September 25, 2024 • 32 mins
For the first time ever, Wichita Weekend is proud to host an author! Ibrahim, author of the new book "The Bravest American," stops by out studio to discuss his inspiring work. Ibrahim, born in 1987 in Nigeria, embodies the quintessential narrative of pursing the American Dream. "The Bravest American" is an inspiring work that will encourage people of all walks of life to embrace and manage life's daily struggles. #thebravestamerican.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Wichita Weekend, the weekly public affairs program from
iHeartRadio Wichita ninety seven, ninety ninety eight, Well O two
won the Bull Channel ninety six three and ALT one
O seven three.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's a little bit different Wichita Weekend this edition because
for the first time ever, we have an author in
the studio that we're speaking with. And I'm really really
excited to introduce you to Ibrahim. He is from Nigeria
originally and he's the offer author of the Bravest American. Ibrahim,
Welcome to Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
All Right, tell us a little bit about your story,
how you how you came to the United States, and
what your Wichita connection is.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
In order to summarize the whole entire big story. I
guess I came to Wichita because I've always have this
passion studia broad and I've always wanted to know what
is the different what are some differences between Western education
(01:10):
in the Western world than Western education in Africa? Right on, yeah, right,
and I end up here in Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That's our that's our good fortune to get you here
because you've been to Butler Community College.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Right I went to a Butler Community College and where
I studied criminal justice from my associate and then transition
to Wichita State University. Okay, And are you currently enrolled
in which does yes? I should be graduating uh next May,
all right, with a degree in criminal justice. Criminal justice.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Now, do you intend to go on and get into
the legal profession or what are your plans from there?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah? So I I want to make I want to
do the best I can to kill two birds with
one stone, okay, And publishing this book is part of
that plan. Out of the plan which I do have.
I'm currently working on a second book, which should be
(02:16):
which is going to be an autobiography of myself. Nice, yes,
and there you can get to know the good, the bad,
and the ugly.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I'm sure there's no ugly. Maybe just the straightforward right
there you go, the brutal, the what do we say,
the frank, the brutally frank. Well, to kind of get
caught up here, we're talking about your it's a it's
a it's a book. Is it a novel? What would
you call the bravest American?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
See, I would explain. In order to know what the
book is about, you have to understand what the book
is about. Okay, right, and so the bravest American. Usually
when you ask people, who is the brevious American. So
most of the times we tend to have this public
(03:08):
figure someone we idolize, you know, a sports hero or
a sports hero. I had people telling me Martin Luther
King is the previous American. I have people telling me
our founding fathers are the braves American. I have people
told me our first responders are the breves American. I
(03:28):
have people went so far to the extent of using
the comics, you know, Captain America. There you go, Superman,
the fictional superhero. But right, so this idea, it actually
is a childhood persona. We're having our brain. Remember when
(03:49):
you have a child, you ask him Ginia, what they
want to be when you grow up. So Gino always
have somebody that he idolized and tend to say, you
know what, when I grew up, I'm going to be
like such and such, such and such. And when when
Ginia grew up to become an adult, then he realized, oh,
I wanted to be like Lebron Jones. But now it's
(04:10):
impossible for me to be like Lebron.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Jones, Yeah, or Patrick Mahons, Patrick Mahomes, you know, oh Michael,
George Michael, big time sports legends.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And for the females, oh, I want to be like
what's her name selling.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The oh yeah, or Caitlin Clark the player right yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And then they realized it's impossible. I can do it
now they felt guilty in their heart, and then they
felt like they led their parents down. Yeah, like they
fallen short, right, and some which even felt like they
let themselves down. And as soon as you feel like
you lets yourself down, you let your got down. Yeah. Really.
(04:58):
The true, the right narrative to that was, Genia, what
do you want to be when you grow up? I
want to be the best of me. See then when
Guinio thinks, if Guinia should think that way from day one, Okay,
he's fifteen, he didn't accomplish nothing. Well, the best of
(05:20):
me is yet to come. Gin know, we keep pushing Gino,
we keep driving. Now Genu's twenty five, it's still he
couldn't He's still they didn't accomplish that goal. The best
of me, Gino would have something, will have a purpose
to keep pushing because Gino believing something that I don't
know what attend is see and then maybe unfortune Junior
(05:45):
could be maybe sitting on YouTube one day and then
he become a YouTuber and then he hit it. So
the question arives, what is this book about? Yes, the
bravers American? Truly the brevist American is? I say, we
all are the Bravest American? Why are we the bravers American?
(06:14):
The book The Berevers American is a narrative there you go,
that resonates with the story of many. It is about
the relentless, perseverance, indomitable human spirit of the everyday citizen.
