Gambian activists are calling for the repeal of a controversial legislation, which continues to justify the use of force by the police against peaceful protesters.
“We recommend that section 5 of the Public Order Act, which hampers on the very foundation of democracy and which is the underlying cause of the terrible events that have occurred is repealed in the broader constitutional reform process,” reads a statement issued on Sunday by campaigners who held a demo at Westfield junction.
A sad turn of events in Faraba Banta plunged the entire country into deep sorrow as Gambians continue to mourn the death of protesters killed by Police Intervention Unit forces. This prompted the Gambian leader to travel to the said village and empathize with victims’ families. President Barrow also announced the establishment of an Independent Inquiry geared towards shedding light into circumstances surrounding the loss of lives.
Worried by the slow pace of security sector reform, campaigners took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of the significant reforms announced by government.
“The security sector reform is essential to revamp and retrain our security forces in dealing with peaceful protest and citizens’ rights to free assembly,” the statement added.
Addressing a crowd of protesters, Alieu Bah said democracy must reflect in the conditions of the people, and urged government not to ignore the voice of the masses.
“We cannot shy away from this historic responsibility,” he said while chanting protesters’ rallying cry and shouting, “all power to the people.”
Activist Neneh Gomez reminded the gathering that Gambians voted for system change in 16th December 2016.
“We’ve seen a government change, not a system,” she voiced out. ”
Lizzie Eunson and Pa Njie Girrigara threw their weight behind DAFADOY campaigners, reiterating their support to the initiative they have taken to stand against injustice.
The two political figures recently stood for the mayoral in Banjul and in the KMC, but failed to secure the seat in their respective area.
Written by Abdoulie JOHN
Even though I wrote about the Public Order Act (POA) on a number of occasions and no one listened to me, here we go again. The Supreme Court has spoken on the matter, but no one is yet to produce the official opinion of that case or the Sedition Act case. I have tried to pay up to $200 to get the opinions of those two cases but have been unsuccessful. For me, there is nothing more telling about this government than the blatant refusal or omission to release the opinions of cases that have already been decided. There is more at stake here than most Gambians realized. Gambians keep appealing to the Constitution and rightly so, yet when a case goes to Supreme Court and has been decided, one cannot find out what exactly the Court says and what its reasonings are. It is like being in the middle of the forest yelling but no one is hearing you or you are being heard but ignored.
Often lately, I say to myself, “why do you care”? “It is easy for you to tuned out and not stress yourself about Gambian affairs.” ” Your family is doing very well.” “No immediate family member in The Gambia is suffering as far you know. ” ” Why bother.” But you see, I cannot seem to ignore the abuse of the rights of Gambians. I’ve said this and I will repeat it here again, I only write because I want Gambians to enjoy similar freedoms I have enjoyed here in the United States. I am not interested in any other thing in The Gambia but that. I have no hidden agenda. I do not want to be known which is why I have kept my identity anonymous. I will never work for The Gambia government regardless of who is president. Hence, I am free from bias. I write as I see things. Woe be me if i write on this forum to show how much I know or pretend to know. I come to this forum to learn about issues happening in The Gambia and what people here think about those issues. On several occasions, I have been invited as a regular guest at some of the online newspapers and radio programs and I have declined simply because I am not qualified to offer anything. However, my limitations I will never stop me from expressing my feelings on what is happening in The Gambia. No qualification is required for a citizen of a country to express his or her feelings about the states of affairs in his or her country. But to hold public office, it would be foolish not to require some type of qualification. Here in lies one of the many problems facing The Gambia. I can tell you with near certainty that more big time issues are on the horizon. One of the best things that can happen to The Gambia right now is for Barrow to resign, that is, if he truly loves The Gambia as he has claimed. Unfortunately, I do not see that happening. Some writer has called Barrow a humble man simply because he refused to accept an honorary degree from the university of The Gambia. I do not believe that writer fully understands what humility means. If Barrow is as humble man as that writer has claimed, why did Barrow made it known that he declined to accept the honorary gesture? He could have declined and told the university in private that he did not want the gesture to be made public. But he never did that.
We have 22 years of data on dictatorship and the way things have started for this administration, the similarities are very striking in some ways. Gambians are not being killed at the same rate as before, and people are not disappearing as far as I know, but then again, we are less than two years into this experiment. Every single branch of this government has failed Gambians in one way or another. Take your pick: Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary. To end this rant, one of the fatal mistakes made during dictator Jammeh’s time is being repeated, and that is, all focus is on the Executive and not proportioned between the three branches of government. The level of attention focused at the Executive should be the same or similar level of attention focused at the Legislature and Judiciary. That’s not happening. Have a blessed evening everyone.
Democracy thrives through people and by the participatory engagement of the citizenry. Historically, this engagement has been left to the elite political class. Not surprisingly though because standing up to injustices in the two past regimes comes at a very high price. This is the chain Gambians are trying to break after years of muzzling us with unjustifiable “laws”, political witch hunting, terror, ineptitude in every branch of government, corruption, self perpetuation, unabated plunder and the list goes on.
The youth are the ones about to change that chronic state of affairs. This demo is the beginning of the end for Adama and co, that is, if they fail to adhere to the coalition memorandum of understanding and agreement.
Is there any chance of Adama changing his direction and listening to the demands of these protesters? I believe not.
