An African Female Heroine and Racism

I studied Kinesiology at UCLA. I graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor in Science. I like science and I have studied science my whole life. Unfortunatly, not everyone studies science, grows up in Southern California, or takes the time to question the constant propaganda being put in front of them by media, corporations and especially political groups mainly for power and profit.

If you asked me, a very normal, fairly athletic, growing up middle class, attending public schools with a mix of blacks, hispanics, asians and others, typical “white kid” back in 1970, when I was 15 years old, if I thought “racism” would be an issue, or even in the news, in 2021, I would have laughed at you! As well, nearly all my friends would have laughed at you also. Why? Because we were not racist and nearly everyone we knew was not racist. Actually, by the age of 15, most all of us knew from our education not only how many races there actually were but we also knew the difference between the words racism and prejudice! Racism was horrible, prejudice was bad, but prejudice also had elements of “survival.” In other words, nobody condoned anyone that spouted racism and nearly everyone despised people that were prejudice but understood that “judging” people was an essential part of evolving as a person and protecting yourself from negative influences.

An example, would be the Indonesian boy, the son of a diplomat that came into our 9th grade class when the school year started. He showed up at school with a white shirt, pressed slacks and a tie. Nobody wore a tie in our school! The girls in our group immediatly liked him! Tie or not, he was handsome! The boys in our group immediatly “pre-judged” him to be a nerdy mexican! We were all wrong! I think I was his only friend that actually knew he was Islamic, because I asked. I was always curious about people and I probably went home and looked up Islam in the dictionary then never talked to him about that again!

Prejudging can often prevent a person from a negative cosequence. Nearly every 15 year old girl knew that very well when they would go to a party and some older guy that looked drunk or high tried to hit on them!

Now, if you would have asked any of my African American friends in 1972 if they thought they would experience “racism” in 2021, most, I believe would have answered, “I hope not!” They knew the history and stories from family members. If you asked them “Do you think your white friends are racist?” Most would say, “They wouldn’t be my friend if they were racist!”

If you asked a caucasion, latino or asian kid back then, “Do you think someone will be prejudiced towards you because of your race in the future?” They would probably say, “What? I don’t understand what you are asking? I am not black!”

So let’s get educated. Here are the actual races!

* Negroid (Black) race.

* Australoid (Australian Aborigine and Papuan) race.

* Capoid (Bushmen/Hottentots) race.

* Mongoloid (Oriental/Amerindian) race.

* Caucasoid (White) race.

In reality, there is a lot of mixing over time and the mixing of races continues at an accelerating pace because of travel, migration and communication!

Modupe Oshikoya is an African female pioneer icon! She was nicknamed “Queen of the African Track.” She was also my lover, friend and girlfriend when I attended UCLA from 1975 to 1979 and for awhile afterwards.

She was born May, 2, 1954 and is a former female track and field athlete from Nigeria, who competed in the women's sprint and long jump events during her career. She is a one-time Olympian (1972), and also competed in the heptathlon. Modupe won a total number of five gold medals at the All-Africa Games (1973 and 1978). She competed and won Gold for her University, UCLA in the 100 meters, the Long Jump, 100 meters hurdles and the hepthatlon at the NCAA championships in 1982. She helped her team along with Evelyn Ashford win the NCAA team championship.

Modupe Oshikoya, when heard, sounds like any other name from the south western part of the country to any Nigerian. Modupe is from the Yoruba trube and her Father had five wives. Her name is now being mentioned throughout African nations as a herione and pioneer for female African athletes. Even today her acomplishments are unmatched by any female African track athlete.

She was the star of the 2nd All-Africa Games which Nigeria staged in Lagos in 1973, Modupe Oshikoya, won five gold medals at the 1973 and 1978 All Africa Games and is a one-time Olympian (1972), and who also competed in the heptathlon. Me, being her boyfriend at the time, can say for certain she would have won medals at the 1980 Olympics but the very last minute Nigeria along with other nations pulled out of the competition.

Modupe’s acomplishments for a young school girl who was recruited into sports from Methodist Girls High School in Lagos as part of a scheme to develop sports in the secondary school system is truly amazing!

As heroine of the 2nd All Africa Games she established and made Nigeria a force to reckon with in the continent, Africa, and the world at large both with men and women athletes. Icons like this should be given their due during major sports events, especially those in which such icons had participated and excelled like the All Africa Games and the just-concluded National Sports Festival as a sort of model for budding talents to look up to. Yet, Nideria and most of Africa is still steeped in a highly mysognist gestalt that is only now changing. Still, eventhough Modupe has been an American citizen, living Long Beach, working as a longshoreman and also coaching other athletes including her daughter who also ran track at UCLA, she reminiced afew years back, “I wish I can go back to my youthful days so that I can compete in the National Sports Festivals” her love for the games and country has never left her!

Nowadays Modupe laments the poor state of Nigerian sports, and believes the standard of the National Sports Festival has dropped drastically with grassroots sports development as the only way forward.

The Olympian, recommends embarking on a long-term camping of athletes, grooming the young athletes discovered from various competitions such as the sports festival and exposing them to regular competitions on the sub-region at least. This would improve the standard of athletes to excel in future competitions such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and the All Africa Games. She also noted that giving cash incentives to athletes at the sports festival is encouraging; a source of motivation to the athletes.

