy.

I first met Rudy Wilson in Ibadan in 2003 while I was an undergraduate of Linguistics. He was one of a team of University professors on an exchange programme from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville to the University of Ibadan. He was in company of Ron Schaefer, Matt Emerson, Eugene Redmond and a few other scholars from SIUE working with the likes of Remi Raji, Francis Egbokhare, Samuel Asein (who ironically died here in Edwardsville a few years later). I was just a bloody undergraduate then, but I remembered him. We had some very nice time in Ibadan at the time, especially during a get-together celebration we had then for the then newly crowned Professor in Ibadan, Francis Egbokhare, who was at the time Ibadan’s youngest professor.

The programme featured poetry readings, small talk and food. I remembered Rudy as one of the hip, mischievous, but lively members of the SIUE crew, and his name stuck in my mind for a long time. I met him again today on the floor of the basketball court where the event took place. He didn’t remember me, but I reminded him of those times we had. We were taken to each other instantly, and we exchanged addresses. We talked a lot about some old stuff, and he told me lives in Edwardsville. I said I would come check him out when I got my bike, and that was when it came:

“I do have a bike I could give you.” He said.
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Yea. It’s pretty new. I haven’t used it a lot, but it’s just sitting at home idle.”

“That would be nice.” I said. “I would appreciate it. I have been meaning to get a very cheap one when my paycheck comes in.”
“No, don’t worry. I’ll give it to you. Do you want to come for it this evening, or tomorrow?”
“Today will be nice. I can ride it home from your house, if you don’t mind.”
“No, I’ll give it to you, and then drop you off back at Cougar Village. I won’t want something to happen to you on your first night in town. After all it’s getting dark. Can you ride a bike?”
“Of course I can ride one.”
“But you have to ride it with a helmet always.” He said.

I should have told him “It’s like sex: one never really forgets the techniques,” because later on the way to his beautiful house in town where I met his nice, beautiful wife and pets, and back to my apartment where my nice bike now rests, I found out the more how much of a nice, brilliant, mischievous and utterly down-to-earth person he is. If he had known that I would be coming, he said, he would have arranged that I stayed with him in Edwardsville rather than the Cougar Village apartment that I now have, and pay for. I explained to him my preference for the Cougar accomodation.

It would give me some insight into the students life here, and I would need that experience. Rudy also happened to be a very avid collector of art items, which was a good thing, since I had one of my Nigerian artworks with me to give him as a present in return. It was both our lucky day, but mostly for me it was super superb. And to top it all up, I finally met someone taller than me during the evening event. Yippie! Well, it’s not so surprising considering that the program was held on a basketball court. He is a student, who also plays basketball. His name – if you can imagine – is Nikola, but he’s from Serbia. Kola and Nikola. Hmm.

Over all, it was a fantastic evening, even luckier for me, and hopefully for Rudy and my new host families. Now I know why the folks at home think I might not want to return!

ktravula - a travelogue! » Rudy Wilson

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