I said above “… to tuned out, but it should read “to tune out.” Mwalimu, Gambia needs to build a democracy first in order for it to thrive. You seem to be in favor of the democratic form of government and I am too. However, your position contradicts your “whiteness” rhetoric. Here is what I mean, as far we know, democracy originated from Greece, a white western part of the world if my geography is correct. The root of the word “Democracy” is greek and it means people. Democracy as it is known today is totally different as ancient Greece practiced it. You see any part of the world deserves the best form of government that works for that particular society regardless of where the idea of that form of government originates from or who invented it. To adopt what has worked in one society to another is no shame and no lost of identity. You have to distinguish between what is metaphysical truth and what is not. You see, the term “metaphysics” is a combination of two greek words meaning “meta” after and “physics” reality, i.e., reality of the material world. This is that branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things and the nature of reality. The philosopher first treats of “Physics” before getting into “Metaphysics.” Let me please give you two metaphysical truths to demonstrate what I mean. We say God is all knowing, all powerful, good and the like. These attributes are metaphysical truths because God cannot be other than those things, meaning those attributes cannot be separated from God. How about a human being. We say man is a rational animal. That too is a metaphysical truth because man cannot be other than a rational animal. So you see, whether you and I are fat, thin, short, tall, long or short hair, white, black or brown or red does not change who we are a human beings. You could be red and I could be blue but that will not change who we are as human beings. And one thing that all human beings have in common is rationality. Further, what would you call fat, thin, short, white, black, red blue in relation to a person? Those are what the Philosopher called “accidentals.” That means, like I said above, they can change from one person to another and that change will not change you as a person, as a human being, a rational animal. “Accidents”not how that term is commonly used are useful because they help in definition, divisions and the like. You do not realize it but do you know how many times everyday you define things and distinguish things by division. We use what are called “categories” to define, distinguish, connect and divide. Categories are, as the Philosopher listed them: Substance, Quantity, Quality, Relation, Action, Position [place], Time, Situation, Condition, and Passion. You can almost never speak reasonably without employing those. White, black, good, beautiful fall under the head of “Quality.” You talk a lot about “whiteness” and “blackness” but you have never ever defined those terms. Please try defining them and see what you come to. I am certainly not writing this to put you on the spot, far from it. I am only bringing these things to your attention, and I hope by doing that you will reflect on your rhetoric. For example, when you say something or use a certain term, what exactly does it mean objectively? Have a blessed day.
For the sake of space, I’ll try to condense this a bit for digestibility. I can’t promise you though that it won’t get bit long. But it will be interesting.
First, I have nothing against been put on the spot if that is underpinned by mutual respect in a conversation. I think that is in fact productive.
So, lets get down to business.
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There are close to 5000 African skulls in Spanish universities, hospitals, museums and other archival bodies. In Germany there more than 8000 of these human remains in the same kinds of institutions as in Spain. Why?
According to the science of eugenics (racial science), Homo-Sapiens(modern humans) are divided into three racial categories; the Caucasian, the Negro and the Mongolian. Caucasia is a geographical region, Mongolia is a geographical region and the term Negro embodies a state of being. To borrow a term from you, a quality if you like. This categorization, my friend Samba, was not an accident, it has a certain believe and perception behind it. That is the inferred inferiority of black people. To prove the inferiority of black people, they (white people and the church) needed a knowledge-based (science) justification for the enslavement of those considered to be human but at the same time sub-human. To conduct research for the said purpose(s) they needed black bodies. How did they get such a high number of skulls from human remains? From the graves in Africa, bought from Africans, or just people who offered themselves to be killed? No! genocides were organized and carried out on us all over Africa. Still you have the Herero and the Nama in Namibia fighting to claim the skulls of their ancestors from various European countries. And those governments are still refusing to handover butchered and stolen human remains. Thank you for giving me stomach cramps at this juncture. I will trod on because you deserve an answer.
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Samba the term race was not in existence in any European languages before the mid 15th Century. So the term black and white are not givens, they are rather a creation of a depraved fantasy. Whiteness is a connotation created to denote power, privileges, purity, elevation in capacity and faculty and consumption associated with people of European descent and lineage. Blackness is the opposite of all the above listed attributes.
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You talked about language just qualifying things and attributes, I agree with you on that. There is nothing metaphysical about that phenomenon. Words are just signifiers of objects and conditions of existence. So you have the signified and the signifier. Words that signify, should only find acceptance in a certain speech community for them to become realities. But, even those realities do not make sense, for example: why is a chair called a chair and not xyz? Because it’s chair that has found consensus within a specific language ecology and not xyz.
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Yes, the word democracy is a greek lexem. That does not however mean bits and pieces of that concept have not been practiced in Africa or other parts of the world even before the Greeks adapt it as way of living. The question then becomes: who has perfected it? I’ll say every region and people are working on it, some better, some lesser. Those it belong to anyone even though as far as we know, the origin of the word is Greece? For the sake of clarity, the Greeks were not “whites“ as you might assume. No such concept existed at the height of the Greek kingdoms.
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Categories do exist. Yes we even need them to think clearly and for precision too. But the category of race was, is and will always be a dubious lie. It’s not biological, it’s a political and cultural weapon designed to subjugate, exploit and ultimately annihilate black people. I can silently hear some readers asking but you yourself are using these terms. Here is my answer: It has historically been forced into my consciousness whence the white man step foot on my continent.
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I assume some people on this platform will like our political discourse to be free from this painful history and the discourse of race. But i have only one question for those people. Won’t that be an illusion when slavery and colonialism are still alive and kicking and whilst everything we have become and will become is determined by our race. The white establishment and their treacherous deniers and their minions will like us to believe that only “market forces“ should be left to flourish and we will reap the benefits of prosperity. That formula gave birth to dictators in Africa and rebellions because the little monetary wealth then became concentrated in the hands of a few who has no interest in changing the status quo.