(06:35):
So the Bravest American really is it captured the essence
of a daily struggle and the weight of responsibility. The
Bravest American is a celebration of the undoubted human spirits,
a testament to the power of hope, and a tribute
(06:58):
to the unsigned hero who embody the essence of bravery
even in the face of adversity. So in a Lemma language,
you can say, this book is about anyone who is struggling,
who is going to struggle or facing any challenges, or
facing challenges countless challenges of any kind. And in the
(07:20):
mix of these challenges. He like validation, He like encouragements,
he likes supports, He like a sense of hope. But
he kept pushing in the name of a better tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
And then when he arrives at that better tomorrow, does
he understand that it was all worthwhile?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
It understand he or she would automatically understand. Because here
is a thing. Life is a struggle and struggle is
a success. There is no success without struggle. But it's
not every struggle that latter success.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
One second, Abraham, So sorry, okay, I remember, but it's
not every struggle that leads to success. That's where you
want to begin, Okay, anytime, But.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's not every struggle that latter success. It's not every struggle.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Okay, elaborate on that if you would, please, Abraham.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So there is a fundamental question that we hum I'm
being tend to neglect or ignore or never pay attention
to that question. It's a very It's one question, but
it's very important. What is that question? The question is
(08:54):
if I want to be successful, I have to ask
myself this question. Did I discovered the answer to that question?
It became the beginning of my success. Okay, what this
question goes like this, what is the one good thing
I I Brahim loved to do? Because it's a very
(09:19):
honest question that you're asking yourself this question. You're not
being rotical about it. You're not asking somebody, and somebody
is not asking you this question. You are asking yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Of yourself, right, and you know your own mind right, correct.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Correct, And somebody can lie to you. You can lie
to someone, but you can never lie to yourself. So
today you discover the answer to this question, it became
the beginning of your success because that one thing you
love to do. The more you do that thing, the
(09:53):
more you love it. You're not doing it because someone
is putting a pressure to do it. You're not doing
it because someone is paying you to do it. You're
doing it because it's what you love to do. And
the more you love it, the more ideologically you become,
and the more creativity you become. So should one decide
to negilate this question, and then he become a jack
(10:16):
of all right, because we never have time to ask
ourselves this question. That's why I said some struggle, Yeah doesn't.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, Let me ask you, Obraham, when you asked yourself
that question, what what was your answer, could you share
that with us?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
So I asked myself this question, and the day I
discover the answer to that question, the testimony isn't front
of you. Yeah, that's right here, it's in my hand. Yes,
So I have I asked myself, what is the one
thing I love to do? So I love to write.
(10:53):
Whether I go or bad, I put it in writing.
I have this obsession to write because is I want
to My initial thought was I just want to better
my morphology, my phonetics, and I make it a hobby.
And so there is a tragedy that strikes me as
(11:16):
of November twenty four of twenty seventeen. Okay, and I
was a victim of a house fire. Oh no, there
at eighteen or five, not lowen here, Oh my goodness,
Oh my, yes, I I lost my late daughter Ali Ibrahim,
(11:42):
she was two years old. Oh my. And so I
had a PTSD. What people said, yeah, TSD And the
PTSD was op From November twenty four of seventeen till today,
(12:04):
I cannot remember when I slept at night for more
than four hours. Oh. So it is a PTSD that
I had. So instead of miss tying at night all night,
sleepless and just keep looking at the wall. I start scribbling.
I will write and write and write until my has
(12:29):
a feeling really really really really tired. Yeah, and it
became an obsession, sure, right. And I will have friends
that would come and visit. They will see in my diary,
they will see my notes. There goes You're going to
(12:53):
be a writer some there. But at the time I
never thought about it. So I would just writing just
because it made me feel good and as well as
it made me escape the pain that I don't want
to face.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Do you feel like you were journaling? Were you keeping
a diary? Were you just expressing your inner emotions? What
kind of things were you writing?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yes, I was expressing the deepest emotion of myself. For
if females, when she got to that stage, she cried
out loud and let it out. But I hardly cry
with tears. So my way of sharing my pain to
(13:42):
myself is to write how I felt. And sometimes I
could be very descriptive and sometimes very narrative. And I
guess you could say I took advantage of what's supposed
(14:03):
to be negative in my life, turned that into turn
that into positive, which is something that I've always had
I've always tried to change negative to positive. Should ever
I find myself in that situation.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Wow, Wow, that's that's quite a story. So, I mean,
from those scribblings beginning November twenty fourth of twenty seventeen
or the day after, did you begin to think that
you were going to be able to put something like
the Bravest American together? Was that in your mind? No?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
It wasn't in a morning, not at all, not at all.
So I when I had this encouragements and there is
a lady, I don't know, you're probably gonna text me
let and tell me stop it. Carol Brewer. She's a
very good friend of mine and will talk, you know,
(15:01):
child back and forward, and then she'll tell me, I
know you're going to write a book some day, you know.
But then I sat down someday I sat down, I
think it was four years ago to the exact, and
I said to myself, I'm going to write a book.
