By Jeremy Jjemba, Author! 
I was on the 11th floor of the Omni Hotel on Lamar Street in downtown Dallas when suddenly I saw a group of Dallas DP running up and down the hotel floor. I have a bad history with Dallas cops and let’s not mention I have what I call BPCS: which is “black people cops syndrome” …I am scared of cops running around with drawn guns. Dying to save my reputation, I immediately took cover in the elevators heading downstairs to the third floor where I thought the closing ceremonies were still ongoing.
From when the elevator doors opened a sea of drunken people came rushing in the elevator. Like drunken people are, some seemed to be talking in tongues …they were saying the convention was shut down…of course people were sayings all kind of reasons why. I paid little attention to the closer of the dance floor. I am not big on the dance floor, unless it is real good music. I will leave that at that….
I have talked to many people since Sunday and some are happy some are crying foul. It is unbelievable…that the most memorable event of the whole sag was the shutdown of the last night… It seems like there are a lot of people who want to place all the blame on everyone else except themselves….even for all the other things that went wrong…I still would not place all the blame on the organizing committee.
And, “Oh how they were so disorganized,” and oh how “this and that went wrong.” I find that very bad spirit. My question to you would be as such, where the hell were you not to help out to make sure everything was running well?
Since I never really offered to help out I am going to choose not to complain about how a better of a job people would have done. I am going to approach things from a very different view.
There were a lot of convention crashers who were not planned for but showed up to the event…..rumors are most of them where from the Dallas/community…there is no way all the people in attendance on the closing day were registered to be there; therefore most were indeed trespassing.
…..I pause here; because the following words do not apply to all who came unregistered…..some were very respectful and stayed away from the actual events which were reserved for registered members...for example I traveled with an 18 year old who refused to pay registration fees…but to his defense..he had no interest in any convection event…I doubt he spent much time trying to access the ballroom…
But the likes of grown men and women who chose not to pay UNAA fees but yet booked hotels rooms and flooded them with guests who ended up crushing the convention, these cheapskates (traditional in our communities) who came from everywhere, some us far as UGANDA itself (Oh dear lord do not let me name drop!)…..and quit honestly some very prominent in our society and could afford but did not register for the actual convention are partly to blame for bad timings of events; bad planning of security etc …if you think about the whole reason why the cops where called is because security refused entry to someone who did not need to be there………to call you a cheapskate is to actually hold my words of what I exactly think about you…
I find it shocking that in a three day convention filled with so many activities, most of those I have contact with on UNAA LIST, FB, EMAIL etc are mainly disappointed because they did not get to shake their bones on Sunday until 4AM….
I am not one of those night owls…I am not disappointed…I had a great time…I mean I met so many prominent member’s of Ugandan society residing in North America, I even met a Ugandan brain surgeon from Canada, all the politicians I met. Only Mugisha Muntu and Proscovia Musumba impressed me….the others were full of shit as usual…I won’t name drop.
To drive the point home, I say before blaming the organizing committee, or the hotel staff…let’s look in house first, pay your UNNA dues or do not attend the functions…respect the venue rules…I doubt the Omni had Uganda Waragi on sale but some of us were walking around with huge bottles of it even after the hotel staff asked us not to bring in outside liquor……drink in your rooms!.....what does this say about us as a community…...
Overall I am looking forward to maintaining the connections I made over the three days…I am looking forward to serving the newly elected leadership of UNAA and I pray to God that these gatherings become less about the partying and dancing moving forward! Because from what I understand...something similar happened in Philly..I wasn't there
From a very hot summer morning in Houston, Texas I am Jeremy Jjemba and these are my personal reflections…see you in San Diego next year!
"I am multicultural, multilingual.."
+UNAA DALLAS
