February 9, 2007 - Born April 1st, (but he's no body's
fool) 1978, the 6'10", 260 pound Center for the Washington Wizards showed he definitely has more
to offer than blocked shots and a few assists.
Svelte, calm, cool (except when it
comes to Brendan Haywood - but that's another story), Etan
spoke on politics, lamented on the Iraq war, (albeit, not as heavily
as he did in his speech at a 2005 anti-war rally) and explained
the inner workings of the grown-up psyche in
his poem, 'Toys 'R Us Kid', where he commissions adults to stop holding kids to a different standard of mores while
adults continue to do all those not-so-nice things that grown-ups do.
A native New Yorker (by way of Granada), Etan is definitely a multi-faceted individual.
He's a member of the Congressional Black Caucus - a post held by few, if any, African American professional athletes
(or entertainers); he's an author, and genuinely cares about the community - especially, the
youth.
It's been stated that Etan wrote poetry as a way to release anxiety while waiting for the Washington Wizards to decide whether to bring him into the organization.
Certainly, that anxiety was the labor that bore the poetic fruit for this socially conscious, spoken-word lyricist.
With such passion when it comes to speaking about the ills of society, could his poetry be a preface for a life in politics, after life in the NBA?
Etan tells us, "No", but we'll keep watching, and listening.
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