But then I asked myself, what am I going to
(15:25):
write about? Oh, I know, I'll write about my life story.
And I opened the first page. I started writing about
the tragedy that strike me because it's the current information
I have in my brain that I cannot forget. I
can remember to a detail, and I start writing them down.
(15:48):
What happened to me, how it happened, and how amazing
the American Red Cross are, what they've done for me,
How amazing the firefighters were, what it did for me,
How amazing the first responder. I will extend a greeting
to every great nurses and doctors in San Francis via
(16:13):
Chris Hospital at a Bond Clinic. They were there two
four seven to make sure I got the best care possible.
I was running them down. Were you burned in the fire? Also? Yes,
And that's how I got all this. I was born
and it was a I think it was second degree
bon in the side, and then this one was just
(16:35):
first agree bone and right. So when people see that,
some of my thought is a bet Michael or something orfection. Nothing,
it's just a fire. Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yes, Well, you've got an incredible story. And I've got
to uh ask you when you when you write, do
you write in English? Do you write in your native language?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Good question? So when I write, initially I write in English.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Okay, I write an English. You're English, by the way,
It's excellent thank you, really.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Good, thank you. And I write in English. But when
in the middle of writing the script of my and
I ask myself a question, who am I? Then I
know I am nobody. I am just one among many.
And then I say to myself, that is not the
(17:31):
right thing to write about, and it's not the right
time for me to write autobiography of my life. I
got to think beyond that. Then, the inspiration of ordinary
individual depicting extra ordinary capacity in the name of the
(17:52):
pursuit of a better life for themselves, their family, and
their loved ones inspired me. I goes, now I know
what to write about because I'm inspired by ordinary individual.
So when I start writing, I will write in six
to seven different languages. Oh yes, that's why it took
(18:16):
me longer. It took me four years. Because when I write,
some sentences would sound beautiful and my mother tongue, and
some will sound better and my father tongue, and some
wos sound better in my grandparent tongue, and almost sound
better in some other languages. So I could have two
(18:40):
pages written, but they're all in different languages. Then I
will filter the audience that you're gonna be sending that
book to you, I will filter how okay this sentence
like the word Let's say I could use the word
(19:01):
life is a struggle. So I write life is a
struggle in different ways, maybe in four different languages. And
then I'll look for the simple sentence in English that
define life is a struggle. And then that's when so
(19:22):
from so I have four different rough draft so and
then I'll pick one of the rough the masterpiece of
the four rough draft to make it one good complete
rough draft. As an African where we speak half a
dozen languages, sometimes we'll process things differently. We look at
(19:46):
it in different angle because we'll have this diverse cultural,
diverse tradition.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So the name of the book is The Bravest American. Correct,
The author is Ibrahim and Ibrahim. If we wanted to
pick up a copy of this book, what's the best
way to get a copy of the Bravest America?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Ah, So, The Bravest American. You can find it on
Amazon Okay, Amazon, you can find it on Bonzo, Nobel Okay,
Barnes Book Trito Okay, you can find it in a
Book a million, and you can even find it on
eBay as well as walmart is on friend, I think
(20:29):
currently about if I'm not mistaken ten to fifteen different.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So it is readily available, correct, and you can have
it mailed to your house or delivered to your house correct,
And you can have a bit of inspiration right in
your hand, and you know, you can have something you
can consult when maybe you're feeling lost or a little
out of it, or just not like you're spinning your
(20:54):
wheels and you're not connecting with the things you need
to connect with. I think this will help get you
back on track. And you got to take it from
a man who knows, because my goodness, your life struggles
up to this point have given you all the authenticity
you would need to write something like this. I have
to ask you, Abraham, how old are you?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Ah, thirty eight? Thirty eight?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yes, while you've done a lot of living for someone
thirty eight. I mean you look half that age and
you've probably lived twice that age. But that's a that's
a lot of living done in thirty eight years, and
a lot of experience with what people are going through
and keen observer of the human condition too, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Correct, See, we human, we we we all are experts,
but we forget we kept forgetting people ask me expot
in what every human being is an expot to his problem.
That's right, that exs oh Man, we nailed it. So
(22:01):
what happened to us is that when we tend to
run away from our problem instead of facing it head on,
like the previous Americans date we we we run away
to someone seeking a solution to our problem. And now
(22:24):
this public figure that and now he led our story
to seeking a solution to the problem, would give us
a solution. But yet we apply the same solution to
our problem. It still doesn't solve our problem because we
(22:45):
inas much as we are the expert of our problem,
we're also the solution to our problem. Yeah, I had
There is a story in there about Sarah Sarah Rights
in chapter two of the book. I think I would
(23:11):
take a moment of silence to honor every human being
out there who is battling breast cancer or any form
of cancer. You can imagine. Absolutely it is. I have
(23:38):
so much respect for the consistent fighting yeah, that they
went through daily, daily, day in and day out. This
is what I said in the book that real life
(23:59):
stru do not discriminate. Sarah was a single mother raising kids,
two kids, right when Sarah felt like, now I'm getting
used to raising my kids even though I had head
to DELI struggle that it's real uncomfortable. Then she come
(24:22):
to find out that she has stayed four breast cancer.
