A Man from Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life (26 page)

On December 8, 2006, the film
Blood Diamond
opened in theaters around the nation, grossing $57 million in the United States. The film had cost $100 million to make.

The diamond industry spent millions upon millions of dollars bracing for the negative backlash it thought the film would create.
The thinking was that if the world saw the atrocities and abuses committed by machete-wielding rebels during the war in Sierra
Leone, the average diamond purchaser would be completely turned off.

I don’t know if diamond dealers’ cash registers slowed or even stopped ringing, but I do know that my phone continued ringing
off the hook. I was getting messages from managers, publicists, and attorneys. I even received a message from Susan Whitson,
Chief of Staff for the Office of First Lady of the United States Laura Bush.

The next day, during a break on the set, I returned Susan Whitson’s call. “Isaiah!” she said, cheerfully answering the phone,
“how are youuuuu?”

“I could be better, but God is good,” I replied.

“He sure is,” she agreed. “I’m calling you on the behalf of the First Lady to let you know that she was interested in having
you as our master of ceremonies for the first White House Summit on Malaria that she is hosting.”

I paused to think. Malaria was a serious issue in Sierra Leone, as it was in many countries in Africa. This could be a wonderful
opportunity to get some exposure and support for the work I wanted to do there.

“Hello. Isaiah, are you still there?” she said.

“Yes,” I finally answered. “I would love to support the First Lady on one condition.”

“Oh,” she said. “Well, I hope we can accommodate you.”

“I will agree to emcee if I can talk about Sierra Leone and my organization, the Gondobay Manga Foundation.”

“Isaiah, I don’t think that will be a problem at all,” she said. “We think you would be perfect to emcee this historical event.
Do you have any information on the foundation that you can send?”

“Yes, I will have my office forward the TGMF mission statement and my Web site address to you today.”

“Thank you so much for doing this, Isaiah. The First Lady will be very pleased, as I am as well. We are all just such big
fans of your show. I will be in touch with your publicist to make all of the arrangements. See you soon, bye-bye!”

On December 14, 2006, at the Grosvenor Building in Washington, DC, I once again served as a voice for the people of Sierra
Leone, making the following speech:

Greetings and good morning, and in my newfound language,
Bu Waa!
out of Sierra Leone. What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful song. I’ve been to Africa and I met many, many joyful children
like these who are bound by our common hope to see the African children grow up.

Defeating malaria is an urgent calling and an achievable goal. Malaria, a completely preventable and treatable disease, kills
a child in Africa every 30 seconds. At least one million infants and children under five in sub-Saharan Africa die each year.
We have eliminated malaria before, and with the help of people across the United States and around the world, we can do it
again. It’s hard to believe now but just a few generations ago, malaria plagued the Southeastern United States, but after
a sustained public effort the United States was declared malaria-free.

In Panama these same techniques were used last century during construction of the Panama Canal and infection rates for workers
dropped 80 percent in two years. Malaria has an enormous economic impact. Malaria makes workers weak and fills hospitals.
When individuals cannot work, economies suffer and impoverished nations are subject to conflict.

The President and Mrs. Bush’s Summit will examine the challenge of malaria facing Africa today. Our public-private partnerships
and multi-lateral efforts are addressing this challenge and how we can mobilize grassroots efforts so that individuals can
be a part of saving the life of another in Africa. We know we can save millions of lives. We have already begun. I would now
like to introduce a woman who has said herself that our first challenge is to inspire the people of all free nations so that
we may unite in a common cause to solve common problems. With honor, I introduce to you Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice then spoke:

Good morning and thank you to Isaiah Washington both for that kind introduction and for the dedication and commitment that
you have shown to this and so many causes. I’m honored to join all of you here today at the White House Summit on Malaria.
I’m also pleased by the tremendous support that this Summit has received from America’s business community, religious leaders,
and other concerned citizens.

