I think that at our core, we are tribal. Liberated, we are able to rise beyond the confines or limitations of our tribe. Tribe is not limited to a grouping based on language alone or customs or traditions. It also means the tendency to associate with those whom one feels the strongest connection to, and deliberately or unconsciously limiting association with others simply because one is not connected to others in the same way. Animals move in kind.
Hardly, if ever, do you see a pack of wolves hanging out with lions; or zebras hanging out with snakes. But animals are also not generally able to transcend these “core” limitations. Humans are. Well, some humans are! Therefore the tribally liberated is one that even while acknowledging the difference of others, is still able to transcend those differences and feel the connection of humanity. The liberated one is not threatened by others who do not sound like them or look like them. The liberated does not allow the love for his tribe to deliver hate in other tribes.
Human beings are said to operate over seven levels of consciousness and one of those is what some call “tribal.” That level of consciousness is usually underpinned by fear of “other.” It is symbolized by “protection” against “other”. It only feels comfort among its “kind” because that is what it chose to know. The “others” are unknown and so there is this fear of the unknown that always holds them back. In tribal mode, we have no issues confiding in those we see to be our kind. We can speak freely of the “others” and the dangers they pose to our “survival”. You can hear the fear of that lady even in her anger and through the insults! But the fear is mostly only in her head!
By and large, we tend to gravitate towards the familiar, the known. You see a Gambian and Congolese in Kyrgyzstan, you run and embrace The Gambian because you feel a connection. If their last name is Barrow, you call them domebaye or mbaading or Bandam. That is being tribal. And nothing wrong with being tribal until it means LIMITING oneself! Then it becomes a problem because central to that LIMITATION is FEAR. Think about it, when the lady said “Sosseh yi”, she followed it with “be careful of them”! So the un-liberated tribalists like Yaya Jammeh are only expressing their unresolved internal complexes when they attack Mandinkas. They are fearful of something that is mostly only in their heads just like the poor lady. Sadly, no one can heal them of this fear unless they choose to divest themselves of it by liberating themselves.
You’d never truly enjoy the essence of humanity if you allow your fears to lock you up in your own “kind”. Get out there and explore. Learn another language. Explore other cultures. Hang with people who are not “like” you. Be Gambian; for Gambia is one nation with many different people. Saying you have family or friends who are of different tribes is not enough at times. There is so much beauty in difference! You will be missing out if all you interact with is your own “kind”. Importantly, you would be an unliberated tribal Gambian! And that my friend is primordial!
