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The Real Antwone Fisher Is In The Bahamas For The First Time To Hand Out Awards To Winners Of The U.S. Embassy's Martin Luther King Jr. Sponsored Essay Competition
Related to country: Bahamas

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The real Antwone Fisher:
By SHAVAUGHN MOSS, Special Sections Editor -
EXCLUSIVE




The Denzel Washington-directed movie Antwone Fisher, in which Derek Luke starred was riveting — all true, and about the life of Antwone Fisher.
Antwone Fisher
Luke's performance tugged at your heart, which ached for the character he played, but when you see pictures of the real Antwone Fisher, the first thing you notice is those mesmerizing eyes, which seem to tell the tale of his life better than any Hollywood movie. They just pull you in!

And if you're one of the lucky ones, you just may have a chance to meet the real Antwone Fisher. He arrives in New Providence today to hand out awards to winners of the U.S. Embassy's Martin Luther King Jr. sponsored essay competition, which was open to students in grades 10-12 from throughout the archipelago.

This will be Fisher's first trip to this country, and in an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Wednesday, he said he is looking forward to the visit which culminates on Tuesday.

"Since I was a child, I've always seen pictures of The Bahamas, and it looks like a beautiful place. It was the first place that I recognized, outside of Africa that seemed to have a lot of black people in charge of everything, and it seemed odd to me." Since then, he's been to Bermuda, and is on his inaugural jaunt to the land of sun, sand and sea.

And while he won't judge the essays written by the 29 entrants, the public speaker/Hollywood screenwriter/film producer/film director, author and poet said it would be interesting to see what the children produce.

"As a human being, it's always interesting to see what any child anywhere in the world, produces, and to see what people are doing with their children," he said in his calm voice, that could soothe away any worries you may have.

He further said that it's nice to see other people recognize, not just King, but other people, who sought to forge the common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together, to address important community issues. "It's nice.

It's almost flattering, even though I've never met Martin Luther King."

The Civil Rights Movement fighter was assassinated when Fisher was eight years old, a man, he thought of as a bad man in his youthful days. King had been to jail 29 times.

"Back then I didn't really understand exactly who he was. I thought he was a bad guy, because every time I saw him on television, he was always coming out of jail. No one ever explained why, or who he was, and then he died. So then people were explaining," he said.

While he's not coming into The Bahamas with any expectations, because he's learned that in life, that he has to just see how things go, and try to have the best spirit about it, Fisher says for him it would be interesting to see the take that children from another country would have on King.

Fisher will celebrate MLK Day with the essay winners on Monday, Jan. 21, and give motivational talks to lucky students at C.I. Gibson and C.R. Walker and Senior Schools, as well as S.C. McPherson Junior School.

If they listen to what Fisher has to say, the kids will be able to learn that they can be all they can be and encouraged to strive for excellence. They can view Fisher's life as an inspiration, and see him as a man who overcame huge obstacles in his youth and who made it, and realize that they can too.

This from a man who was born in prison to a teenaged mother. He became a ward of the state of Ohio, and grew up in the foster care system in the United States. He initially went to a home with a loving foster mother, where he spent two years, before he was taken from the home, after it became apparent that the foster mother had become too attached, as a reunion with his birth mother seemed apparent.

He was placed in another foster home, where he would suffer 12 years of abuse at the hands of the family and a foster mother did not want to share Christmas with the foster children in her house.

Fisher will tell you that then and now, that the foster mother could not keep Christmas from him, because he used to imagine a wonderful celebration for himself. On his website he says he gets to help create Christmas for his wife and two kids by decorating their house inside and out, and by explaining the meaning of Christmas to their children.

"It's not about the presents, it's the spirit of giving and sharing joy. It's a lot of other things as well, but the magic of it all and the good feeling [it] brings makes me feel inspired and hopeful.

"I found out early in life, that in trying to think about the life you can have in the future, you can't forget the bad things that happen, because they make you what you are. There are lessons in all the things that happened that weren't good. I have children, and my Christmas is their Christmas. I'm having my childhood Christmas with them," said Fisher

Before he departs The Bahamas on Tuesday, when not on any official duty for the U.S. Embassy, he intends to spend time with his family and enjoy the country.

"After all of that looking for a family, and finally making one of my own, I like to spend most of my free time with them."

January 19, 2008 | 11:29 PM Comments  0 comments

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