A small local story suggests a life tragically shortened. Akilah Amapindi, born in Jamaica, was twenty-three and a native of Staten Island, New York. She was a 2004 graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio, and traveled to Nambia so she could get to know her father. Akilah just met him four years ago and also took advantage of the trip to advance her radio training. She interned for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation and was able to anchor the network's 5 p.m. news bulletin several times. Unfortunately, Amapindi also went into the bush to retrace the steps of the first Namibian president, who recently left office.
Though U.S. officials told her she did not need to worry about taking anti-malaria medicine in the city, the situation was different in the countryside. Ms. Amapindi was scheduled to be a panelist at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Atlanta when she began feeling ill. Her mother came down for the funeral of her only child. The money she makes as a nurse's assistant is not enough to pay the costs of flying her daughter's remains back north. She does not want her child cremated. Amapindi also had no health insurance, losing her mother's coverage after graduation.
Peter Jennings died, and though I really do not watch network news, he appears to have had a career that is worthy of the accolades he is receiving. [Liberal talk show host Mike Malloy just praised him as fair, which is high praise coming from him.] John H. Johnson, the founder of Ebony and Jet Magazine also died. Akilah Amapindi never had a chance to make her mark and that is a shame. The short time she was here suggested just how much she had to offer. I knew nothing about her before reading the story, but felt a pang of loss all the same.