My story

Hakim Buchanan

Hakim Ajani Buchanan; his first name means wise, was born on Aug 4th 1992 in the early morning at around 8am at Nuttall Hospital, Cross Roads in the parish of St Andrew. He weighed 7.5 pounds. His physician at the time who was notified of his imminent birth, arrived late, and Hakim developed fetal distress, which caused him to be placed in an incubator for several days.

Within one week of being at home, the baby showed early signs of movement and when a nurse and family friend visited us she was impressed with how he was able to turn himself over from his back to his stomach within record time.

This was a sure sign of rapid development from that period. At three months he was calling “Dada” and crossing legs on the floor with his favorite red dial up telephone skilfully leaned between his ears and his shoulder, enveloped into conversations with his imaginary friends clearly beyond his own years or months for that matter.

At six months, Read More

he automatically raised himself from his bottom to his two feet skipping that creeping period and making rapid and tilted steps as though he was participating in a race. In no time he was climbing out of his crib and making quick steps up and down the staircase especially while playing “Catch Him” with his big brother, Sean. We eventually had to find a way to barricade him in his crib for safety.

Hakim started school at World of Little People in Liguanea, Kingston 6, at one and half years old and by the time he was settled, he was on stage at the 10^th anniversary giving a speech thanking the principal for doing a good job and blessing her on their 10^th anniversary. At the end of the year he received a certificate for most intelligent student. When we enquired of the reason for such feat, we were told that he was the only one in the class who knew his home address and parents complete names.

From World of Little People he transitioned to Mona Preparatory where he excelled academically, always in the top 2 in class. He was a member of the swim team; a butterfly specialist and had the fastest time in butterfly stroke–helping to carrying home the National Prep School Swimming Competition trophy in 2002. He was a member of the science club and was instrumental in winning the prep school solar water heater project, a competition put on by the ministry of energy at the time. Hakim was the first to become a part of a chess club at Mona Prep as well.

Hakim continued to excel in academics as well as sports when he entered Ardenne High School. He was always between 1^st and 3^rd place in class. To express the genius in him. During end of year exam, he broke his dominant hand within days of his History test. That day he went into the exam room and used his non-dominant hand, finished the paper and received a 100% grade on the exam paper.

He was recruited for the basketball team, the swim team and chess club. He became the youngest person in the first form to be on the formal chess team and he enjoyed this challenge. It was from thereon that Ardenne High School was placed on the map in school and club competitions and at one point brought that school to 2^nd place. His love for Ardenne and chess saw him returning from overseas to teach chess during his time abroad.

Each time he attended a club match he would come home with a treat, be it a ribbon or a trophy. As he graduated to local and international competitions, notably the Miami Classics and the World Championships the trophies got even bigger—one was almost his height with his small stature.

He became the National Under 14 Chess Champion. At this competition, he did not advise us of this important challenge as he himself was not aware. He brought this trophy home and did not know what it was for until mom read it.

Subsequently, a notable Grandmaster in the UK called to ask permission to train him to become the youngest grandmaster. He rejected this opportunity at the time.

At age 17, after having taken a one year hiatus from chess, he heard about an upcoming chess tournament. Without preparation and casually attendance, he carried home the National Under 18 championship trophy. This landed him on National television as the young chess prodigy. Hakim was a simple giant and even to accept a Prefect position was against his will.

He was successful at 9 CXC subjects including all the sciences and applied to Yale University’s intensive Mathematics Summer Program, and was accepted. This was an extraordinary feat as he became the youngest student ever, entering their summer program at the age of 15. The Dean called to say that as a result of his age they had to call a board meeting for a vote to decide on his acceptance.

He accepted a scholarship to attend Franklin And Marshall, a Liberal Arts College in Pennsylvania so that he could gain exposure in many courses. Ultimately, he majored Business and Economics—a field he would continue to show great proficiency and acumen within. He was brilliant at conversations on an international level and world economics.

He loved playing the piano from the days of lessons from our neighbor Mrs. Grant. Having toured this campus, he felt at home because he had easy access to the grand pianos even in the streets of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Having also copped the highest marks in the UK piano exams in the over 40 years with his tutor’s teaching experience, Mrs. Grant, this small community would be a blessing to hone his piano talent while continued to excel in academics. Today he also has 15 pieces of reggae, classical, dancehall and hip hop.

He was the librarian on campus, a position he said was a coveted one as he was able to earn and study at nights – a strategic chess move. He was also a member of the chess team and responsible for finance.

After Hakim completed college in 2015, he travelled to Maryland USA to work as a Business Analyst at Morgan Stanley Bank. During his time working intensively at Morgan Stanley, he studied and tested for the Chartered Financial Exam (CFA) Level 1 and was successful.

During this busy period in his life he continued on in his aspirations in Chess, entering the World Chess Tournament in Philadelphia and finishing tied at first place. Again, he was strategic in this pursuit not for the accolades but the cost/benefit reward system and won enough money to pay for his hotel, time, car and gas. Hakim even found time to teach finance to Master’s students.

Hakim left Maryland to reunite with me. During this time he worked in the family businesses and ran his entrepreneurial ventures in finance, and investments. It’s during this period that the pandemic hit and I became severely ill—Hakim gave all of himself and saved my life. I was never late for a doctor’s appointment and I was never out of medication. Nine surgeries were carried out on my eyes and now I am able to see sufficiently enough to be reading to you all today.

Hakim made a meaningful contribution to this life and impacted the world. One of his students all the way in Saudi Arabia said – “I am sorry to have lost a brother who was so good to me during my time in the USA and I am sorry that I did not get the opportunity to repay that debt of gratitude.”

Hakim was humble, disciplined, compassionate and gave of himself unconditionally. Hakim passed away on August 16, 2016, at approximately 2:00PM. His passing has been earthshattering, not just for his family but the entire world.

From the poem by Kalil Gibran, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”

Therefore, the only comfort we have is to be grateful to God that he chose the best of His lot to put in our home for 29 most beautiful years and for this we celebrate his legendary life.

My son, you gave much more than you took, You tried to fix more than you broke, You were the kind who took the time to help a stranger in the rain, You stood up for those down on their knees, you lent a voice for those who could not speak. You shone a lots of light and gave sight to the ones who lost their way. You walked around with your heart on your sleeve, and tried to be the change you wanted to see, you laid down your life so your dad could be saved, so, undoubtedly, there is a place up there for you my son. I know you are out there so keep doing what you do, for there is a place up there for people like you.