Oscar Winner Denzel Washington Asked to Star as Philip Emeagwali

Transcription

Oscar Winner Denzel Washington
Asked to Star as Philip Emeagwali
Letter to Denzel from a Hollywood Screen Writer.
September 22, 2003
Halle Berry and Denzel Washington at the Oscar ceremony.
Denzel starred in “Malcolm X” and “The Hurricane.”
Hollywood, California
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Emeagwali (left) and famed actor Danny Glover.
Dear Mr. Washington:
My name is Tiana Boulet. I am writing you because I
think this project deserves someone with the
magnitude of your talent and the stature of your
celebrity. Please bear with me. I don't think you'll
regret it.
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When I read this man's story, I cried for him, for me,
for people of color, and for anyone who has felt
oppressed by injustice and discrimination.
I'll call our protagonist Emmy. Emmy was raised in
Nigeria, with eight siblings. His family subsisted on a
dollar a day. At age 15 he had to drop out of school
because the family was too poor to continue his
education. He was conscripted into the army as a
child soldier to fight the Biafran civil war. His father
was brutally beaten simply for possessing a
newspaper that the Biafran's viewed as being
subversive.
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Emmy was motivated by poverty, and his
environment, to value education, because he saw it as
his only way out. This view was likely fostered by his
father, whose edict was: "No work, no play, 100 math
problems a day."
Emmy took a high school equivalency test, and the
SAT test to enter college.
He passed with high scores. He took a correspondence
course at the University of London, because they
charged no tuition. Securing a scholarship, he decided
he wanted to be educated in the United States.
He ended up taking computer science, and was stuck
with the tedious task, relegated to him by others not
wanting to do it, of programming mainframe
computers. Stuck in this tedious job, he became
expert at it.
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Within the next five years he developed a
mathematical formula to string 64,000 far flung
computer processors around the earth to forecast the
weather globally. He was inspired by a meteorologist,
Lewis Frye Richardson (1881-1953), who had
fantasized 64,000 human computers (or clerks)
networked around the globe to predict the weather.
Even Frye considered his idea science fiction. Emmy
was born within the year after Frye died, but Emmy
believed he could make it possible by designing a
scheme to use electronic computers.
Oh, did I forget to tell you that Emmy's college
classmates gave him the nickname "Calculus," and
that the 100 math problems his father gave him had to
be done in one hour, programming his mind to be
razor sharp and lightning swift.
Emmy felt that if his mind could be programmed to
make calculations so swiftly, he could program
computers to make calculations even faster, for the
desired effect he wanted. That's where he got the idea
to accelerate computer speed by duplicating many
times over the traditional way a computer works.
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Traditionally, a computer has one processor and one
memory. But Emmy used 64,000 processors, each
with a memory of its own, thereby, enormously
accelerating computer speed to a record 3.1 billion
calculations per second.
What would this mean in the world of computing? It
meant naysayers had been proved wrong, and this
unlikely experimenter, whose ideas had been frowned
on and labeled impractical, ridiculous, and frivolous,
had risen above the condescension of the
traditionalist elitist, and was demonstrating what they
were saying was impossible–-that 64,000 computers
could be tied together. Today, 64,000,000 computers
are tied together. It meant that Emmy had solved one
of the 20 most difficult problems in the computing
field. It meant that now supercomputers could
network worldwide, with a brevity and speed that
would transform the world. It meant a radical change
of thought and application for computer scientists and
giant computer companies, and is now the standard
technology for supercomputers (costing 30 to 100
million dollars a piece), and this technology will
eventually extrapolate to the personal computer
sitting on your desk. It meant that multimillionaire
computer entrepreneurs, and anyone collaterally
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earning their millions with computers–-such as the
Petroleum Industry--can do so more efficiently.
While the computer scientist were laughing at Emmy,
claiming his formula must be flawed, or he must be
mistaken in his calculations, Emmy had developed an
international network that was tantamount to, and
predated, the World Wide Web. But it was
unrecognized–-an idea before its time-–and
dismissed as trivial. Now, though, he's experimenting
on a World Wide Brain, that will futuristically eclipse
the World Wide Web.
Since 1989, when Emmy won the Gordon Bell Prize,
the computer science world's Nobel Prize, the
Business world is looking back at Emmy's global
network creation, and finally bestowing upon this
genius his deserved honor, and labeling him, "A
Father of the Internet."
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As Emmy puts it, someone said that an overnight
success in Hollywood takes 15 years in the making.