The idea of public-private partnerships is at the heart of so much of President Bush’s vision for America, and I want to welcome
all of you and to thank you for joining us today. What brings us together today is our basic belief that all human beings
are free by nature and equal in dignity. That every life is precious, and as President Bush has said that, “No insignificant
person was ever born.” We are led, therefore, to this fundamental conviction, that the child suffering from malaria in Africa
possesses the same matchless value as the most powerful and prosperous among us.

This is a profound and revolutionary idea—a vision of dignity that has transformed our nation, and is transforming our world.
It is the idea that is also at the heart of America’s public diplomacy, the work that we are doing to help save and transform
lives across the world. President Bush has put compassion at the top of our agenda, the American people’s concern for equality
and dignity at the center of our nation’s foreign policy. It is these principles that lead us into the world to support the
liberty and human rights of all people, to confront heinous crimes like trafficking in persons, and to fight dreadful diseases
that steal human life indiscriminately and tragically; HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and of course, malaria.

Last year the President resolved that America can and must play a greater role in the global fight against this curable disease,
so he launched the President’s Malaria Initiative, a historic commitment to work with developing nations in Africa and around
the world to fight to end malaria, just as we did in this country two generations ago. The President also made it clear that
our effort could only succeed if we reached beyond government and mobilized the good faith and the hard work of private partners.
Judging by this great audience and this great response, I would say that we are already succeeding together.

One person who has taken tremendous leadership in our fight against malaria is the woman I have the honor of introducing to
you today, the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush. In my four years at the White House, and now in my past two years
as Secretary of State, I’ve had the honor of working closely on some of the most important issues facing the international
community, from the promotion of education and literacy in every country in the world to the empowerment of women in places
like Iraq and Afghanistan, to the fight against extreme poverty in Africa.

In the past year, it has been my privilege to work with the First Lady shoulder-to-shoulder to help advance her vision and
the President’s vision of a world in which no human life is lost to a disease that we can prevent with something as simple
as a well-covered place to sleep. I’ve seen the passion and the conviction with which the First Lady has tackled this fight
against malaria. She has worked tirelessly to mobilize the resources and the goodwill of the American people, and she has
done a great deal
to make this Summit today a reality. Along with countless others, I have experienced the First Lady’s decency, her generosity
and her commitment to human dignity. And in that time I have gained an even greater joy, the honor of calling her my friend.
So today it is my privilege to introduce to you, a great woman, a compassionate woman—First Lady Laura Bush.

First Lady Laura Bush then made her speech, beginning by thanking Dr. Rice and several key people in attendance. She continued,
saying:

Educators, business leaders, philanthropists, researchers, activists, and distinguished guests, welcome to the White House
Summit on Malaria. Today’s gathering presents us with a historic opportunity to end the suffering of millions. Governments,
the private sector, and concerned citizens have all united in one place, ready with unprecedented commitments that can turn
the tide against malaria. We’re here because eradicating malaria is an urgent calling. The disease claims 1.2 million lives
every year. It devastates people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, and especially young children and babies.

Malaria kills 3,000 children in Africa every day. Parents grieve for their sons and daughters, communities mourn, and developing
countries lose generations of productive citizens. Adding to the urgency is the fact that malaria is treatable and preventable.
The disease once sickened men, women, and children in many parts of the United States, but through advances in science and
technology, we learned that the cause of such enormous suffering is a microscopic parasite carried by an insect. We
learned how to stop the spread of malaria, and the disease was eliminated in the United States nearly 60 years ago. The challenge
now is to use this scientific progress so that it benefits people still at risk.