For Sarah, life felt impossible. Absolutely, the chemotherapy, the doctor's appointment,
the occupantore. She is sleep sleepless, She couldn't eat, couldn't eat,
(24:44):
couldn't work, couldn't do nothing. Sometimes she would jugulate, which
is she would obmit throw up for no reason because
she loves appetite. For some reason, Sarah she gets to
the point that she gets to a point in her
(25:05):
life where she felt like I gave up, or I'm
going to give up. I guess you can call it
fights of flea, yeah, but Sarah chose to fight instead
of fleeing. What kept Sarah going was the love of
(25:27):
the child. She could remember the smiles on the kid's face,
the love, the joy, the good memories she shares with
the kids, the compassion, the caring, the love and support
that she got from the loved ones, the hopes from
(25:49):
the physicians, the expert the doctors given her hopes. Then
she felt like I have something to live for, so
she can't fighting. That was the why. That's the why.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Our guest is Ibrahim. He's the author of The Bravest
American and it's really really cool to have you on
Wichita Weekend. I don't think I've ever met anybody who's
finished writing a book. I've met some people that began
writing a book, but not only finished, but finished an
excellent book. And we want to encourage you to maybe
(26:25):
go online and just google The Bravest American by Ibrahim
that's ib R A h I M. And they'll you'll
find that's a good way to find all the places
you can get your copy and read this. And it's
beautifully laid out in the book, and I imagine it's
a couple three hour read. I would say so roughly
(26:47):
somewhere in there, so it's not going to take a
real long time. But boy o boy, there's so much
too to think about. You've given us so much food
for thought.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Correct so with the book, unlike the authos that will
take you your own adjoining and by the time you
get your destination, you forget where you're coming from. I
chose to do it differently. I I used two approach.
I use passive approach instead of us an active approach,
(27:19):
which is one. And second, I use direct instead of
indirect because author will tend to bit around the bush.
Try to take your own adjoining with charisma, with eloquence
of language, you know, make you feel ecstasy and then
you forget the reality. With this book, I I keep
(27:42):
it what I call kiss, keep it short and simple. Yeah,
so I want to make sure that the message is
passed across that. Hey, I wrote this book while I
was in the middle of struggle myself, so and write
it like, oh it's a passion. No, it's a real
(28:05):
life struggle. So I want I relate with my audience
that if you finish true struggle of any kind out there,
you're not alone. We all do.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
And as you said earlier, and that's struggle is necessary, right,
It's a necessary part of life.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You you have to have it to thrive, to survive.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
So there are tota in here. There is struggle and
there is a success. Struggle is a necessity. Struggle will
make you accomplish your need and success it's your wance.
(28:52):
Now my need is made. I want extra see a
billionaire or somebody that successful. Will never tell you I
need this, I want this, I want this, I want this,
I want this. But his need gave him his wants,
So I take struggle. The closest example I can use
(29:15):
with struggle is like two cars. You have manual transmission
and automatic transmission. And for someone that drives automatic transmission
every day, the first time you're in manual, it's like impossible,
how can I do this? But as time goes on,
(29:38):
your brain get used to driving manual transmission without looking
at the clutch. It becomes like the second nature right.
So likewise struggle. So we go through struggle so much
at one point in our life, become compoundent so much
(30:01):
that our brain get used to it.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It's almost like we're more comfortable in the struggle, correct,
we are with trying to find a solution for that struggle.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Man. I wish I could talk to you all day.
Do you realize we've already hit thirty minutes on our interview?
Oh Ibrahim, it is so cool to visit with you,
and I hope you'll maybe come back sometime, maybe when
you get your second book done.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Definitely never know.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I would encourage you. I can't wait to get this book.
