I remember watching the TV as a child and thinking that going overseas to live was gonna be heaven when I grow up. Everything seemed perfect on the big screen, everyone happy, nice looking skies, good cars and environment and all that exaggerated stuff.
Guess what? Later on in life I got a visa to North Cyprus and boy oh boy I wasn't ready for the shocker I got.
I remember how me and my friend's (Mute Gang) were ambushed and attacked after I performed at Club Pulse on time like that in Magusa. The incident started after someone with us mistakenly stepped on the toes of a Turkish guy, we all apologized to the guy but his friends kept insulting us and shoving us around. Next thing we saw was the club security, taxi drivers, other people who had nothing to do with the incident banded together and attacked us for close to 30 minutes. They broke the windscreen of the car we came in with base ball bats, hit us with brass knuckles, chains and bottles and afterwards gathered themselves and started laughing and celebrating the attack as though it was a victory for over 40 of them to attack 5 young black men who did absolutely nothing wrong to them.
I am not gonna run through all the bad experiences but one thing I have to say is that we black African students/people live behind enemy lines everyday not just in Cyprus but all around the world. We have little or no relationship with the Turkish/Cypriot nationals. Forget about the language barrier, I was shocked when I was told by one of my Turkish female friends who is longer in Cyprus 2 years ago that she was scared to walk with me on the road because people yelled insulting slurs like 'cheap slut', 'bitch' at her coz she was walking with a black guy.
Kennedy's death is not the first of it's kind in Cyprus. Some times back a student music producer. Stanley aka Mlee was also killed and drowned at Cratos Hotel, Girne. Guess what the police did, yes you guessed right, NOTHING. They said a 5 Star hotel like Cratos had no CCTV Camera's pointing to the area Mlee's body was found when even barber shops and restrants have camera's everywhere both in and outside.
We Africans have to stand up for each other in every circumstances, be it at jobs, school, apartment complexes and every other place. Our unity is our only hope. Everyone please be safe.
One Love and God bless and protect us all.
