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LIFE
The nature
of miracles
By Alicia Chang
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y - If you ask
why little Brandon Connor’s
tumor suddenly disappeared
on the eve of his surgery, his
doctors will try their best to
explain.
Perhaps a cellular switch
clicked on, or maybe it was a
faulty diagnosis. But ask
Brandon’s mother and she
calls it a miracle.
Many doctors don’t use the
“m” word, a concept that car
ries mystic or religious over
tones. An unexpected recov
ery is an unusual wrinkle in
their scientific beliefs, but it
does happen.
‘You get surprises because
diseases have their own per
sonality, and every once in a
while, a disease that’s usual
ly bad behaves in a more
indolent fashion,” said Dr.
David Steinberg, an oncolo
gist at the Lahey Clinic
Medical Center in
Burlington, Mass.
For more than, a decade
during the Christmas season,
Steinberg has highlighted
“miracle cases” at the clinic,
presenting tales of remark
able recoveries to lift the spir
its of doctors and nurses.
There are different reasons
some patients mysteriously
get better. Sometimes, it has
to do with the biology of the
disease. Other times, a
patient may belong to the
lucky 1 percent of the popula
tion who respond to treat
ment.
Someone may also live
longer than expected because
of a misdiagnosis that pre
dicted a shorter life. And then
there are recoveries that
have no clear-cut explana
tion: like the case of 2-year-
old Brandon Connor of sub
urban Atlanta, or Tim
Kaczmarek of Pennsylvania
whose dying heart repaired
itself, or Stacey Perrotta of
New York who survived a
rare cancer that produced a
softball-sized tumor.
In Brandon’s case, doctors
discovered a strange lump
growing near his spine while
he was still inside his moth
er’s womb. Five weeks after
he was bom, the Connors
received bad news: Brandon
had neuroblastoma, one of
the deadliest forms of child
hood cancers.-
Surgery was risky since it
could result in paralysis. So
doctors decided just to moni
tor the marble-sized tumor,
since sometimes such
growths spontaneously dis
appear in babies before they
turn 1.
But Brandon kept growing,
and the tumor didn’t go away.
Finally, after he turned 2,
Kristin and Mike Connor
decided to take action.
The couple went to the
University of California at
San Francisco where a neu
rosurgeon agreed to operate.
But on the eve of the surgery
last month, the tumor all but
vanished. A scan showed no
sign of the mass, only fatty
tissue.
“It was a miracle,” said
Kristin Connor, who was
stunned to hear the good
news. “It was surreal to us
that this could have possibly
happened.”
Doctors believed Brandon’s
tumor may have been a neu
roblastoma that committed
cellular suicide — an action
Please see MIRACLES/3B
Caretaker of
Kwanzaa spirit
By Artellia Burch
ariellia. burch @ thecharlottepost. com
Gerry Chisolm, is Charlotte’s Queen. of
Kwanzaa.
Chisolm, executive director of Nubian Rootz
Cultural Center, has taken responsibility of
celebrating and informing Charlotte on
Kwanzaa’s importance.
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 by
Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the
Black Studies Department at California
State University. It was bom in the midst of
the Black Freedom Movement.
Kwanzaa , which takes place Dec. 26-Dec.
1, builds off five fundamental activities of
continental African first fimit celebrations:
ingathering, reverence, commemoration,
recommitment and celebration.
It’s a cultural holiday, not a religious one
practiced by people who come together based
on the rich, ancient and varied common
ground of their Africanness regardless of reli
gious faiths.
Charlotte celebrations will be' held at the
Afro-American Cultural and Sugaw Creek
Recreation Center.
Chisolm orchestrates events connected to
the celebration. She also does the legwork of
passing out flyers and spreading the news by
word of mouth. In the midst of giving an
interview, she placed flyers in mailboxes and
in person in the Dillehay Courts community.
Chisolm says she doesn’t mind doing the
manual labor required continuing the success
of Charlotte’s biggest Kwanzaa event.
“I love being out here with my people,” she
said. “I claim the whole community. Ndt just
the part that makes me comfortable. I’m out
here trying to put my love into action.”
Chisolm says it’s her job to reach out equal
ly to each part of the black community and
the community at large about Kwanzaa and
the importance of African culture in today’s
society.
