Anger control: Lessons for Vini Jnr of Real Madrid

Dear Vinícius Júnior, I greet you from the remotest part of Africa's Ghana, Bonoman’s Goka.

May you find peace in my words.

Ghanaians and for that matter, all Africans, Black people all over the world love you as our hero even if they don't support the country or club you play for.

You're a Galatico, a superhero in your rights, at this younger age, 22.

Champion, don't allow haters to suck out your energy on the field or off it.

Yesterday, 22/05/2023, when the Valencia fans chanted a racist slur against you during a match, you were incensed and complained, but it fell on deaf ears of the referee. But when you couldn't take it anymore and reacted angrily to their unfair treatment, you were given your first marching orders from the game for violent behaviour toward two opposing players.

The enemy who wanted you out of the game because he feared your presence and impact had a field day. Your team Real Madrid lost the game to Valencia.

Look, brother of African descent, you're not, nor will be the last person of our race to suffer abuse at the hands of those who think their skin colour makes them superior to others.

It's their stock-in-trade to provoke our Black race to rage.

All the champions before you suffered the same fate. They have documented their experiences as a lesson for you and me.

Whether they are on a political platform, on the field of play, or on the silver screen as actors, Blacks all over the world who reached the peak of their careers had to learn the art of anger management.

Today, let me open the window into the heroic life of the Black American boxing champion Joe Frazier for our lesson, my dear.

Jack Johnson, an equally talented Black American Boxer, preceded Joe Frazier.

Jack Johnson was strong and could beat opponents with ease. But he was impatient. When the crowd chanted: “kill the nigga" (kill the Black Negro/slave) his anger boils up feverishly. He then throws his blows anyhow, and soon gets exhausted, and beaten mercilessly by the white opponent.

Joe Frazier, on the other hand, was very calm. He knew very well that he will give unmerited power to the white supremacists if he reacted angrily to their racial taunts.

Instead, he showed his superiority in the might of his blow power and calm composure. He never got angered if they called him nigga, or monkey. All he cared about was to beat the white opponent to receive the price in the bout.

Typical of him, Joe Frazier will not even smile or laugh when he knocked down opponents, which he did many times in his career.

The racists who watched Joe Frazier box feared him. He was one of the few Black celebrities that stood the heat no matter what. His ilks are the Barack Obamas, Peles, and Kurtis Jackson (50 Cent).

The boxers who faced Joe Frazier in the ring later confirmed that his calm composure alone sent shivers down their spines.

Seen? So, Mr. Vini, be emboldened by my words. Remember the billions of young ones in the world over that look up to you as a mentor. Remember where you came from, the Brazil favelas, the ghettos, the poverty. Now is not the time to quit.

Now is not the time to get mad with too much anger in your heart to do the unthinkable, Mr. Vini.

You very well know Zinedine Zidane, the French International and the former coach of the club Real Madrid you currently play for.

In the 2006 World Cup finale, Italian player Marco Materazzi provoked Zidane who is also of African descent, to react 'madly'. He was sent off from the game after he couldn't control it and headbutted the Italian tormentor, who was reported to have used a racist slur on the football star of African heritage.

France lost the game to Italy. The results could have been different if their captain Zidane had lasted the entire duration.

With the likes of Mario Balotelli and Ghana's Sulley Muntari who obviously did not reach their deserved peaks in their talented footballing career because of their angry reactions to racism, this small piece can't have room for that.

I end here to encourage you that, close your ears to their chants. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but not words.

Show your unique talent and get the money. You're our hero.