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The Afro-American, April 13, 2013 - April 19, 2013
D.C. Honoring Residents Age 100 and Over
WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia is honoring residents age 100 and over. City officials are holding an annual event recognizing centenarians on
Tuesday at the Washington Plaza Hotel. Approximately 40 centenarians are expected to attend. They’ll be given a medallion in honor of their longevity. The city says more than 200
centenarians currently live in the city. The 2010 U.S. Census found 53,364 people age 100 and older in the United States. Women outnumber men in that group by about five to one.
Cherry Blossoms Continued from A1
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David Esan
Hampton U. Drowning Victim Buried in Baltimore By Bria Freeman and Krishana Davis AFRO Staff Writers The day before his 18th birthday, David Tolulope Esan should have been preparing for a celebration with family and friends. Instead, 300 of his loved ones gathered April 5 at Faith Christian Fellowship World Outreach Center in Owings Mills, Md. for his funeral. Esan, 17, was a freshman at Hampton University when he drowned at a Freshman Week pool party on campus on March 20. He did not swim. University spokeswoman Yuri Milligan called the incident an “accident” and said it did “not appear that foul play was involved.” Campus police originally investigated, but the Hampton Police Department was brought in at the request of Esan’s parents, Kemi and Ade Esan. Questions about David’s death were on the minds of many at the wake and funeral. As mourners filed past a light-colored coffin bearing David in a black suit and white shirt, many wept. Photos of the youth flashed across three giant projection screens—David dressed in overalls at a train station as a tiny child; David practicing piano in a University of Maryland hoodie as a teenager. As the wake concluded, Kemi Esan approached and knelt near her son, wrapping her arms around him one last time before pallbearers closed the casket. Ade Esan tried to comfort her as their sons, Victor, 9, and Daniel, 20, a junior at the University of Maryland College Park, grieved next to them. Esan graduated a year early from Western School of Technology and Environmental Science in Catonsville and enrolled at Hampton to study pharmacy. He was among hundreds of students who went to a pool party for the Class of 2016 on March 20 at Holland Hall billed “Caution: Wet When Slippery.” A few minutes before midnight, he was found unconscious in the deep end of the indoor pool and was pulled out by three football players, according to students who were at the party. A lifeguard took over resuscitation attempts. Emergency workers who responded to 911 calls also were unable to revive him. Esan was pronounced dead at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton. “We got a call from the school saying they were trying to revive him. It was so sad,” Rev. Remi Olabipo said during the funeral. “The sudden departure of David was tragic…To me, personally, I have lost a son—one that I will always be proud of.” Esan’s former track coach at Western Tech, Shedrick Elliott III, told the congregation that he has hours of footage of David running track and giving commentary on the games when he worked as a manager his senior year. Elliot joked that he told David not to talk so much during the races. As a result, Esan began to whisper his commentary. “David…left a lasting impression on his teammates past and present,” he said. Rev. Barry Brown, youth pastor at Colonial Baptist Church, where David attended, said he gave up track to focus on church and playing piano. “David grew as a musician beyond our wildest dreams,” he said. The Esans have retained attorney Jasper Nzedu, president of the Northern Virginia chapter of African Christian Fellowship, USA. He wants the campus police excluded from the investigation. “We believe there should be a criminal investigation of all university personnel and agents involved with the pool party,” Ade Esan said during a Hampton memorial service on March 27. The university issued a statement that day saying that there were two university officials, three Hampton University police officers and three American Red Cross-certified lifeguards at the party and that CPR had been administered by the lifeguards. Students at the party contradicted that, saying there were no administrators or police in the immediate area when Esan was pulled from the water. “There were no administrators in the pool, around the pool area,” said Hampton freshman Briana Logue, a close friend of David’s who traveled to Baltimore for his funeral. “They were outside. People were getting thrown in and not an administrator, not anyone, said stop it. No one said stop.” Esan was buried at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Baltimore.
