Mr. K

This blog is a great follow up to Ham Ave. When I first moved to Greenwich I was completely new to organized sports. The only games I knew were kick ball, stick ball, taps and tag. I watched baseball, football and basketball all the time. I just never had the opportunity to play sports in an organized or even unorganized setting. Living in the city and spending a lot of time in the projects didn’t allow for these opportunities for me prior to moving to Greenwich. Being outside and playing as a kid allowed me to transition to organized sports well. I went to Hamilton Avenue Elementary school. I was not a fan of the learning part in school. The change from the Mount Vernon/ Bronx New York to Greenwich Ct really halted my education. The Bronx and Mount Vernon areas I lived in were predominantly black. I didn’t even know too many people of Spanish descent. Greenwich on the other hand was white, and the neighborhood I lived in was mostly Italian. I went from being called a white boy to being seen as black. I was extremely uncomfortable and the only way I knew how to deal with that was to fight! Which I did and I built up a reputation quickly as this awful black kid. What saved me from my own self was morning sports at school.
Mr. K is what we called him. His name was long and I still can’t pronounce it. He was the gym teacher at the school who ran this program. Several mornings before school and sometimes after school, we would have sports programs. It was based on your grade. I believe it was for 4-6 graders. Each month or season we would play a different sport. We played volleyball, soccer, flag football, basketball, floor hockey and even did gymnastics. So let me stop here and say this: Almost ALL my black friends are doing well in life that went to Hamilton ave. Do you think programs like this assisted with their successful lives? I know it did with mine. Moving on to Mr K. He was vertically challenged. He was not the tallest guy. He was extremely athletic and he was an amazing man. He was a great gym teacher and teacher of life in general.
One of my most embarrassing moments as a child involved Mr. K. I had many embarrassing moments growing up. This particular moment taught me about ignorance and character. I believe I was in sixth grade. My best friend at the time and I had this stupid, then brilliant idea. We were learning about Hitler in some capacity in school. We thought it would be cool to draw Swastika symbols on our shirts and in gym class. I/We did not know the impact this could have on Jewish and other people. When Mr.K noticed what we were wearing he stormed towards us with such anger. I came from a school where the teacher used to hit us. I thought for sure that he was going to hit us. He grabbed us and aggressively escorted us to the locker room ( as he should have grabbed us). He yelled at us and said a lot even though I do not remember anything he said. The reality was I had know clue how a symbol could anger one so much. At the time, I saw Hitler as a man who talked funny and had a weird mustache. I did not understand what he had represented. My answers to my mother, the principal and Mr.K were classic. I DON’T KNOW WHY. The truth was, I really didn’t.
When I returned to gym class, Mr. K. never treated me differently. At the time I did not understand how much character that took. That would be like if one of my white students wore a KKK suit to school. Let that marinate on your bones, I bet you feel that chill! Like me today, I do not judge someone on an event. I try to turn each difficult situation into a learning experience. I am sure it bothered him. It bothers me to this day that I did that. From that experience I have learned to try to understand why people do and say what they say. Mr. K took the hate we portrayed on us and turned it into love. He never said I love you or anything like that. He just kept on teaching us and helped us grow. Thank you Mr.K.

I learned so much in the gym and the before/after school sports program at Ham AVE. I could do a backflip, a handspring over the vault in gymnastics, set, dig and serve in volleyball, dribble and kick a soccer ball as well as play football and basketball. My favorite and most memorable moment came in hockey. I did not know anyone, NOT ONE PERSON of color at the time who played hockey. Floor hockey was one of the games we played. I was obviously not good. Some of my friends were very good. As I played more I got better. Let me say that again! As I played more I got better. Still in my class I was not one of the best players. This was the first time that I was not one of the best at a sport. We played another school in a hockey game. I believe it was Julian Curtiss School. I was on the second or third team. They were supposed to be good and we were supposed to lose. We were pretty much dominating the game when I took a pass at half court after a “beaver tap”. All the practice showed on this one play. I had a clear path to the goal because the defense turned its back on me to retreat. I workedthe little orange puck in and out as I ran full speed toward the goal. The defensive man stayed with my teammate on the right side of the court. I was good at striking the puck on the left side but I was hit or miss when I had to switch to the back side of the stick. I faked a hard slap shot and when the goalie reacted I switched to my back side and scored a goal. It was my first, my last and my only goal EVER in a game against REAL opponents. I have accomplished so much more in life than scoring a goal in a floor hockey game. However this moment has and will always stand out in my life. I do not know what it just does.
Mr. K, if I never said I am sorry, I am. Sorry I hurt you and your family with my actions that day. It is hard to not shed a tear as I close this blog. I have learned many lessons throughout my 50 years of life. I am blessed in many ways and I recognize that. You left a tattoo impression on my life that beats with tremendous bass in the rhythm of my life. Thank you for teaching me a variety of sports. I also thank you for showing me how to forgive and not forget. Instead of forgetting, you taught US. Taught all of those students who saw, or heard about what happened how to treat ignorance, with education and understanding. I honor you and what you stand for!

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Wakime.