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If you think these events are asleep in a bygone era, ask yourself why is Africa the poorest when we have more than half of the worlds natural resources. Ask yourself why the sociopolitical orientation of the world is decided in the United States, Europe and Asia, whilst Africa is just meant to be a dumping ground of their goods and various ideologies.
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Samba the philosophies you mentioned are a great driver of modern human civilization. The origins of those philosophies is not Greece but Africa, specifically Ethiopia. If democracy is the product of the various philosophies such as existentialism and utilitarian, philosophy itself was born in Africa. Why you never knew about is no accident. It’s designed to keep you and me perpetually enslaved and indepted to the savages. Will I call white people savages in their presence? Yes I have done that many times and got away intact. I fear not the lost of my life in the quest for respect and dignity for my people. That’s why am a pan-Africanist.
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Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
The entire economy of the United States of America in 1840s was estimated to be 3 Billion Dollars and the worth of black slave bodies was estimated to be 4 Billion Dollars. So the entire economy of the greatest economy On earth was wholly and entirely dependent on African bodies and resources less than 200 years ago.
In 1952, America lend 13 Billion US dollars to various European countries for their reconstruction. All the parasites took a specific percentage of the money. Where does this money come from? You go figure it out.
This is the money that gave birth to some of the biggest banks today in all European countries. These are the banks and monetary institutions today lending money to third world countries(the majority of those in Africa) and killing millions of people through interest payments by depriving them the services that are due to them.
Don’t forget my friend, this is OUR MONEY and OUR RESOURCES.
Just feel the pain of the down trodden an you will understand our cause is not about ego inflation and showing off. According to yourself, you live in the US comfortably which I assume means the basics of life, like food clothing, shelter, healthcare and basic freedoms and liberties are guaranteed. It’s the same thing our people deserve and the white man is taking even the air to breath out of our lungs. Doesn’t that justify talking about the beastial savages.
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Half of our national development budgets end up paying for debts we never benefitted from or incurred in the first place. The rest that remains is also siphoned off to Swiss banks and other offshore havens by the corrupt rulers who connive with their white masters against the poor until death. Feel this Samba and you will understand the position am speaking from.
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If you want to solve the problems of Africa or any African country (these countries have been arbitrary demarcated in Germany by white people from 1887-1889 without any African representation), it cannot be devoid of a post colonial diagnosis. Taking America‘s capitalist mantra and force feeding it to us has never worked and it will never work. That is the lesson to be learned.
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Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
Billions of Dollars worth of literature is what Africans are said to digest every year from all corners of the earth. But the diversity of cultures in Africa is of little monetary value to Africa and Africans. We are only consuming and not producing. This is because of two reasons:
1) The rest of the world appropriates our cultures and make the market space narrow for African products both material and libidinal.
2) Africans have been taught not to value black culture and to associate inferiority onto black spaces.
So everything black becomes synonymous with low standards. Take any given langauge in The Gambia for example, what’s its cultural and economic value in terms of reproduction of knowledge and the monetary value its learning could accrue. Compare that to English and French. Are you seeing the picture am painting here, dear Samba?
How about all the foodstuff imports as if we never had any before the advent of the various trade routes created by the Arabs and white people?
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Samba am a highly conscious black person who is highly enlightened about who he is. And am never going to hide that fact or whitewash it. That comes at a price which am willing and able to pay. Some will despise you, some will accuse you of living in the past, some will say you are emotional, some will like to rip you into pieces and so and so forth.
Am not at all concerned about that. All i want is the liberty and the meaningful prosperity of my people. One at a time.
The Psychological Impact.
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What does it mean to be a slave?
It means been deprived of a genealogy. This genealogical deprivation encompasses the denial to speaking an own language. The first thing our slave forefathers have been prohibited from doing is speaking to each other in their languages. The white human flesh eaters feared given a chance to talk to each other, our captured fathers and mothers will organize their escapes and this has on several occasions lead to the killing of the white slave guards. Instead examples are set by slitting the mouths of some slaves with sharp knives to warn the sailing slaves about the dangers of speaking to each other.
Are we today deprived of a genealogy? Yes! Look at all the black kids who are allegedly been adopted by white families from Africa and even Europe and America. By comparison, how many white kids land in black families for adoption? The reason is very simple: Black bodies and lives can be owned by white people but not the other way round. That’s why we have many black people aspiring for the status of whiteness to attain such and such privileges.
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Our contact with white people was buried in brutal violence and that’s why we still smile and put on our best behavior in their presence. It’s out of fear, a fear that has permeated every aspect of our existence. The fear is also very much justified. The white man is very dangerous and brutal. They have the power to inflict pain and death without accountability. What is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq are just examples of this bestiality.
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TO BE CONTINUED…………………………………………
WOW! GADA Democracy from Ethiopia is older than Greece itself. But please continue the discussion!
Luntango I was counting on your contribution to the topic at hand. But I’ll gladly stand in front of the class if I got the careful attention of the class.
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Continuation:
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The violence of the white man on us has lead to the following conditions on the African continent:
1) The rupture of the black psyche vis-a-vis our identity.
2) Total Cultural displacement.
You will easily understand these two by asking yourself the following questions:
1) What was there before slavery? 2) What shaped our collective consciousness in relation to the environments we lived in?
I will guarantee you will find very little evidence of our pre slavery existence. That’s again not an accident. Nearly everything has been erased by the filthy intruders.