The blooming of the cherry blossoms, called sakura in Japanese, is celebrated each year with the Cherry Blossom Festival, a series of events that herald the coming of spring. This year’s festival, which started March 20 with an exhibit of Japanese art at the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries, will end on April 14. The most popular event of the festival is the Cherry Blossom Parade, scheduled for April 13. The parade, which will move down Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th streets NW, is free and open to the public, though seats on the grandstand sell for $20 each. “The parade is so much fun,” said Joe Perkins of Philadelphia, who brought his family to town this week for the peak of the blossoms. “My daughters were fit to be tied waiting for the blossoms to come out this year. They took their time.” According to the National Park Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, it is prohibited by law to pick the cherry blossoms or climb the trees. The biggest problem is that touching the trees
can damage the bark, which makes the trees susceptible to disease, Johnson said. The cherry trees were first presented to America by the Japanese government in 1910 to commemorate the growing friendship between the two countries. When those trees died, the Japanese gifted more cherry trees in 1912, Johnson said. Additional trees were given to the United States in 1965 and again in 1999, when they were planted in West Potomac Park, according to the National Park Service website. Cherry trees have a profound place in Japanese history. In the eighth century, the Japanese custom of hanami, the practice of picnicking under blossoming cherry trees, started. In Japanese art and architecture, cherry blossoms often represent clouds, due to their resemblance to clouds when blooming en masse. The gradual blooming, dazzling beauty and fast death of the blossoms represents mortality and they have become very symbolic in all aspects of Japanese culture, including film, television
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(from left) Stamp picturing the Yasukuni Shrine, a shrine for the dead used during the war. Stamp picturing Mount Fuji, where many families held services for soldiers who fell in the line of duty. SInce the blossoms represent mortality, they were used to honor those who had a “heroic death.” and literature and even manga (comic books) and anime (cartoons). Cherry blossoms were also used as a patriotic symbol during World War II, sometimes even in propaganda. Now, the cherry blossoms represent unity between nations. Cherry trees have been donated to several countries by the Japanese,
including the Australia, Canada and Germany. For Cooper, of Prince George’s County, the cherry trees were the perfect gift. “I just think they’re pretty. I enjoy the view,” she said. “Every time you look at them, it makes you grateful that the Japanese government shared them with us.”
Black Generals Continued from A1
Americans, both generals have had a career of firsts. A year ago, Austin became the first African American to hold the Army’s second highest position, vice chief of staff of the Army. In 1979 Brooks became the first African-American to assume the cadet first captain position at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, the highest position a cadet can hold. Along with their graduations from West Point, their honorary doctorates degrees and their 6-foot, 4-inch frames, these generals also share an ability to understand, counsel and inspire others toward excellence. “Gen. Austin …is an outstanding illustration of what a Black male can achieve in America,” said Craig Hanford, president of Hanford Consulting and Austin’s West Point classmate. “He’s a great leader, decorated warrior, and compassionate mentor.” “Lt. Gen. Brooks is a soldier’s soldier,” said Col. Rivers Johnson Jr., public affairs officer for U.S. Cyber Command. “I’ve never worked so hard in my Army career as I did when I was his executive officer. He was the consummate mentor, teacher and dedicated leader.” Both generals have legacies rich in military service. Austin, who hails from Thomasville, Ga., traces his military roots back to his distant relative, Second Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the first African American to graduate from West Point in 1877. Brooks, born in Anchorage, Alaska, comes from a family of generals. His father, and older brother, Leo Brooks Sr. and Jr., retired as general officers. Brooks’ family service dates back to the Civil War, when his great-great grandfather, an escaped slave, joined the Union Army. While some may see these nominations as the reasoned and
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Lt. Gen. (P) Vincent Brooks strategic choices of a wise president, Foster Payne II, retired Army Col., also sees their value to others. “In a society that searches for role models for our youth, both generals are trailblazers not only for their service to the nation but to mankind,” said Payne. Whether defending America’s interests, developing soldiers or inspiring youth, these storied generals continue to make history.
Victor Esan, 9, a cousin, Kemi, Ade and Daniel Esan view David’s body
Photo by Andrea Crews