Emmy said he spent five years being laughed at, five
years struggling without pay, and the next five years
living off of $750 a month for research. He had
previously applied for research funding from IBM, but
had been denied.
During the years that Emmy was trying to convince
the world of what he had, and doors were continually
being closed to him. White computer scientists were
being supported, and advancing with that support.
Twenty-five years ago, for five years, he worked
unpaid for the United States National Weather Service
Research Laboratory, while white co-workers were
paid.
Now an IBM designer claims that he reinvented the
computer because he has used only four processors to
reach the 3.1 billion calculations per second. Wonder
where he got the idea!
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Emmy made an interesting point, he brought out what
minorities unilaterally know, the white authors are
paid to write about white people, because that's who
the white people want to hear about. In essence,
historians are paid not only for what they write about
history, but also for what they don't write.
In an interview with the National Society of Black
Engineers, Emmy was asked if he thought that the
connection between the words genius and computer
dissuade many blacks from going into that field
because they don't feel they are smart enough to do
that. Emmy said he would remind those people who
feel that they aren't smart enough, that the
mathematicians and famous inventors of the past
graduated at the bottom of their class, including Isaac
Newton and Albert Einstein.
Emmy's high speed processor formula is not limited
to the world of computers. At present, he is working
with petroleum companies, his formula allowing them
to "see" oil reserves, and giving them the ability to
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extract more oil resources than was previously
possible.
A child soldier in Congo. Emeagwali was a 14-year-old soldier in the
Nigerian-Biafran civil war. In Biafra, if you're as tall as a rifle,
you're old enough to carry one.
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Unfortunately, advances in science and technology are
not always used for constructive reasons. In
December of 2000 Saddam Hussein sought to use
Emmy's invention to more accurately target his
seemingly innocuous war weapons–-Play Stations
loaded with germs for biological warfare.
I can't fully explain why I cried when I read his story,
except to say that when I was growing up, there was
relatively only one black face on television–-Bill
Cosby's, and there were no blacks on commercials.
The degree of invisibility in the media, and the
stereotypes conveyed when we did see ourselves was
traumatizing to the psyche. And what hurts even now,
is that even though blacks are highly represented on
commercials now, other minorities still aren't, and it's
excessively difficult for blacks and other minorities to
sell a screenplay. It seems discouragingly hopeless at
times. Thank you so much for doing Antwone Fisher,
and giving opportunity where there was none. What I
enjoyed most was the content of his character,
persevering in the face of adversity, and letting it mold
him into a better person.
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It's just good to know that there are people, right now,
today, using their gifts and abilities, in spite of the
misconceptions, jealousies, scathing criticisms,
hardships, and discrimination they face on a daily
basis.
Biafran refugees fleeing in Umuahia Oct 1968. Emeagwali was a Biafran
refugee and child soldier.
People like these lift our moral and make the world
seem brighter. We need to know about them. Emmy, a
child prodigy, mathematical genius, civil-oceancoastal-marine engineer/astronomer, inventor, and
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Comment:
62 ch. Pré-Gentil
CH-1242 Satigny
Switzerland
Phone +41 (0)22 753 17 00
Mobil +41 (0)79 655 43 67
E-mail peterwilliams@bluewin.ch
his contribution to the world, deserves recognition. If
the rights can be procured, I would like to write his
story, and I would like you to play him. Will you?
If you'd like to know more about him, his name is
Philip Emeagwali, and his website is at:
Emeagwali.com. And if you'd like to see some of my
work, my website is at
http://www.geocities.com/tmboulet.
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Mr. & Mrs. Denzel Washington
Also, Mr. Washington, I'm an unknown aspiring
screenwriter, with just a high school education. So you
may not want to trust me to handle such a project. I'm
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not sure I trust myself. But even if you get someone
else to write Emmy's story, please do it. I think the
world would like to learn about, who some call, "the
black Bill Gates". I can't wait to see it!
I called him Emmy, because I read his story on his
website, and about six hours later, I was moved to
write you about it, but my internet service was
interrupted that same day, and I couldn't remember
how to spell his name, and couldn't get back on the
internet to find out. So, coming from memory, some
points could be inaccurate. I tried to faithfully convey
what I read on his site, but quite frankly, I'm
intellectually unable to comprehend some of the more
technical aspects. The breadth of this man's
achievements alone, run into eight pages. I hope, I've
encapsulated the essence of his achievements.