Again, how does that pact our lives?
Look, Kambi-Ya and Sen-Gal used to be made out of a series of autonomous regions with a highly developed system of governance.
Today, the people, cultures, languages etcetera of these “countries” are becoming so increasingly divergent that it will be hard recognize any similarities in a few decades to come. Politically, these two are already planets apart. What is this doing to our psychology as a people? Well am slowly observing a syndrome I’ll call 1=2. The one is the fallacy of unity and the two is the reality of the destruction done by the partitioning without due regard to our sociocultural realities.
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To be continued…………
Yes teacher; “rupture of black psyche” … destruction of the Oneness with one’s world. Black Beauties of West Africa BLEACHING desperately? Back to Ayi Kwei Armah again… Yes teacher, go on …
First, Mr. Halake, “GADA Democracy” “Gada” and whatever it means may be uniquely African and if it, please tell us what it means. But Democracy by its name alone is not. So you are mixing two things here. Please tell us how GADA Democracy is older than Greece itself. Show concrete evidence. While Ethiopian society was in existence other societies were in existence too. Historically, it may be true that the first man originated from Africa and so what? That does not mean Africa and Africans have a monopoly on things. And if we go by both Scriptures and the Holy Quran, God chose a certain race to be its people. If you go to the “Acts of the Apostles” it is reported that Ethiopians traveled to Jerusalem to worship and the like, of course that is not as old as Adam and Eve, Noah, Ibram/Ibrahim and the like. The point is, while some societies were growing and advancing in some parts of the world, others were too. The difficulties lie in trying to keep track of the times of those various societies. If you want to argue that GADA Democracy from Ethiopia is older than Greece, because the first man is believed to be from Africa, I will listen but you have to say more about the matter and not just throw it out there. That’s not good enough. Greek Democracy was at least five thousand years or close to it before Christ. Whatever they may have called that form of government, GADA something, it was not called GADA Democracy. Please fill us in. I will have more to say if you make yourself clear. At least that will take us away from legal arguments and into other interesting subjects. I am waiting!
Mwalimu, you are wrong to say that “Whiteness is a connotation created by power, privilege, purity, elevation … associated with people of European descent and lineage. Your understanding of whiteness is in a box in your own world. First, you definition of “whiteness” is not objective. For it to be objective, it must be applicable wherever “whiteness” is found. You do not follow the points I raised above. Here is what I mean, whatever we will say about the whiteness of a football, a house, a chair, a shirt, a lion or whatever, has the color white? Does your definition encompasses those things that have the color white that are not European? Is whiteness in Europeans more white than whiteness in other things? And why are you limiting “whiteness” to Europeans as if whiteness does not exists in the rest of the world? What I have just said is applicable to all colors and not just white. That is the point I wanted you to see, and of course you missed it because you are interested in driving certain points which are unrelated to the topic.
Race is a method of grouping, especially humans, based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as distinct by societies. “Categories” as I used the term above is simply not grouping certain segments of society. Quantity, like number of sheep, amount of money or number of bread fall under quantity. Goodness, white, black, beautiful fall under “Quality” As you can see, categories are more than putting human beings into various groupings. I say this ball is whiter than that ball, I am focusing the attention to the quality of color. If I said this ball is bigger than that ball, I am focusing the attention to the quantity of size. Here is another place where you went off, what do we mean when we say the human “race”? As you can see, this distinction is not limited to humans but humans being distinguished from other things. of course, you conveniently want to limit the term specifically between Europeans and African blacks.
Slavery is a fact. Slavery is not limited to Europeans enslaving Black people from Africa. European did enslaved Europeans too. Arabs did enslave arabs and Africans did enslave Africans too. I am aware of Europeans enslaving Africans. Majority of African know this fact. So you do not need to go into that; it is not in dispute. And I do not know of any African who denies that fact. So why bring up, the enslavement of Africans by Europeans, that all are in agreement is a fact.
You said “why is a chair called a chair and not xyz”? To call a chair, “Toogo” or “Sirangknoo”or whatever it is called in India, in China is not the point. Here again, the point you missed, does whatever a chair is called in the different parts of the world carry similar meaning as in The Gambia? Here, the shape of the chair or its color or how many legs it has is not important. What is important is, are chairs and whatever they are called in the rest of the world function as they do in The Gambia? Primarily we use chairs to sit in The Gambia. Does the rest of the world do the same thing with their chairs? If chairs are used similarly then whatever it is called is not important. Of course you can buy or made a chair for the sake of putting a bucket on water on it, but is it that the norm in your society and the rest of the world? Even if you sit on that chair once every year, you are doing what the rest of humanity use chairs for.
Have certain human beings of a particular race been subjected to scientific experimentation, absolutely, but that was because of their distorted comprehension of the truth about human beings. Without turning this into a theological analysis, human beings, God informs us in Genesis are created in his image. “Let’s create man in our image.” He said “man”not white, black or brown, or yellow or blue. When attention is directed to the fact humans beings are created in God’s image, those distinctions of white, black, brown, yellow and the like become insignificant. And that truth has been ignored, not only by Europeans but the world over, and as a result, the distinctions take center stage and which you are inculcated with. You have to wrestle yourself out of that trap.
