Yeah I Wrote This!

In this complex and challenging world, it is safe to say that we all have been tremendously blessed with having certain ‘earthly angels’ who guide our paths and footsteps and who have generously enriched our lives in so many special and momentous ways. I, and I am sure many of you as well, have been abundantly blessed with knowing one such earthly angel: Mr. Leviticus “Uncle Lou” Adderley.  

I met Uncle Lou, for the first time several months before my tenure at our great Alma Mater, Saint Augustine’s College, as he scurried through the hallways of the small public primary school, which I had attended in Grants Town, on top of Blue Hill Road.       Amusingly, at that time, I had no idea who this gentleman was; nor was I aware of the magnificent role that he was going to play in shaping my life, (in spite of the fact that my mother had already on numerous occasions educated me about the great black principle of Saint Augustine’s College).  Nevertheless, I remembered thinking to myself as he darted pass me into the principal’s office with the envelope that contained my future, “my gosh, that man short and black aye.” 

During my formative years, my mother thought it was very important and necessary for me to have a strong black role model whom had gone through many of the same challenges that I was about to go through, consequently she took me out of the government school system, and sacrificed much in order to ensure that I had the opportunity to meet this giant of a man, this man of action, who had been responsible for molding many other great men before me, while having the opportunity of obtaining a private school education.

During my tenure at SAC, I had encountered many trials and distress; consequently, it became obvious that it was going to be very difficult for me to fit in at the school.  Nonetheless, it was Leviticus Adderley who had dedicated his time and energy to counsel me about my temper and my indifference and my many inferiority complexes that had plagued me during my earlier years.  I remember many a time that I was summoned to his office where he gave long speeches on why I can’t settle for mediocrity, how I must learn to be a leader to appreciate and respect others opinions.  I remember how he rambled on about how it was my duty to make a difference on campus and how he chided me for making excuses for my actions.  Even for that alone I thank him as I find that I owe him a debt of gratitude.  I hope to honor him by living a life by his example, for he is truly an icon of manhood who reinforces the values of male leadership and Christian living. 

Uncle Lou was definitely a great Bahamian man for whom we all should be proud; I especially regard him as my role model to which I have patterned my life.  Although Uncle Lou has passed from this part of God’s vineyard to those streets of golden where his labors have been rewarded, he will never be forgotten by those whose lives he has impacted.  May he rest in peace.