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DEL.ICIO.US“Father and son share a great discovery”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
His mother died in a car accident when he was 7 months old.
All Reginald Andre Dube knew about his father was what Aunt Bernadine had told him - that Noyce Dubé had died in a car accident, too, en route to the airport for a flight to Zambia, his home.
The story never convinced Dube, a Charlotte native who was raised by his grandparents. When he turned 24, he set out to locate the man he knew only from photographs. Research online and by other means proved fruitless - until April 2007.
What’s transpired since then is a story about faith, hope and miracles. It starts with a Google search, leads to phone calls, an exchange of letters, and a recent trip by Dube to London, England.
Noyce Dube and Shirley “Jean” Hollins were a couple in the early 1970s. She was a nurse. He studied or worked at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.
Noyce Dube knew Hollins was pregnant when he returned to South Africa. He helped make arrangements for the delivery. He wanted the child to carry his name. The couple planned to reunite, but distance, the war front in Africa and other issues prevented it.
He never learned about Hollins’ death or whether they’d had a boy or girl. He even took out ads in an American newspaper. Nothing.
Reginald hit dead-ends, too. Google searches of his father’s name only turned Lucky Dube, a reggae artist. One day in April, his wife Sonya went online. Up popped an article from the Mail & Guardian Online, an electronic newspaper in South Africa. It mentioned Noyce Dube and identified him as a headmaster of a school in Zimbabwe.
Sonya contacted the author, who responded immediately with the phone number of an African man whose surname was Dube. When Sonya contacted him, he gave her the phone number of yet another Dube who resided in Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe.
“I was scared to call,” said Reginald, a finance manager at Gwinnett Place Honda who was an R&B singer/songwriter in his younger days.
So Sonya did all the talking.
The woman who answered the phone was courteous yet cautious. It’s not everyday a stranger calls - from Suwanee no less - with pointed questions. Her husband, she said, traveled frequently on business. He wasn’t home. Call back in a month or so, she told Sonya.
During a subsequent conversation, the woman confirmed that, Noyce Dube, her 68-year-old husband, had spent time in Charlotte in the 1970s. Later, Reginald wrote a letter to Dube, explaining who he was, what he’d been doing with his life.
Weeks later, Reginald and Sonya’s phone rang. A father was calling the son he’d never ever spoken to, whom he didn’t know about.
“I’ve always believed in God,” Reginald told me. “Now, I have no doubts.”
Noyce Dube recently wrote a five-page letter to his son, giving him the history of those years in Charlotte, recalling the special relationship he shared with Reginald’s mother.
“I want to assure you that I am your loving father,” he wrote. “… Let us have a special prayer to thank the Almighty for this great discovery of each other. I can’t wait much longer before I can see you and your family.”
Reginald, now 36, is trying to figure out a way to either visit his father or have his father visit. Airfare to Zimbabwe is outrageous - $2,500 or so for a one-way ticket.
Reginald and Sonya recently spent several days in London, England, visiting three of Reginald’s six siblings. Two others live in Africa; another lives in Canada. They’re professionals - engineers, lawyers and such. The youngest child hopes to pursue music. Years ago she wrote a song about wishing she had a brother, one who understood and enjoyed music.
She already has one.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By T
October 8, 2007 6:25 AM | Link to this
I met Reginald Nube when I purchased a car from Gwinnett Place. He was such a nice person that we sat and talked for a few minutes after our business was finished.
He never mentioned the specific story about his father, but did say his father was from South Africa.
I had the most pleasant experience dealing with this man, which is unusual when buying a car.
Rick, I really enjoy when you write these personal interest stories. It gives us little glimpses into the lives of the many people around us.
This is story is the perfect example of that …
By sithabile dube
October 8, 2007 11:36 AM | Link to this
Its a new beginning… Its amazing how life takes us all on a journey of personal discovery, but without blame or question, I am grateful and feel blessed and honoured to have him as my brother, our brother, an angel heaven sent for more reasons than one. A reflection of truth, strength and vision. A shining star who will forever be in my heart. I am proud to be a sister to a true inspiration, to a pure love, that only a heart of stone would deny.
By esther mulizwa
October 19, 2007 5:10 AM | Link to this
am deeply disturbed by lucky dube’s death but i can only say that only jah God why he has to leave us in such a way.
i thank God for the gift of life that he can gave us,the wisdom that he imparted on us.the love and respect for mankind that he shared with us.May his soul rest in peace.
By Bedor Kamara
October 19, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this
Lucky Dube is a hero he will be remmber for his fight for social industries. May HIs Soul rest in perfect PEACE The preparators should be brought to book for their art. I think the government of SA will should take a great action because if not may be in future his children may one day put blame on the present government. PLease let us ponder a wide, father to be killed in front of his children it means a lot.
By Gaynor Martinez
October 20, 2007 12:44 AM | Link to this
I live in New York, but I first heard Lucky Dube songs in my country of birth, Belize - Central America. I was listening to the lyrics and was deeply impressed, so I asked my brother who the singer was, he said Lucky Dube, from S. Africa. I made sure to buy a copy of those songs to bring back with me. That was in 2002. Just 1 1/2 ago I bought another of your cds, and played it over and over again. You were indeed ahead of your time, like so many other talented, gifted & concious brothers b4 you….and like them, your time on earth was too short….only the Creator knows why. You will be missed. I am praying for your soul, although I know you are in a place where the good people are. I am praying for your family and want them to know, I am thankful for them sharing you with the world. Thank you for your positive, uplifting messages, in your songs that the world so desperately needs today, and don’t hear enough of. You will never be forgotten, and your music will live on.