There is nothing wrong with being a conscious black man. I do not think any one should fault you for that. However, the human race is inter-related because we are all part of the human race. Africa and Africans cannot separate itself or themselves from the animal species called human beings. No matter what arguments you advance, this is not possible. God has given humans the gift of not starting from scratch. We come into the world and do not start from a cave but from where our parents are and advanced it a little bit. My and your great great great grandparents may have lived in caves but we do not because they left something a little better than cave living and our generation build on that and generations yet unborn will build on what you and I leave behind. Sometimes you present your arguments as if we Africans need to cut off the rest of the human race and start from scratch. The other animals are limited to that level and hence what lions and dogs and tigers do thousands of years ago, are the same things lions and dogs and tigers do to day. They do not learn anything about themselves in order to advance, we, humans, on the other hand, we do. This is uniquely human; and it has absolutely nothing to do with the color of a skin or geography. You did not and I will asked again, please define “whiteness” in relation to the color white or “blackness” in relation to the color black without bringing European and Africans into it. You know that black or white color of a ball or bread of book or whatever. Have a blessed day.
Exactly! The ONENESS with one and all, both living and non-living. That’s a realm of existence lost forever.
or of a book I meant to say.
You do not talk about oneness at all. You seem to see the world in black and white. Your numerous writings proves that. I might add that you mentioned some African authors and championed their views points, but those view points are not uniquely African. You do know that Karl Marx was German. Some of the authors you mentioned advanced Marx’s view of the world in various versions and there is nothing wrong with that. But those views are not of African origin.This is to show you that the point is not to view the world as black and white because that is a trap. That is intellectual laziness. Go beyond the immediately visible and see what you find. Find those truths that common to humanity and bring them out to the open. I refer to you “Das Capital” or the “Communist Manifesto.”
Samba, you say: “You do not talk about oneness at all” – referring to Mwalimu’s comment. But Mwalimu IS indeed talking about ONENESS in the sense of being A WHOLE PERSON. The damage to our ONENESS from a psychological angle was superbly analysed by the Late Great Frantz Fanon in the amazing book “Black Skins, White Masks”. But ONENESS can also be understood in the VERY SAME sense that the Late Great Cheikh Anta Diop talked about the “ONENESS of the African Peoples”: as I walked down Cheikh Anta Diop Avenue in Dakar I certainly felt that “ONENESS”, just as a I do when I walk down Haile Sellasie Avenue in Nairobi and down Mandela Street in Banjul. But Samba Bro. if you said it is all “A State of Mind” I will agree … one feels it or one doesn’t!
Samba I guess because of the limitations of writing, we might me talking over each other here. I did NOT say whiteness is a connotation created by power. Go check it in the third paragraph. And I also think the rudiments of my discussion is not hitting home for reasons of familiarity within the body of knowledge that exists in the topic we are dealing with. Unfortunately, I can’t help in that regard.
I am sensing that this beautiful and enlightening conversation is about to take a personal tone and turn. It shouldn’t be like that. That will be defeating the purpose of our presence here.
It was a nice journey Samba.
Mwalimu, trust me this will not turn into any thing personal from my part. Are you saying my quotation is incorrect? Are you sure you read the whole third paragraph of your first posting on this topic? Please read the entire paragraph of your first posting and tell me if I quoted you wrong. I referred to your writings and not your person, so there is nothing personal about what I said. I will ask you to do two things. You do not have to answer immediately. You can take as long as you want to answer. (1) You have seen the figure “Circle” before, many times I suppose. Please define a circle for me without looking it up. Defined it based on your observation of it. (2) Please do the same thing with a “plant.” We are both from rural areas and have been to farms and have seen plants thousands of times. Please limit your definitions based on your observation of a “circle” and a “plant.” If you find yourself having difficulties defining them without referring to a dictionary or Googling it, that should tell you something. You see, I am not asking you to define what you think “Freedom” means or “Justice” or “Constitution” and the like. Those are much more complex ideas. Mwalimu, please tell my good sir, Mr. Halake, that I am eagerly waiting to hear from him. My whole point has been to show you that you need to be open to new ideas and know that no human being has complete monopoly on the truth. One of the beauties of being a human being is that there is always something to learn from each other. The truth knows no boundaries, it is what it is. Have a blessed day.
Mwalimu, far from it as I vividly see SAMBA’s direction here.
SAMBA’s approach to this subject is exactly what intelligent discourse is all about and I do not see any hint of a debate directed at any person. Let’s be open minded and work hard to avoid steering debates in preferred directions.
For the object of not being a distraction, I will let SAMBA continue to elucidate on the salient points raised.
You go SAMBA …
Mr. Halake, you need to make direct quotation of where he said those things. Are you talking about oneness of humanity or oneness of Black people alone? Please tell me what you mean by oneness. I mean define it. You know some clarification will really help. And, you do not need to refer to any “great” somebody. Please use your “own” “original” thoughts. I am also waiting to hear from you on the other issue. until then!
Lol Mr. Samba, I love the VROOM of your American Chevrolet Camaro but this old Britsh Austin Morris is out of gas … Mwalimu to the rescue please!
Mwalimu has to define a “circle” and a “plant” for me the next time I hear from him. The reason I have asked him to do so is because I want him to see something. I hope he at least try and not give up! As for you, you puzzles me sometimes :). At times you write something and I would say to myself “brilliant, Sir.” And on occasion, you throw those one-liners that make me scratch my head. May be, Sir, you need to avoid those one-liners! Or may be you are drinking too much Ataya or English Tea and cookies or both :). Have a great evening!
Guilty as charged! G’Day 2 U 2.
Very interesting exchanges between the great Mwalimu and the learned Samba, but I must say it’s all a bit too intellectual for us the common folks, and confusing too, with all due respect.
