A Hero Lost, A Legend Born

Heroes get remembered but Legends never die.

—Babe Ruth

At this time of uncertainty across our world, many wander in a fog of disillusionment, of faux friendships, and concern delivered to us via a plethora of digital nirvana, granting us that fast and quickly dissipating release of dopamine to satisfy our constant need for superficial and instant gratification. After all, it distracts us from the reality that is. The reality that when we gaze upward from our blue-lit screens there is nothing much there.

For these reasons, and a myriad more, our world needs, we all need heroes. Heroes to stand out amongst the status quo. We need heroes to show us how to live up to the truth of our potential, and, perhaps even more importantly, to our ability to help each other across the vastness of our planet.

On May 22, 1936 one such light was born into this world in Ora, Nigeria. That light was named Francis Abiola Irele; a man who heard the cries within himself to reach further, amidst troubling times and obstacles across his country and across the world. A man who climbed the strata of multiple societies to realize and fulfill his true potential as a man, a scholar, and a champion of francophone African and Caribbean literature. A man who continued that journey all the way to Paris, and further to the United States, and back to Africa.

The life of Dr. Irele is one which was full of honor, of triumph, of not only overcoming obstacles but obliterating them with drive, passion, and a true disregard for naysayers. In essence, an individual like Dr. Irele is the hero our global society needs these days. A hero for us to look to, revere, and hold in awe, not merely as a token of reverence, but as an image of actual perseverance and actionable efforts.

It is this image which greatly helps to further our people across countries, cultures, industries, and languages by shining its light amidst a dim and bleak time. For every time of hardship needs, indeed mandates, a beacon of light to guide the pioneers of success within that era so that others may, in turn, follow their footsteps and, ideally, help lead the rest of us to great, brighter times. It is for this reason I revere the tremendous achievements and character of Dr. Irele without equivocation. For his life is one emblem of human potential which we cannot and must not dare disregard, all for our own sake.

We of all ethnicities, backgrounds, and languages appreciate the "Hero" your life and work provides for us. One of our heroes is dead, but that hero has been born into the immortal halls of human greatness and, just as a canonized saint, can possibly be even more powerful now to more people across our world than he ever could have reached. We humbly thank you, Dr. Irele.