Read this looks like a really interesting and like I say,
fulfilling and inspiring piece of work here and thank you
for writing it. My pleasure and thank you for being
with us today on Wichita Weekend. Ibrahim, author of The
Bravest American.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
And I am honored to be the speaking voice to
do unspoken sacrifices of everyday citizen, because when I had
published the book, there is something that's stuck to my head,
(31:09):
which is that the Brieviest American isn't found anywhere in
the headline of history, but in the unspoken sacrifices and
unyielding determination of everyday citizen.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Beautifully put Sir, you should be a writer. Thank you
for a writer, Ibrahim. It's been a real pleasure. Thanks Lillian,
and we'll talk with you soon.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Thank you for having me once more.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Thank you for listening to Wichita Weekend, a service of
iHeartRadio stations one O two won the Ball, Channel ninety
sixty three, one O seven three and ninety seven nine
B ninety eight. Listen every Sunday for Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Don't understand
Welcome to Wichita Weekend, the weekly public affairs program from
iHeartRadio Wichita ninety seven, ninety ninety eight, Well O two
won the Bull Channel ninety six three and ALT one
O seven three.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
It's a little bit different Wichita Weekend this edition because
for the first time ever, we have an author in
the studio that we're speaking with. And I'm really really
excited to introduce you to Ibrahim. He is from Nigeria
originally and he's the offer author of the Bravest American. Ibrahim,
Welcome to Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
All Right, tell us a little bit about your story,
how you how you came to the United States, and
what your Wichita connection is.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
In order to summarize the whole entire big story. I
guess I came to Wichita because I've always have this
passion studia broad and I've always wanted to know what
is the different what are some differences between Western education
(01:10):
in the Western world than Western education in Africa? Right on, yeah, right,
and I end up here in Wichita, Kansas.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
That's our that's our good fortune to get you here
because you've been to Butler Community College.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Right I went to a Butler Community College and where
I studied criminal justice from my associate and then transition
to Wichita State University. Okay, And are you currently enrolled
in which does yes? I should be graduating uh next May,
all right, with a degree in criminal justice. Criminal justice.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Now, do you intend to go on and get into
the legal profession or what are your plans from there?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah? So I I want to make I want to
do the best I can to kill two birds with
one stone, okay, And publishing this book is part of
that plan. Out of the plan which I do have.
I'm currently working on a second book, which should be
(02:16):
which is going to be an autobiography of myself. Nice, yes,
and there you can get to know the good, the bad,
and the ugly.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I'm sure there's no ugly. Maybe just the straightforward right
there you go, the brutal, the what do we say,
the frank, the brutally frank. Well, to kind of get
caught up here, we're talking about your it's a it's
a it's a book. Is it a novel? What would
you call the bravest American?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
See, I would explain. In order to know what the
book is about, you have to understand what the book
is about. Okay, right, and so the bravest American. Usually
when you ask people, who is the brevious American. So
most of the times we tend to have this public
(03:08):
figure someone we idolize, you know, a sports hero or
a sports hero. I had people telling me Martin Luther
King is the previous American. I have people telling me
our founding fathers are the braves American. I have people
told me our first responders are the breves American. I
(03:28):
have people went so far to the extent of using
the comics, you know, Captain America. There you go, Superman,
the fictional superhero. But right, so this idea, it actually
is a childhood persona. We're having our brain. Remember when
(03:49):
you have a child, you ask him Ginia, what they
want to be when you grow up. So Gino always
have somebody that he idolized and tend to say, you
know what, when I grew up, I'm going to be
like such and such, such and such. And when when
Ginia grew up to become an adult, then he realized, oh,
I wanted to be like Lebron Jones. But now it's
(04:10):
impossible for me to be like Lebron.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Jones, Yeah, or Patrick Mahons, Patrick Mahomes, you know, oh Michael,
George Michael, big time sports legends.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
And for the females, oh, I want to be like
what's her name selling.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The oh yeah, or Caitlin Clark the player right yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And then they realized it's impossible. I can do it
now they felt guilty in their heart, and then they
felt like they led their parents down. Yeah, like they
fallen short, right, and some which even felt like they
let themselves down. And as soon as you feel like
you lets yourself down, you let your got down. Yeah. Really.
(04:58):
The true, the right narrative to that was, Genia, what
do you want to be when you grow up? I
want to be the best of me. See then when
Guinio thinks, if Guinia should think that way from day one, Okay,
he's fifteen, he didn't accomplish nothing. Well, the best of
(05:20):
me is yet to come. Gin know, we keep pushing Gino,
we keep driving. Now Genu's twenty five, it's still he
couldn't He's still they didn't accomplish that goal. The best
of me, Gino would have something, will have a purpose
to keep pushing because Gino believing something that I don't
know what attend is see and then maybe unfortune Junior
(05:45):
could be maybe sitting on YouTube one day and then
he become a YouTuber and then he hit it. So
the question arives, what is this book about? Yes, the
bravers American? Truly the brevist American is? I say, we
all are the Bravest American? Why are we the bravers American?
(06:14):
The book The Berevers American is a narrative there you go,
that resonates with the story of many. It is about
the relentless, perseverance, indomitable human spirit of the everyday citizen.