For us the ordinary folks, the struggle of the African downtrodden (“Black” People, if you like) is the same struggle for ALL downtrodden peoples around the world, whether they are in Africa, Europe, America, Asia, East, West, North, South, etc. Our histories and geographical locations may be different; so too our skin colours and experiences, but our REALITIES are the same:
We are born “poor”; we grow up poor; we live all our lives in poverty and we die poor; ALL in the midst of immense wealth.
How to halt this man made tragedy is the struggle for us. And to that end, I think our focus should be on understanding the:
(1) “How” (how did it happen?), (2) “Why”: why is it still happening?)
(3) “What”: what should we do to halt/change it?)
How did it happen? How did we get into a situation where the total wealth of a handful of families (about 5) is greater than the combined wealth of several “developing” countries?
How did we get into a situation where the whole of Africa, with perhaps the most fertile farm lands and the hardest land toilers, is entirely dependent on food imports and aids to survive? This is not an accident. There are reasons for it, and these have been well documented. No need to go there.
That brings me to the 2nd query: WHY? Why do we continue with the status quo, knowing what we know. We know, for example, that groundnut as a cash crop, was imposed on the Gambian Farmer to satisfy the raw materials and cheap labour needs of the emerging manufacturing industries in the West, but half a century after INDEPENDENCE, we still grow groundnuts as a cash crop for the oil industries, even when we know that new farm products, like sunflower and other vegetables, have overtaken the groundout. Why?
Perhaps, the most important answer will be to the “What” question. What must we do to rescue our countries and people from this tragic cycle of poverty, humiliation, endless disease, deprivation, misery and untimely deaths from preventable and curable medical conditions?
How can we chastise the Brits for refusing a Gambian child the visa he needs to undergo operation in the UK, when we claim to have been an independent nation for 53 years?
My in-law, I am leaving it to Mwalimu to answer you when he comes out of hiding (from Sir Samba!) but I can add, with my classic “one-liners” that annoy Sir Samba so much (LoL!):
“5 richest Nigerians can pay off the countries National Debt”!
We Africans are bloody great – even the 50 richest Americans can’t do that for USA.
Menat to say “country’s” not “countries”!
Samba the term race was not in existence in any European languages before the mid 15th Century. So the term black and white are not givens, they are rather a creation of a depraved fantasy. Whiteness is a connotation created to denote power, privileges, purity, elevation in capacity and faculty and consumption associated with people of European descent and lineage. Blackness is the opposite of all the above listed attributes.
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I did NOT say “whiteness is created by power”.
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I like the fact that our exchange has been diversely and differently appreciated and digested here.
Some, like Samba feel I am too focused on a racial narrative of politics, culture and history. And that is making me to see the world in only black and white.
Andy tends to lean on same view. Dida is running out of gas but still very intellectually vital with an unmatched humor.
The Marxist approach of BAX is lending credence to the discourse of class that determines our individual positions in broader society. Bajaw is properly battle weary and tanking some energy.
Tilli Bo is maintaining neutral ground till……..
And I am glad to be your cyber companion in our common desire to see our nation boom and bloom.
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Samba you won’t get such simplistic definitions from me as to the meaning of a plant or a circle. Am more interested in what a plant and a circle does than the abstract word-attribute-object association.
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I guess you are more comfortable with a supposed “humanistic” analysis of human history based a theological examination. Am not going that road either. Why? For you, God/Allah is the creator of the universe and the multiverses. Same for me. But this space is a secular one, so I separate what the scriptures teach with the secular body of knowledge that’s out there for everyone.
Notwithstanding , I still respect your entitlement to those views. We must just accept the fact that we have different approaches to a particular subject matter.
Yours in the service of The Gambia and Africa, I remain.
Bax,
We can pull ourselves out of poverty by
1. Blogging
2. Trading stocks, shares or Forex.
3. Do online surveys.
4. Vlog.
5. Blogging on steemit, which is on the Blockchain.
6. Offer services ie. Gardening
7. YouTube channel
8. Odd job person.
9. Bake cakes to order.
10. Learn a skilled trade.
11. Write an ebook on something that you are passionate about.
Google any of the above, for example, “trading Forex for beginners” or “how to open a steemit account” or “blogging for beginners”
All the above do make money, just depends how committed and dedicated one is.
@Tilly Bo:
“Bax,
We can pull ourselves out of poverty by…..”
Agreed absolutely. I think individual/private initiative is the surest way of uplifting oneself from poverty and all the areas you cited have potential to make lots of many. There are many examples even in The Gambia to lend testimony to this fact. You just have to look at individuals like Basiru Jawara, Musukebba Drammeh, Mustapha Njie (TAF), Jaliba Kuyateh, Turo Darboe, Amadou Samba (though his “association” with Jammeh has blemished his achievemnets) and many others. Outside our borders, you can look at the likes of Youssou Ndour, Mark Zukerburg, B. Gates, S. Jobbs, R. Brandson (Sir) etc and their successes as private individual businessmen. So, you are absolutely right.
However, I want to observe that, not withstanding the fact that there are extremely talented/gifted individuals (Geniuses) who will make success of any undertaking regardless of their situation or circumstances, entrepreneurship (which, in my view, is the driving force behind the success of all these individuals I mentioned) is a SKILL that must be acquired throgh a whole host of experiences, like education, formal/informal training, interaction, observation, etc, all happening under the “right” environment. And I hope you will agree that the best entity to provide this environment, with the resources and support frameworks nececessary for the emergence or acquisition of skills of entrepreneurship, is the state. And I think by now, it can be seen where I am heading with this conversation: Political Leadership.
