Even if You Wear A Sheet in Public, This Is A Test of Your Humanity And Your Heart
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Bill Caldwell
May 21, 2013, 12:09:50 AM5/21/13
to mying...@googlegroups.com
Bryan Holt knew from the time that he was a teenager that he wasn't going to live the biblically- promised "Three Score and Ten". He knew from that time that he had Sickle Cell Anemia, the deadly and eventually-fatal disease that exclusively targets African-Americans and condemns them to premature deaths.
Bryan's calling card was that he was a talented athlete at Whites Creek High School. Despite this, the fact that he had sickle cell anemia limited his options. Bryan was offered a scholarship to play football for Bobby Bowden at Florida State University at a time when FSU was one of the 2 most prestigious college football programs in America, The offer, however, was withdrawn once FSU learned that Bryan had Sickle Cell. And this was not the only time that the curse of Sickle Cell denied Bryan a shot at athletic glory--------- Bryan played football and earned an education degree at Tennessee State University, and earned a tryout opportunity with the NFL Atlanta Falcons------- but this opportunity was ALSO withdrawn once the Falcon medical staff learned that Bryan had Sickle Cell. Bryan settled into the lower-profile life that most of us live in one way or another, becoming a MNPS public school teacher and assistant football coach at schools that included his alma mater of Whites Creek, and later McGavock HS and Maplewood HS, working with his close friend and former TSU teammate HC Arcentae Broome. Holt had never lost his love of PLAYING football, and was a starting Strong Safety for the Nashville Storm from the first Storm team in 2002 through the 2008 season------- Bryan was an outstanding player, and was named as an All-American by the Minor League Football News in 2005, while in his role as a HS football coach, Bran was a mentor, big brother figure, and even father figure to countless young people that might have fallen into the "at-risk" category were it not for Bryan's influence on their lives.
I realize that there are some here that have a dim or negative view of organized sports, and my answer to that view has always been that the "extracurriculars" of the school experience (I lump in our music programs and arts programs with sports in the sense that they develop an individual talent that a young person was blessed with even when they come from backgrounds that discourage successful lives, and they bring needed sructure to those lives that benefit them in adulthood, so I include the band, the cheerleaders, the important young men and women that assist the team on the sidelines among my "hall of heroes", because they are all IMPORTANT and all beneficiaries of their experiences) have saved countless numbers of young people from negative lives and are therefore worthy of all the support we are capable of giving them.
It is important to note that, while I had known Bryan Holt personally for many years, I HAD NEVER KNOWN THAT BRYAN HOLT HAD SICKLE CELL ANEMIA UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH. He was that private of a man, and that much of a man who was like New Yorkers who went shopping on the day following 9/11/2001. HE TREATED HIS FATAL DISEASE AS AN ADVERSARY THAT HE WOULD NEVER GIVE THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING THAT HE FELT INCONVENIENCE FROM ITS' IMPACT. Bryan died from Sickle Cell Anemia last year at the age of 35.
Anyway, I'm on my 5th paragraph without explaining "the test of your humanity and your heart", so I'm ready to correct that. MARK DOWN THE DATE SATURDAY NIGHT, JUNE 15. ON THAT NIGHT, AT MAPLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL, THE NASHVILLE STORM WILL OPEN THEIR 2013 SEASON BY PLAYING THE MTFL CHAMPION LEBANON HITMEN IN THE FIRST ANNUAL BRYAN HOLT MEMORIAL CLASSIC (a team that includes outstanding players like former stellar TSU RB Amariah Robb and former Vanderbilt DT Russell Nicoll). The beneficiary of the proceeds from this game will be THE SICKLE CELL ANEMIA FOUNDATION OF TENNESSEE. And whether you're a big sports fan or not, YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS GAME, BOTH BY ATTENDANCE AND BY YOUR WORD-OF-MOUTH ENCOURAGING FRIENDS TO ATTEND---------------- IS IMPORTANT, AND MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU'VE EVER DONE FOR FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN RACE.
I don't think there are any "sheet wearers" around here, and even if there were, arguing that a fatal disease that affects only members of one racial/ethnic group is a curse that is DESERVED by that group would lead most rational Americans to believe that someone holding that position is a NUTJOB. While this is a disease that afflicts only African-Americans, I would like to believe that it is an AMERICAN position to believe that an un-asked-for and undeserved curse on ONE group of Americans is a curse to US ALL, and deserves to be fought BY ALL OF US. The TRUE impact, however, of Sickle Cell Anemia's status of being solely a killer of African-Americans is, I fear, th fact that WE DON'T TALK ABOUT IT ENOUGH IN THE SENSE OF CURSES THAT SHOULD BE ERADICATED FROM THE EARTH. There's a legitimate concern that non-black Americans DON'T view this the same way they do Cancer, Heart disease, etc, BECAUSE IT ONLY AFFECTS ONE RACE. BUT WE SHOULD, BECAUSE WE ARE AMERICANS WITH A SELF-IMAGE AS A JUST PEOPLE.
This is being planned as an annual event, and honestly, it is planned as as much of an educational event as a sports event. THE TRUE TEST OF ITS' SUCCESS OR FAILURE WILL COME WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS THE CROWD TO SEE IF THERE ARE AS MANY WHITE FACES IN THE CROWD AS BLACK FACES. If that is indeed the case, this can be chalked up as a victory for the most optimistic view of our values as Americans, a sign that we are a united people in our response to challenge. if the crowd is heavily dominated by African-Americans, it will say good things about THEIR response to challenge, but reinforce at the same time the most cynical in our population in confirming a view that the concept of a "color-blind America" sill has a long way to go before becoming a reality.
