The Black Knight – Sir Lewis Hamilton

 The year is 1991, Carmen Laberlestier dumps her son at the home of her baby daddy. The baby daddy, Anthony Hamilton, had no idea what to do with his son, when the mother brought him to stay with him. The boy was only 6 years old.

Anthony, a black man, had married a white woman, Carmen Laberlestier, with whom this child had been born. But the couple divorced soon after, and Anthony left the child with the mother. Carmen moved on with a different man, who insisted the boy be returned to his father. At the age of 10, Lewis permanently moves in the father, Anthony.

The boy is what the world has come to know as Lewis Hamilton.

To keep his son busy, Anthony bought Lewis a radio-controlled car where adults would line up and remotely race. He noticed his son beat these adults, over and over again, and realized the son had extraordinary motor abilities.

Anthony bought his son a second-hand karting car at the age of 8 which needed a lot of work to function. Only white kids at this time were going for Karting because buying, hiring or even maintaining a karting car was very expensive and most black people could not afford it.

When Anthony and his son, Lewis first showed up for the karting race, white people frowned at them, and the boy was a bit shy to find himself in unfamiliar ground. While other white kids drove new and superior Karting cars, Anthony Hamilton kept assembling his son’s car from the scrap metal he was collecting in garages, for fixing over the weekend.

To keep up with the expenses of his son’s passion, Anthony Lewis had to take up four jobs.

At the age of 10, Lewis met Mclaren boss, Tim Ron Dennis. Anthony had bought tickets to the British Grand Prix and Dennis was observing the kids who were competing for the junior races. Little Lewis Hamilton approached Dennis and said, “Hi, I am Lewis Hamilton, my drean is to drive for you, Mclaren.”

“Oh, okay, call me in 9 years, maybe we can work something out.” Dennis responded.

Lewis went on and won the F3 Championships, the GP2 Championships and nothing could stand before him in the F1. Lewis first formula 1 race was with Mclaren in 2007, he ended third, and lost the Championship by 1 point. He won his first Championship the next year, in 2008.

Lewis Hamilton raced for Formula 1 as the FIRST black person, and the youngest ever, and has gone ahead and won 7 Championships beating the legend Schumacher’s record. Lewis Hamilton recognizes what it means being a minority in a white space. He once said, “It would be nice to see more black people in the crowd, the crowd is still so white.”

On Wednesday, 15^th December, 2021, Lewis Hamilton was made a knight, at Buckingham Palace.

Thank You Sir Lewis Hamilton for breaking the ceiling for not only putting a black face in white sport but also thriving.

Black child, embrace your struggles and tribulations. In that fog you are undergoing, someone will see you.

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