(06:35):
So the Bravest American really is it captured the essence
of a daily struggle and the weight of responsibility. The
Bravest American is a celebration of the undoubted human spirits,
a testament to the power of hope, and a tribute
(06:58):
to the unsigned hero who embody the essence of bravery
even in the face of adversity. So in a Lemma language,
you can say, this book is about anyone who is struggling,
who is going to struggle or facing any challenges, or
facing challenges countless challenges of any kind. And in the
(07:20):
mix of these challenges. He like validation, He like encouragements,
he likes supports, He like a sense of hope. But
he kept pushing in the name of a better tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
And then when he arrives at that better tomorrow, does
he understand that it was all worthwhile?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
It understand he or she would automatically understand. Because here
is a thing. Life is a struggle and struggle is
a success. There is no success without struggle. But it's
not every struggle that latter success.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
One second, Abraham, So sorry, okay, I remember, but it's
not every struggle that leads to success. That's where you
want to begin, Okay, anytime, But.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's not every struggle that latter success. It's not every struggle.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Okay, elaborate on that if you would, please, Abraham.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So there is a fundamental question that we hum I'm
being tend to neglect or ignore or never pay attention
to that question. It's a very It's one question, but
it's very important. What is that question? The question is
(08:54):
if I want to be successful, I have to ask
myself this question. Did I discovered the answer to that question?
It became the beginning of my success. Okay, what this
question goes like this, what is the one good thing
I I Brahim loved to do? Because it's a very
(09:19):
honest question that you're asking yourself this question. You're not
being rotical about it. You're not asking somebody, and somebody
is not asking you this question. You are asking yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Of yourself, right, and you know your own mind right, correct.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Correct, And somebody can lie to you. You can lie
to someone, but you can never lie to yourself. So
today you discover the answer to this question, it became
the beginning of your success because that one thing you
love to do. The more you do that thing, the
(09:53):
more you love it. You're not doing it because someone
is putting a pressure to do it. You're not doing
it because someone is paying you to do it. You're
doing it because it's what you love to do. And
the more you love it, the more ideologically you become,
and the more creativity you become. So should one decide
to negilate this question, and then he become a jack
(10:16):
of all right, because we never have time to ask
ourselves this question. That's why I said some struggle, Yeah doesn't.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, Let me ask you, Obraham, when you asked yourself
that question, what what was your answer, could you share
that with us?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
So I asked myself this question, and the day I
discover the answer to that question, the testimony isn't front
of you. Yeah, that's right here, it's in my hand. Yes,
So I have I asked myself, what is the one
thing I love to do? So I love to write.
(10:53):
Whether I go or bad, I put it in writing.
I have this obsession to write because is I want
to My initial thought was I just want to better
my morphology, my phonetics, and I make it a hobby.
And so there is a tragedy that strikes me as
(11:16):
of November twenty four of twenty seventeen. Okay, and I
was a victim of a house fire. Oh no, there
at eighteen or five, not lowen here, Oh my goodness,
Oh my, yes, I I lost my late daughter Ali Ibrahim,
(11:42):
she was two years old. Oh my. And so I
had a PTSD. What people said, yeah, TSD And the
PTSD was op From November twenty four of seventeen till today,
(12:04):
I cannot remember when I slept at night for more
than four hours. Oh. So it is a PTSD that
I had. So instead of miss tying at night all night,
sleepless and just keep looking at the wall. I start scribbling.
I will write and write and write until my has
(12:29):
a feeling really really really really tired. Yeah, and it
became an obsession, sure, right. And I will have friends
that would come and visit. They will see in my diary,
they will see my notes. There goes You're going to
(12:53):
be a writer some there. But at the time I
never thought about it. So I would just writing just
because it made me feel good and as well as
it made me escape the pain that I don't want
to face.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Do you feel like you were journaling? Were you keeping
a diary? Were you just expressing your inner emotions? What
kind of things were you writing?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yes, I was expressing the deepest emotion of myself. For
if females, when she got to that stage, she cried
out loud and let it out. But I hardly cry
with tears. So my way of sharing my pain to
(13:42):
myself is to write how I felt. And sometimes I
could be very descriptive and sometimes very narrative. And I
guess you could say I took advantage of what's supposed
(14:03):
to be negative in my life, turned that into turn
that into positive, which is something that I've always had
I've always tried to change negative to positive. Should ever
I find myself in that situation.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Wow, Wow, that's that's quite a story. So, I mean,
from those scribblings beginning November twenty fourth of twenty seventeen
or the day after, did you begin to think that
you were going to be able to put something like
the Bravest American together? Was that in your mind? No?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
It wasn't in a morning, not at all, not at all.
So I when I had this encouragements and there is
a lady, I don't know, you're probably gonna text me
let and tell me stop it. Carol Brewer. She's a
very good friend of mine and will talk, you know,
(15:01):
child back and forward, and then she'll tell me, I
know you're going to write a book some day, you know.
But then I sat down someday I sat down, I
think it was four years ago to the exact, and
I said to myself, I'm going to write a book.
But then I asked myself, what am I going to
(15:25):
write about? Oh, I know, I'll write about my life story.