In June 2005, President Bush launched the President’s Malaria Initiative, a five-year, $1.2 billion program to combat malaria
in 15 of the hardest hit African nations. This initiative calls on developed countries, private foundations and volunteer
organizations to join to reduce the suffering and death caused by malaria. Private foundations and corporations have responded
with millions of dollars for prevention and treatment. Civic groups and religious organizations have mobilized thousands of
volunteers. Through early PMI partnerships with the first three focus countries, aid from the American people has reached
about six million Africans. Next year, 30 million more will receive lifesaving medicines, sprays and nets as the program expands.
These partnerships save lives and spread hope. Last year in the Tanzanian villages of Kambini and Kiwani, during the peak
infection month of June, local health workers documented more than 450 cases of malaria. This June, one year into PMI, the
number of cases plummeted to eight. In some PMI areas, malaria researchers have actually complained that they no longer have
enough cases to sustain their studies. They’re the only ones complaining.
¹⁵

Sierra Leone wasn’t one of the fifteen countries to receive some of the $1.2 billion in aid to fight its malaria problem,
but at least I was there to represent the Sierra Leonean people in front of some of the most powerful individuals in the world.
Sierra Leone and TGMF were still moving forward and my school was getting closer to being built. I met some amazing people
that
day including Special Agent Christman, who was assigned to protect President Bush. He was a fan of my work as an actor and
as a humanitarian. We would cross paths again on yet another important trip to DC.

But before that was to happen, disaster struck again….

J
anuary 15, 2007, was supposed to be a birthday celebration for two people who were very important to me. It was the birthday
of the great civil rights leader and one of my personal idols, Martin Luther King Jr. It was my amazing wife, Jenisa Marie
Washington’s birthday as well. It also happened to be the day of the Golden Globes. My TV show was up for several awards.
The evening would prove to be simultaneously one of the greatest and worst of my entire life.

Just twenty-four hours before, I had visited the Century City Hospital. My mother-in-law had just undergone brain surgery
after suffering from several life-threatening aneurysms. She is okay now, but, ironically, when she collapsed, she was attending
the wake of Swami Turiyasangitananda (Alice Coltrane), my wife’s and my spiritual leader.

The day marked the fifth consecutive week of tabloid and media attacks against me. Headlines such as “Grey’s Anat
omy Star Uses Anti-Gay Slur, Is Rebuked” seemed to be everywhere.

In the car on the way to the event, I did something I had never done in my career. I drank some limousine liquor. I was thinking,
“It’s time for a celebration of health and life.” For the next four hours I drank and I drank. I had arranged for a birthday
cake to be brought out for my wife while at the
In Style
viewing party. I had also arranged for the on-duty security professionals to “clear a path” for me if my TV show won a Golden
Globe. They agreed to do it.

At the Golden Globes, I listened quietly as the names of the nominees were read. And then, something miraculous happened.
The presenter said, “And the Golden Globe for Best TV Drama goes to
Grey’s Anatomy
.”

I ran full speed like a running back on red turf. All of the security professionals had their positions locked off for me
to make a smooth entrance into the dinner room, where I saw my boss and the show’s creator step up to the microphone to give
her acceptance speech. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as I walked as fast as I could toward the stage. I
locked eyes with actor Hugh Grant, who was seated right next to the stage. He knew exactly what to do. Hugh parted his legs
on his chair so I could step up between them and use his seat to unceremoniously hoist myself onto the stage and join my cast
mates in the winner’s circle.

One of the show’s producers looked at me and said, “Where the hell did you come from?” The whole cast proceeded backstage.
I saw Eddie Murphy and shook his hand. Then I shook hands and got a hug from Jamie Foxx. My phone rang. It was Susan Whitson
and her entire staff calling from the Office of the First Lady of the United States screaming their congratulations. I saw
Disney President Bob Iger and shook his hand too. Disney
executive Ann Sweeney was there, I shook her hand as well. It was an exciting moment. It was such a rush, such a high after
the negativity that had stalked me for the previous few weeks. I walked up on the stage set up for post-award press interviews,
sweating from the run and all of the excitement and adrenaline. Shonda stood at the mike, carefully cradling her Golden Globe
statue as if it were a brand-new doll.