“I have a moral and spiritual obligation not
to leave any family behind,” she said. “We
(Nubian Rootz) measure ourselves by how far
we get in every community. I measure my
value by how much time I spend helping oth
ers outside of my family. One day the children
in our community will grow up and they will
want to know where were you. It’s aU our
responsibility to leave the community a lot
better than we inherited it.”
According to Chisolm, it’s the involvement
of adults that has grounded her and made
her concerned about sharing the histoiy and
culture of Africa.
“Kwanzaa is the time to celebrate our
African ancestry,” she said. “One thing we all
have in common is we’re all children from
Africa and we need to reconnect with it. We
need to celebrate ourselves.
“Kwanzaa isn’t to be mistaken for African
American history month when we celebrate
the accomplishments of the Afifican who has
overcome the tremendous obstacle of being
enslaved.”
Chisolm says after attending Kwanzaa
events she hopes participants realize that
there’s greatness in everyone.
“We will get reacquainted with our culture,”
she said. “Our culture is important because it
helps to bring us back to the center. When
you don’t have a blueprint for living you shoot
firom the hip.
“Our culture teaches us to face adversity
and consult our elders. I wish we could recon
nect and reclaim the oneness our African
Heritage. Kwanzaa is a wonderful and festive
time. We’re teaching and producing informa
tion to cormect ourselves to it to and engage
people in a non-threatening way.”
“Kwanzaa is important because our African
heritage is a springboard firom which we can
all bounce and fly as high and as determined
as we wish.”
For information on Kwanzaa events, call
Chisolm at (704) 597-5258.
Gerry Chisolm, founder of Nubian Rootz Cultural Center, spearheads many of Charlotte’s Kwanzaa events.
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
(The Seven
Principles)
Umoja (Unity) Tb
strive for and main
tain unity in the
family, community,
nation and race.
Kuf ichagullia
(Self-Determi
nation) To define
ourselves, name
ourselves, create for
ourselves and speak
for ourselves.
Uiima (Collective
Work and
Responsibility) To
build and maintain
our community
together and make
our brother’s and
sister’s problems our
problems and to
solve them together.
U
1 a m a a
(Cooperative
Economics) Tb buQd
and maintain our
own stores, shops
and other business
es and to profit from
them together.
Nia (Purpose) Tb
make our collective
vocation the budd
ing and developing
of our community in
order to restore our
people to their tradi
tional greatness.
K u u m b a
(Creativity) To do
always as much as
we can, in the way
we can, in order to
leave our communi
ty more beautiful
and beneficial than
we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) To
believe with all our
heart in our people,
our parents our
teachers, our lead
ers and the right
eousness and victory
of our struggle.
Thurmond’s illegitimate daughter may sell story
Washington-Williams
By. Asjylyn Loder
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Essie
Mae Washington-Williams is
eager to teU her story as the
daughter of the late U.S. Sen.
Strom Thurmond and a hlack
maid.
■ ‘Tve heard from feature-
film producers, television
networks and I just complet
ed a meeting with a book
publisher,” said Washington-
Williams’ attorney Frank
Wheaton. “Prayerfully, well
be able to come up with a
story that is good for all of
America and will reach a
general audience as well as
an audience that might be
affected by similarities.”
Washington-Williams, a
resident of Los Angeles,
announced her long-kept
secret earlier this week.
Thurmond was 22 and her
mother Carrie Butler, a
housekeeper in the
Thurmond home, was 16
when Washington-Williams
was bom in Aiken in 1925,
she said. She was taken to
Pennsylvania six months
later and raised by an armt
and imcle, seeing her mother
for the first time when she
was 13. She said she first met
Thurmond when she was 16.
Thurmond died Jrme 26 at
the age of 100 vrithout ever
publicly acknowledging
Washington-Williams as his
daughter.
The Thurmond family has
acknowledged her claim. The
senator did not mention her
in his wiU bequeathing gifts
to his three other living chil
dren.
“I think this story is big
enough to capture aU medi
ums, books, television, in an
epic form, as well as feature
form at the movies,” said
Wheaton, an entertainment
lawyer based in Los Angeles.
‘We’re not excluding anyone.”
But Wheaton said he wants
what is best for Washington-
Williams.
“In this case, you pick and
choose the individual or enti
ty that suits her needs,” said
Wheaton. ‘We want someone
who is sensitive and clear
about what the story is about
and certainly someone who is
capable.”