We need the leadership that will organise society in a way that orients members, especially those within the education cycle, towards ENTREPREURSHIP and provides the necessary RESOURCES and FRAMEWORKS to facilitate and support the maximisation and realisation of entrepreneurial potentials in our citizenry.
The responsibility therefore, of lifting ourselves from poverty, is entirely ours (and this is where I agree with Dr I. Sarr) and that starts from the choice of political representatives. As the saying goes, “You rip what you sow”, and Gambians cannot expect to rip what we haven’t sowed. I have often said this, and I know it sounds callous and insensitive, but Gambians deserve everything we got from the 1st, 2nd republics and are getting from the 3rd republic.
We must begin to take leadership selection through elections very seriously, because it is the leaders, who have control of the state, that can bring changes through their policies and programmes, which will impact our lives positively and change our livelihoods for the better.
It is said by some political thinkers, that “the way a people think and behave, is largely influenced by the policies of its government”, and often cited as “evidence” is the behavioural differences between citizens of Communist countries and Capitalist ones. It is observed that the way a Chinese citizen, for example, relates to, and/or interacts with the state, the environment and other Chinese Citizens is fundamentally different from that of, say, the USA Citizen, though they are all humans. This is influenced and shaped mainly by state policies, even including the influence and/or control over culture and religion.
The point being that the average Gambian is growing up in an environment where individuality and inquisitiveness, possible prerequisites for entrepreneurship, is almost frowned upon, whilst dependence and adherence to the customary is almost encouraged and celebrated. This needs to change if we are to move towards a progressive society.
My little child started learning Business Enterprise, I think, in Year 3 (Primary 3) and by Year 4(Primary 4), he was given “Capital”of up to 1million Pounds and challenged to develop a business model and invest at least, £800, 000 in it. I listen to his business plans, even at 9yrs old, and I’m amazed at how he approaches this challenge. These children’s entrepreneurial skills are being developed and their apetite stimulated from this young age, through the formal education system, and it is no magic that the number of self made millionaires and millionairesses in the West is on the increase.
And this brings me to my final point, which is my agreement with those who disagree with the statement of Johm F. Kennedy (former US President) that, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” The country has to give to its citizens first, before it expects them to give back. If the country does not invest in the right education, training, development and support systems and frameworks for its citizens, it has no right to expect anything back from them.
And as I said elsewhere and would like to reiterate here, “Love of country alone, is not enough motivation for many citizens to get involved in our national development endeavour.” The citizens have to know, see and feel that the country (the tax payers) has been there for them and that they need to reciprocate for the good of all and it is the policies of governments that will firmly inculcate this into the national psyche, overtime.
Mwalimu,
You know my stance.
Mwalimu, “such simplistic definitions” come on now. By the way, you do not know what I am comfortable with and what I am not comfortable with. You can choose any topic you want only make sure that you state your terms clearly. By that I mean, if you use a word or phrase, state what it means. My reference to Scriptures and the Holy Quran had nothing to do with my exchange with you. That had to do with Mr. Halake and Ethiopian GADA Democracy. And before I brought that analysis I said something right before that, but you left that part out. If you do not want to continue that’s fine with me, but before I drop this topic, I will define a “circle’ and a “plant” and I hope by careful observation, you will notice something. After all, you are quite familiar with both. I gave you a “circle” and a “plant” to define because the first things I wanted you to discern was that one is a living organism and the other is not. One deals with mathematical truth while the other exhibits the most basic form of life. The more important thing I hope you would take from the definitions is that, the essence of a thing is what makes the thing what it is. This is very important for analysis so that one is not distracted by “individuating notes” which though important do not make the thing what it is. here you go, “a circle is a closed curved line, alike in all particulars, every point of which is equidistant [equal distant] from a point within or center.” The point is, when you grasped this idea, it does not matter the size of any circle whatsoever or its position or its color or its age and the like. It means, whenever you called something a circle, it must meet the above definition or else it is not a circle. A “plant” is “a bodily thing that lives and grows but it cannot feel nor move about from place to place.” Here, feeling and movement from place to place is denied a plant to separate it from living things that can feel and move from place to place. We can go further, if you add rationality to living things that feel and can move from place to place, you have a human being. if I take rationality out, I have an animal. And if I also take feel and move from place to place, I am back to plant. You see how you can add or subtract to define one or the other. If you were to define book you will do something similar. If you stay with the definition of plant for a moment and start adding color, size, position, and the like, that is how you distinguish one plant from another plant but the generic definition of plant stays the same. Similarly, you can add color, age, weight, height and other features and that will distinguish one person from another but it does not make one person more a human being than another. You can draw as many circles as you want with different colors, and sizes and what not, but those differences will not make one circle more a circle than the others. I hope you follow where I am going with this. The main thing is the ability to abstract those truths notwithstanding all the differences. And that Mr. Mwalimu is not seen in your writings. I am open to discuss any topic you want so long as you make clear the terms you use. How about “simplistic definitions” for a day! Please do not dismiss things just because you do not understand them. Have a blessed day everyone.
As per Samba,
“Here, feeling and movement from place to place is denied a plant to separate it from living things that can feel and move from place to place. We can go further, if you add rationality to living things that feel and can move from place to place, you have a human being. if I take rationality out, I have an animal. And if I also take feel and move from place to place, I am back to plant. You see how you can add or subtract to define one or the other”.
The word, inference comes to mind Samba and I’d also ask if you do recall taking a course in the humanities labeled, Logics and Semantics?