A few years ago Modupe was awarded the Life Time Sports Award courtesy of the Nigerian Sports Award. This, is a small compensation to the years of neglected accolades.

I met Modupe in front of a market on Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica, Ca. I was 19 yrs old, I had recently started practicing Buddhism and along with a few other of my fellow Buddhists I was outside the market handing out an invitation to an introductory meeting. I was actually very uncomfortable doing this so I sort of stood to the side. Then this women comes out of the market and starts unlocking her bike. She had on an African type of dress and tennis shoes. My first impression was that she looked very elegant. We smiled at each other. I gave her the literature and I am not sure if she calked me or I called her. There were no cell phones and I live at home with my parents. We talked on the phone and she agreed to come to an introductory meeting.

A few days after she came to the meeting she invited me to her apartment for dinner. She lived in a tiny single apartment. She served me some traditional Nigerian food and we had a few rum and cokes.

After dinner, out of the blue, unbeknowst to me, this African American guy shows up at her door. He rode his bycycle over. He was obviously enamoured with her and I found out later had actually sort if been stalking her, because he was not invited. So, there we stood, face to face. The blond beach guy, now inside the small single apartment of “His African Queen!” He wanted to fight! Obviously he felt no white dude had any “right” to be eating at her place, even though she had invited me! At one point he tried to do some goofy karate routine. I just stood there like a statue. I was praying inside he would not belt me and just leave. Modupe was smiling and nearly laughing at the whole thing! Finally, I was able to delicatly nudge him outside by letting him know he needed to leave. Outside on the patio as he mounted his bike to leave he yelled out, “No whiteman has the right to be with an African woman. She belongs to me!”

After he left. Dupe and I had another rum and coke and she told me he was also on the track team at Santa Monica College. She explained that she had been living on the East Coast for a short time and then her “coach” had got a job at Santa Monica College and had her move to Santa Monica. She told me she found the attitude of most American blacks she met seemed to be that they acted like victims. She said she was an oportunist! She was very humble and did not talk about her acomplishments. I had no clue for many, many months how acclaimed she was as a track athlete.

We started to live together. I found out she actually had moved to Santa Monica because she had a full scholarship to UCLA! I had my application in at UCLA and was waiting to hear from them. She told me her coach at Santa Monica College had told her that she needed to attend Santa Monica College first. Something seemed fishy to me. Now, understand, back then there was no google or internet. We had our public libraries and micro-fiche. Old newspapers were on micro-fiche. So, I did my research. Her coach at Santa Monica College had been fired from UCLA two years previously because he had been accused of having sex with female athletes! The selfish bastard had recruited the “Queen of the African Track” to go UCLA, which offered her a full scholarship, then he hijacked her after he was fired so she would be on his team at the Junior College! I told all of this to Modupe and then told her we were going to the Women’s Athletic Depatment at UCLA. She told me she thought UCLA was far away. I told her, no it is just few miles down the road. On a side note, A few days earlier I saw the bottle of steroids her Santa Monica College coach had given her a few days before. He told her they were vitamins! We threw them away.

When we walked into the Women’s Athletic Dept at UCLA, former Olympian Pat Connely was a bit in shock. “Where have you been” she said with a big smile. Modupe was shy, so I explained the story. Pat was pissed off initially but then all grins, very appreciative, and probably curious if Modupe and I were more than friends. Two months later Modupe was attending UCLA on a full scholarship. Of course, it took six more months before my application was approved. We moved to an apartment closer to UCLA.

We had a very passionate relationship for the next five years. We lived together. On occasions we went to Nigerian or Ghanian parties. We loved African music, especially Fela. We even played Fela at a few parties where many from the UCLA track teams attended. None of the Nigerians or other Africans we knew cared one bit I was American or white at least not to my face.

Just before Modupe returned to Nigeria to train for the 1980 Olympics I talked a lot about marriage. I believe I wanted marriage more than her but, I am not really sure of that. Irregardless, Modupe had been training incredibly hard. I was always amazed at how she could push herself. The tea with milk and honey before we went to bed, often made love, then slept is a still a distinct golden memory.

We kept in touch with letters. Hopefully, she still has some of the letters and keeps them private. The ones I had are long gone. I had given her a unique necklace made out of silver coins I had as a gift for her mother.

Through the letters, I realized she had cultural pressure to marry a Yoruba man. Yoruba, Hausa, and Ibo were the three main tribes in Nigeria and rarely did they mix.

When Nigeria, along with other nations pulled out of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Modupe, along with many other athletes were devastated. Most of us have no idea how hard these athletes train.

Wether her disapointment, cultural reasons, my over obsession with marriage, or just personality differences were factors our relationship ended when she returned to the US. I sort of felt that if I had been a Yoruba man we may have continued, but that was not the case.

Modupe had a child, a girl with a Nigerian man. She eventually became a single Mom and lived in Long Beach. We saw each other occasionally and I helped her financially a little, but Modupe has always been a very proud woman. She coached at Long Beach State and ended up working as a longshoreman. She raised her daughter well and Bumi attended UCLA in the footsteps of her Mother.

If you ask Modupe did she experience prejudice or racism working as a longshoreman in Long Beach, Califirnia, I am fairly certain she would say yes.

If you ask her about me, John Charles Harman, I am not sure what she will say, but, I am fairly certain she would smile and there would be a little twinkle in her eye!