Bill Caldwell
President-Nashville Storm
http://www.nashvillestormonline.com
pki...@comcast.net
(615) 804-2117
Bryan's calling card was that he was a talented athlete at Whites Creek High School. Despite this, the fact that he had sickle cell anemia limited his options. Bryan was offered a scholarship to play football for Bobby Bowden at Florida State University at a time when FSU was one of the 2 most prestigious college football programs in America, The offer, however, was withdrawn once FSU learned that Bryan had Sickle Cell. And this was not the only time that the curse of Sickle Cell denied Bryan a shot at athletic glory--------- Bryan played football and earned an education degree at Tennessee State University, and earned a tryout opportunity with the NFL Atlanta Falcons------- but this opportunity was ALSO withdrawn once the Falcon medical staff learned that Bryan had Sickle Cell. Bryan settled into the lower-profile life that most of us live in one way or another, becoming a MNPS public school teacher and assistant football coach at schools that included his alma mater of Whites Creek, and later McGavock HS and Maplewood HS, working with his close friend and former TSU teammate HC Arcentae Broome. Holt had never lost his love of PLAYING football, and was a starting Strong Safety for the Nashville Storm from the first Storm team in 2002 through the 2008 season------- Bryan was an outstanding player, and was named as an All-American by the Minor League Football News in 2005, while in his role as a HS football coach, Bran was a mentor, big brother figure, and even father figure to countless young people that might have fallen into the "at-risk" category were it not for Bryan's influence on their lives.
I realize that there are some here that have a dim or negative view of organized sports, and my answer to that view has always been that the "extracurriculars" of the school experience (I lump in our music programs and arts programs with sports in the sense that they develop an individual talent that a young person was blessed with even when they come from backgrounds that discourage successful lives, and they bring needed sructure to those lives that benefit them in adulthood, so I include the band, the cheerleaders, the important young men and women that assist the team on the sidelines among my "hall of heroes", because they are all IMPORTANT and all beneficiaries of their experiences) have saved countless numbers of young people from negative lives and are therefore worthy of all the support we are capable of giving them.
It is important to note that, while I had known Bryan Holt personally for many years, I HAD NEVER KNOWN THAT BRYAN HOLT HAD SICKLE CELL ANEMIA UNTIL AFTER HIS DEATH. He was that private of a man, and that much of a man who was like New Yorkers who went shopping on the day following 9/11/2001. HE TREATED HIS FATAL DISEASE AS AN ADVERSARY THAT HE WOULD NEVER GIVE THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING THAT HE FELT INCONVENIENCE FROM ITS' IMPACT. Bryan died from Sickle Cell Anemia last year at the age of 35.
Anyway, I'm on my 5th paragraph without explaining "the test of your humanity and your heart", so I'm ready to correct that. MARK DOWN THE DATE SATURDAY NIGHT, JUNE 15. ON THAT NIGHT, AT MAPLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL, THE NASHVILLE STORM WILL OPEN THEIR 2013 SEASON BY PLAYING THE MTFL CHAMPION LEBANON HITMEN IN THE FIRST ANNUAL BRYAN HOLT MEMORIAL CLASSIC (a team that includes outstanding players like former stellar TSU RB Amariah Robb and former Vanderbilt DT Russell Nicoll). The beneficiary of the proceeds from this game will be THE SICKLE CELL ANEMIA FOUNDATION OF TENNESSEE. And whether you're a big sports fan or not, YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS GAME, BOTH BY ATTENDANCE AND BY YOUR WORD-OF-MOUTH ENCOURAGING FRIENDS TO ATTEND---------------- IS IMPORTANT, AND MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU'VE EVER DONE FOR FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN RACE.
I don't think there are any "sheet wearers" around here, and even if there were, arguing that a fatal disease that affects only members of one racial/ethnic group is a curse that is DESERVED by that group would lead most rational Americans to believe that someone holding that position is a NUTJOB. While this is a disease that afflicts only African-Americans, I would like to believe that it is an AMERICAN position to believe that an un-asked-for and undeserved curse on ONE group of Americans is a curse to US ALL, and deserves to be fought BY ALL OF US. The TRUE impact, however, of Sickle Cell Anemia's status of being solely a killer of African-Americans is, I fear, th fact that WE DON'T TALK ABOUT IT ENOUGH IN THE SENSE OF CURSES THAT SHOULD BE ERADICATED FROM THE EARTH. There's a legitimate concern that non-black Americans DON'T view this the same way they do Cancer, Heart disease, etc, BECAUSE IT ONLY AFFECTS ONE RACE. BUT WE SHOULD, BECAUSE WE ARE AMERICANS WITH A SELF-IMAGE AS A JUST PEOPLE.
This is being planned as an annual event, and honestly, it is planned as as much of an educational event as a sports event. THE TRUE TEST OF ITS' SUCCESS OR FAILURE WILL COME WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS THE CROWD TO SEE IF THERE ARE AS MANY WHITE FACES IN THE CROWD AS BLACK FACES. If that is indeed the case, this can be chalked up as a victory for the most optimistic view of our values as Americans, a sign that we are a united people in our response to challenge. if the crowd is heavily dominated by African-Americans, it will say good things about THEIR response to challenge, but reinforce at the same time the most cynical in our population in confirming a view that the concept of a "color-blind America" sill has a long way to go before becoming a reality.
Bill Caldwell
President-Nashville Storm
http://www.nashvillestormonline.com
pki...@comcast.net
(615) 804-2117
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