Born in the Spotlight

Not as fun as it sounds

Still from the 1941 movie I Wake Up Screaming. The actors are (l,r) Laird Cregar (1913-1944) and Victor Mature (1913-1999).

A person whose opinions I respect has suggested that all lovers of freedom –specifically freedom of expression - should abandon platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, but I’m not so sure that I agree with that. 

Many point out that the tech giants use their platforms for a multi-pronged, yet unified purpose: to silence truth-tellers of any variety, but, especially those of us who are politically conservative.

It’s true that these platforms have become instruments of government intrusion into the lives of every user, but do you think that the government doesn’t know what non-users are up to? Look at your cellphone and those cameras on the streets. After that, draw a conclusion. 

As for me personally, I have been using my government name online for nearly twenty years, but as I reflected on my life circumstances prior to that, I realized that the government has always known who I am, and no I’m not talking about my military service. 

My very existence is due to a quasi-government program. Kenyans call it the Mboya Airlift and Americans know it as the Kennedy Airlift. Yes, those Kennedys. It is through this program that my father came to America in 1959 and it is my opinion that US government entities have kept an eye on every single one of the recipients of that program, along with any progeny that were born here – like me. 

Evidence: when I was active-duty USAF and applied to become a German linguist, while reading the requirements, I discovered that persons with a parent who was not born in the USA did not qualify. I applied anyway and the application was accepted.  

At first, I thought it was because, up to that point in time, I had had no contact with my father since I was a baby. Now, however, I’m sure that an exception was made for several reasons. 

As you may recall, Father was famous in his country but, a few years back I found out that, in the 1980s, Father was here in the States under the auspices of the UN! This was around the same time that I submitted my application. 

And let’s not forget that Father and one Barack Obama Sr. were drinking buddies. (BTW, it was believed that Obama Sr. was also part of the Mboya/Kennedy Airlift, but that turned out to be false.) 

But even if my father had been some anonymous Kenyan, how many Americans born in 1961 carried the last name Ochieng? 

Considering what I know about African immigration to the USA between the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, I’m going to take a guess: one. 

After the Civil War and before the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, only a bit over a thousand black Africans immigrated to the USA, the dearth of which was due to the lack of financial resources among most black Africans at the time. The Johnson-Reed Act tamped that number almost down to zero.

Therefore, I conclude that there is only one hiding place for me: under the wing of the Most High God.

Oh yes and …

This is far more than a physical or financial war. Fundamentally, it is spiritual in nature. And you can’t win any war if you’re too afraid of how the enemy will meet you in battle.

Here’s your primary weapon. No need to thank me because I didn’t give it to you.

RELATED: There’s Something in the Air.