And I opened the first page. I started writing about
the tragedy that strike me because it's the current information
I have in my brain that I cannot forget. I
can remember to a detail, and I start writing them down.
(15:48):
What happened to me, how it happened, and how amazing
the American Red Cross are, what they've done for me,
How amazing the firefighters were, what it did for me,
How amazing the first responder. I will extend a greeting
to every great nurses and doctors in San Francis via
(16:13):
Chris Hospital at a Bond Clinic. They were there two
four seven to make sure I got the best care possible.
I was running them down. Were you burned in the fire? Also? Yes,
And that's how I got all this. I was born
and it was a I think it was second degree
bon in the side, and then this one was just
(16:35):
first agree bone and right. So when people see that,
some of my thought is a bet Michael or something orfection. Nothing,
it's just a fire. Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yes, Well, you've got an incredible story. And I've got
to uh ask you when you when you write, do
you write in English? Do you write in your native language?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Good question? So when I write, initially I write in English.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Okay, I write an English. You're English, by the way,
It's excellent thank you, really.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Good, thank you. And I write in English. But when
in the middle of writing the script of my and
I ask myself a question, who am I? Then I
know I am nobody. I am just one among many.
And then I say to myself, that is not the
(17:31):
right thing to write about, and it's not the right
time for me to write autobiography of my life. I
got to think beyond that. Then, the inspiration of ordinary
individual depicting extra ordinary capacity in the name of the
(17:52):
pursuit of a better life for themselves, their family, and
their loved ones inspired me. I goes, now I know
what to write about because I'm inspired by ordinary individual.
So when I start writing, I will write in six
to seven different languages. Oh yes, that's why it took
(18:16):
me longer. It took me four years. Because when I write,
some sentences would sound beautiful and my mother tongue, and
some will sound better and my father tongue, and some
wos sound better in my grandparent tongue, and almost sound
better in some other languages. So I could have two
(18:40):
pages written, but they're all in different languages. Then I
will filter the audience that you're gonna be sending that
book to you, I will filter how okay this sentence
like the word Let's say I could use the word
(19:01):
life is a struggle. So I write life is a
struggle in different ways, maybe in four different languages. And
then I'll look for the simple sentence in English that
define life is a struggle. And then that's when so
(19:22):
from so I have four different rough draft so and
then I'll pick one of the rough the masterpiece of
the four rough draft to make it one good complete
rough draft. As an African where we speak half a
dozen languages, sometimes we'll process things differently. We look at
(19:46):
it in different angle because we'll have this diverse cultural,
diverse tradition.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So the name of the book is The Bravest American. Correct,
The author is Ibrahim and Ibrahim. If we wanted to
pick up a copy of this book, what's the best
way to get a copy of the Bravest America?
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Ah, So, The Bravest American. You can find it on
Amazon Okay, Amazon, you can find it on Bonzo, Nobel Okay,
Barnes Book Trito Okay, you can find it in a
Book a million, and you can even find it on
eBay as well as walmart is on friend, I think
(20:29):
currently about if I'm not mistaken ten to fifteen different.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So it is readily available, correct, and you can have
it mailed to your house or delivered to your house correct,
And you can have a bit of inspiration right in
your hand, and you know, you can have something you
can consult when maybe you're feeling lost or a little
out of it, or just not like you're spinning your
(20:54):
wheels and you're not connecting with the things you need
to connect with. I think this will help get you
back on track. And you got to take it from
a man who knows, because my goodness, your life struggles
up to this point have given you all the authenticity
you would need to write something like this. I have
to ask you, Abraham, how old are you?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Ah, thirty eight? Thirty eight?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yes, while you've done a lot of living for someone
thirty eight. I mean you look half that age and
you've probably lived twice that age. But that's a that's
a lot of living done in thirty eight years, and
a lot of experience with what people are going through
and keen observer of the human condition too, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Correct, See, we human, we we we all are experts,
but we forget we kept forgetting people ask me expot
in what every human being is an expot to his problem.
That's right, that exs oh Man, we nailed it. So
(22:01):
what happened to us is that when we tend to
run away from our problem instead of facing it head on,
like the previous Americans date we we we run away
to someone seeking a solution to our problem. And now
(22:24):
this public figure that and now he led our story
to seeking a solution to the problem, would give us
a solution. But yet we apply the same solution to
our problem. It still doesn't solve our problem because we
(22:45):
inas much as we are the expert of our problem,
we're also the solution to our problem. Yeah, I had
There is a story in there about Sarah Sarah Rights
in chapter two of the book. I think I would
(23:11):
take a moment of silence to honor every human being
out there who is battling breast cancer or any form
of cancer. You can imagine. Absolutely it is. I have
(23:38):
so much respect for the consistent fighting yeah, that they
went through daily, daily, day in and day out. This
is what I said in the book that real life
(23:59):
stru do not discriminate. Sarah was a single mother raising kids,
two kids, right when Sarah felt like, now I'm getting
used to raising my kids even though I had head
to DELI struggle that it's real uncomfortable. Then she come
(24:22):
to find out that she has stayed four breast cancer.
