Give a brief description of Brathwaite’s encounter with a stranger at St. James Park. How did this meeting change the course of his life?

• Braithwaite was sitting watching the ducks beside the lake at St. James Park – felt angry and dejected because he had not succeeded at securing a job – had been repeatedly turned down on account of his race and colour.
• A thin, bespectacled old man was sitting beside him – the old man tried to engage him in

conversation – but Braithwaite was in no mood for polite conversation – ignored the old man’s overtures – dismissed him as a garrulous old crank.

• The old man was undeterred – addressed Braithwaite directly – asked if he had been in London long – author tries to be distant – found the topic painful – author continued to ignore him
• Old man spoke kindly, comfortingly – pointed out that life in a big city could get lonesome and difficult … his words caught the author’s attention– author looked closely at him and found he looked scholarly – like a professor – the old man continued to talk – he said that a city was like a battlefield and in order to survive in a city you needed to be a fighter….anyone could exist in a city….the real challenge was to live life and find excitement.
• author was still in no mood for philosophising – he retorts that being a negro, he found existence itself an enormous challenge!
• At this the old man burst out laughing – the author laughed along too. The old man encouraged the author to talk about his troubles – his kind words struck a chord within the author and he suddenly found himself confiding all his troubles in him.
• After listening to the author’s experiences, the old man declared that teaching was the best career option for the author – author pointed out that he had no formal teachers’ training, but the old man said that his University degree would do – he added that the author’s experience and ability would see him through.
• The old man said that the author’s colour and race would not be such a problem in the teaching profession because there was a desperate need for teachers!… especially in the East End – a really tough neighbourhood – so most teachers preferred to seek jobs elsewhere – when the author misinterpreted this observation to be a racist comment the old man chided him for his ‘snobbish’ attitude – author apologised
• the old man urged the author to apply for a teaching position but not to mention the colour of his skin in his application
• after this they chatted amiably about many things – only after they had parted did the author realise that they had not introduced themselves to each other – he didn’t even know the name of the kindly stranger whose wise words and understanding manner had changed the entire course of his life!
• Author followed the old man’s advice – applied for a teacher’s post – was called for an interview – was accepted and sent to the East London Divisional office – from there to Greenslade school.

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