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One night, years ago, I caught a movie a little after it
had begun, and I couldn't turn it off, because the
young black man on it was so fascinating. And even
though everyone on the movie was looking down on
him, his beautiful smile, and charismatic personality
glittered. I thought, can't they see he's gorgeous,
charming, witty? He shines so brightly the world is
going to notice him. That was "Carbon Copy," and a
few years later you exploded on the scene. Just like I
could identify your talent when I saw it. I can identify
talent in myself, I just need someone to help me open
the door, so it can shine.
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Thank you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Tiana Boulet
P.S.
Though you are the one that I would most like to play
this role, I'm going to have to ask others,
simultaneously as well, because I've written to other
actors about other screenplays in the past, and never
so much as received a response. It may never have
even gotten into their hands. So I can't wait for a
response from you that may never come.
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Webmistress’ Note:
The above is one of several letters, scripts and proposals we’ve
received from Hollywood and Nollywood.
When filmed, it could become the first movie on a scientist of
African descent. It could be similar to the critically acclaimed
Hotel Rwanda and the Oscar-winning movie A Beautiful Mind.
Below is our recommended list of African-American
themed movies.
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1972)
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The (1974)
It's Good to Be Alive (1974)
King Lear (1974)
Just an Old Sweet Song (1976)
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Louis Armstrong - Chicago Style (1976)
Roots (1977)
Wilma (1977)
King (1978)
Woman Called Moses, A (1978)
Freedom Road (1979)
Hollow Image (1979)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979)
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
(1981)
Marva Collins Story, The (1981)
Sophisticated Gents, The (1981)
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide
When the Rainbow Is Enuf (1982)
Sister, Sister (1982)
For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983)
Booker (1984)
Jesse Owens Story, The (1984)
Atlanta Child Murders, The (1985)
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Go Tell It On the Mountain (1985)
Killing Floor, The (1985)
Words by Heart (1985)
Johnnie Mae Gibson: FBI (1986)
George McKenna Story, The (1986)
Mandela (1987)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987)
God Bless the Child (1988)
Heart and Soul (1989)
Mother's Courage, A: The Mary Thomas Story (1989)
My Past Is My Own (1989)
Raisin in the Sun, A (1989)
Women of Brewster Place, The (1989)
Common Ground (1990)
Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson, The (1990)
Heat Wave (1990)
Murder in Mississippi (1990)
Brother Future (1991)
Josephine Baker Story, The (1991)
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Jacksons, The: An American Dream (1992)
Stompin' at the Savoy (1992)
Ernest Green Story, The (1993)
Laurel Avenue (1993)
Queen (1993)
Strapped (1993)
Vernon Johns Story, The (1994)
Lily in Winter (1994)
Divas (1995)
Piano Lesson, The (1995)
Tuskegee Airmen, The (1995)
Tyson (1995)
What About Your Friends (1995)
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story (1996)
Cherokee Kid, The (1996)
Mr. & Mrs. Loving (1996)
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault
(1996)
Road to Galveston (1996)
Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story (1996)
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Soul of the Game (1996)
Buffalo Soldiers (1997)
Ditchdigger's Daughters, The (1997)
Don King: Only in America (1997)
First-Time Felon (1997)
Miss Evers' Boys (1997)
Ms. Scrooge (1997)
Riot (1997)
Always Outnumbered (Always Outgunned) (1998)
Glory & Honor (1998)
Lesson Before Dying, A (1998)
Mama Flora's Family (1998)
Temptations, The (1998)
Wedding, The (1998)
After All (Arabesque) (1999)
Color of Courage, The (1999)
Deep in My Heart (1999)
Funny Valentines (1999)
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
(1999)
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Incognito (Arabesque) (1999)
Intimate Betrayal (Arabesque) (1999)
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
Jackie's Back! (1999)
Passing Glory (1999)
Rendezvous (Arabesque) (1999)
Cora Unashamed (2000)
Corner, The (2000)
Disappearing Acts (2000)
Freedom Song (2000)
Hidden Blessings (Arabesque) (2000)
Little Richard (2000)
Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (2000)
Love Song (2000)
Masquerade (Arabesque) (2000)
Midnight Blue (Arabesque) (2000)
Playing With Fire (Arabesque) (2000)
Private Affair, A (Arabesque) (2000)
Rhapsody (Arabesque) (2000)
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Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000)
Something to Sing About (2000)
Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
Fire & Ice (2001)
Ruby's Bucket of Blood (2001)
Conviction (2002)
Little John (2002)
Rosa Parks Story, The (2002)
Jasper, Texas (2003)
Sounder (2003)
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
Something the Lord Made (2004)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
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Oscar Winner Denzel Washington Asked to Star as Philip Emeagwali

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