For Sarah, life felt impossible. Absolutely, the chemotherapy, the doctor's appointment,
the occupantore. She is sleep sleepless, She couldn't eat, couldn't eat,
(24:44):
couldn't work, couldn't do nothing. Sometimes she would jugulate, which
is she would obmit throw up for no reason because
she loves appetite. For some reason, Sarah she gets to
the point that she gets to a point in her
(25:05):
life where she felt like I gave up, or I'm
going to give up. I guess you can call it
fights of flea, yeah, but Sarah chose to fight instead
of fleeing. What kept Sarah going was the love of
(25:27):
the child. She could remember the smiles on the kid's face,
the love, the joy, the good memories she shares with
the kids, the compassion, the caring, the love and support
that she got from the loved ones, the hopes from
(25:49):
the physicians, the expert the doctors given her hopes. Then
she felt like I have something to live for, so
she can't fighting. That was the why. That's the why.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Our guest is Ibrahim. He's the author of The Bravest
American and it's really really cool to have you on
Wichita Weekend. I don't think I've ever met anybody who's
finished writing a book. I've met some people that began
writing a book, but not only finished, but finished an
excellent book. And we want to encourage you to maybe
(26:25):
go online and just google The Bravest American by Ibrahim
that's ib R A h I M. And they'll you'll
find that's a good way to find all the places
you can get your copy and read this. And it's
beautifully laid out in the book, and I imagine it's
a couple three hour read. I would say so roughly
(26:47):
somewhere in there, so it's not going to take a
real long time. But boy o boy, there's so much
too to think about. You've given us so much food
for thought.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Correct so with the book, unlike the authos that will
take you your own adjoining and by the time you
get your destination, you forget where you're coming from. I
chose to do it differently. I I used two approach.
I use passive approach instead of us an active approach,
(27:19):
which is one. And second, I use direct instead of
indirect because author will tend to bit around the bush.
Try to take your own adjoining with charisma, with eloquence
of language, you know, make you feel ecstasy and then
you forget the reality. With this book, I I keep
(27:42):
it what I call kiss, keep it short and simple. Yeah,
so I want to make sure that the message is
passed across that. Hey, I wrote this book while I
was in the middle of struggle myself, so and write
it like, oh it's a passion. No, it's a real
(28:05):
life struggle. So I want I relate with my audience
that if you finish true struggle of any kind out there,
you're not alone. We all do.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
And as you said earlier, and that's struggle is necessary, right,
It's a necessary part of life.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
You you have to have it to thrive, to survive.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
So there are tota in here. There is struggle and
there is a success. Struggle is a necessity. Struggle will
make you accomplish your need and success it's your wance.
(28:52):
Now my need is made. I want extra see a
billionaire or somebody that successful. Will never tell you I
need this, I want this, I want this, I want this,
I want this. But his need gave him his wants,
So I take struggle. The closest example I can use
(29:15):
with struggle is like two cars. You have manual transmission
and automatic transmission. And for someone that drives automatic transmission
every day, the first time you're in manual, it's like impossible,
how can I do this? But as time goes on,
(29:38):
your brain get used to driving manual transmission without looking
at the clutch. It becomes like the second nature right.
So likewise struggle. So we go through struggle so much
at one point in our life, become compoundent so much
(30:01):
that our brain get used to it.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It's almost like we're more comfortable in the struggle, correct,
we are with trying to find a solution for that struggle.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Man. I wish I could talk to you all day.
Do you realize we've already hit thirty minutes on our interview?
Oh Ibrahim, it is so cool to visit with you,
and I hope you'll maybe come back sometime, maybe when
you get your second book done.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Definitely never know.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I would encourage you. I can't wait to get this book.
Read this looks like a really interesting and like I say,
fulfilling and inspiring piece of work here and thank you
for writing it. My pleasure and thank you for being
with us today on Wichita Weekend. Ibrahim, author of The
Bravest American.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
And I am honored to be the speaking voice to
do unspoken sacrifices of everyday citizen, because when I had
published the book, there is something that's stuck to my head,
(31:09):
which is that the Brieviest American isn't found anywhere in
the headline of history, but in the unspoken sacrifices and
unyielding determination of everyday citizen.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Beautifully put Sir, you should be a writer. Thank you
for a writer, Ibrahim. It's been a real pleasure. Thanks Lillian,
and we'll talk with you soon.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Thank you for having me once more.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Thank you for listening to Wichita Weekend, a service of
iHeartRadio stations one O two won the Ball, Channel ninety
sixty three, one O seven three and ninety seven nine
B ninety eight. Listen every Sunday for Wichita Weekend.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Don't understand
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