Ask a visual artist and a philosophy professor the same question and you’ll get totally different answers.
Remember Samba that Principles, Theorems and rules of thumb may each work equally well under the same circumstances.
Ever think of real life situations and how one gets to be steeped in the art of things with age and experience? I’m thinking Luntango here. Smile :-))
Let’s not forget either that this conversation may be going over the top of the heads of a good number of the readership!
PS, Samba how about motile organisms that would qualify as plants under Taxonomic classification?
I can think of a bunch off the top of my head!
Bax, you have presented great ideas in support of Tilly’s pointers.
This may sound off topic but I’d like to point out that whereas everyone in the debates is looking at the challenges and/or down side posed by the Faraba Banta episode, there are opportunities in leadership, entrepreneurship and other models that could be derived from listening to interviews with the affected parties on top of reports emanating from credible sources.
I can see residents coalescing into working groups on sustainable environmental management, civic education, entrepreneurship, skills transfer and other ventures while the momentum is still there to be tapped for the common good.
A little seed money and timely action could make a world of a difference in Faraba Banta, Gunjur or any other community looking to create resilient structures on the ground.
The sand mining in Faraba Banta could be run by an empowered community group that will work to instill sustainable SOP’s into the Resource Management Plan (RMP).
And Babu Soli, the Barrow administration may be all the names in the book that you call it but YOU Babu could bring tangible game changers to less endowed communities if you so choose!
And you wouldn’t be doing it for any administration but for OUR GAMBIA!!!
Andy, by “plant” the attention is to be directed at a “living” thing. I chose plant(s) because they are the most basic form of living things and easily observable too. Livings cannot feel and at the same time not feel. They can either feel or not. All living things somehow feed off on something and because of that they also either grow in size or reproduce or both. That is called the appetitive faculty. Growth here is from within to outward. Nonliving things do not grow from within to the toward. You mentioned the artist and the philosopher but I do not follow you. You can both be an artist and a philosopher. There are many artists who are often also called philosophers. The subject matter of philosophy proper is different from the subject of what artists do. You are called a builder because you build. but there term builder we intend to reserved for those who build for a living, hence a profession. You can teach me something and it won’t be incorrect to call you a teacher ,but you also know that we tend to call persons teachers because they teach for a living. Going back to the philosopher and the artist, if they observe a living thing and one calls it a living thing and the other calls it nonliving, both cannot be correct. The artist may direct his attention to the shape, size, and color of a plant. The philosopher may direct his attention on the important question of what is a plant. Philosophy is rank higher in terms of human endeavors to know our world because philosophy asks the question “what is”? The word philosophy is a combination of two greek words. Philos meaning love and Sophia meaning wisdom. Hence the strict definition of philosophy is love of wisdom. From that word philos, that why people called the city of Philadelphia “city of brotherly love. Ancient Greek philosopher have at least four words for love, but let’s not get into that. To end, the bottom line is that we are inundated with information left and right and therefore it becomes very important to Abe to analyze things and separate the wheat from the chaff. Before a person calls someone else a name, that person need to make sure that he or she understands exactly what he or she is talking about. And even if one understands what one is talking about, it is disrespectful to call people brainwashed and not black enough and the like. If a person want to argue and what not, that is one thing, but just because you do not see eye to eye with another gives no one any right to keep calling that person over and over not enough black enough. That is despicable. No one has a right to call someone else such names just because there is disagreement. We come here because of love of country and interest in our country. And yes we will disagree and that can be healthy until you see people like Mwalimu calling people names. Where difficult questions are asked and instead of answering them one retort to name calling is a logical fallacy called ad hominen. Mwalimu needs to apologize to Dr. Sarr and it is sad that someone has to tell him to do so. My invitation is on the table. he can bring whatever topic he wants to debate about so long as he defines the terms he uses. Sorry Andy, I went off track there at the end. Have a blessed evening.
Off topic
“Sophia meaning wisdom.” Very interesting,
The first artificial intelligence robot to obtain a citizenship is in Saudi Arabia and it’s/her name is also Sophia.
There is also an crypto currency/token exchange named “shapeshift” that does exactly as what the name implies.
Hmmmm! Interesting how things seem to be interconnected: Modern robot with a name from the past. Perhaps, all manure for the “conspiracy theorists”.
Mr. Samba, I am going to e-mail your piece to Luntango Jnr who is studying at UK’s No. 1 Philosophy Uni, King’s, for a fitting response.
You say ” … the philosopher and the artist, if they observe a living thing and one calls it a living thing and the other calls it non-living, both CANNOT be correct”.
At the risk of Jnr. calling his dad “a troll”, I will say they BOTH can be right: it just depends on what definition of “living thing” each adopts. If I exclude plants from the class of “living things” and you include plants in the class of “living things” we can then both be “right” to hold a) plants are NOT living things and b) plants ARE living things.
You say: “Philosophy is ranked higher in terms of human endeavors to know our world because philosophy asks the question “what is”?” …
Philosopy was my first degree and I loved it … and no doubt it gives one an edge over other disciplines because philosophy DEVELOPS THE THOUGH PROCESS. But, “in terms of human endeavours”, I would rank the women at Bakau Garden Co-Operative far higher than philosophers because the women produce food that sustains our physical existence itself.
You say: “The word philosophy is a combination of two greek words. Philos meaning love and Sophia meaning wisdom. Hence the strict definition of philosophy is love of wisdom”.
I agree, but it must not be only “book wisdom”. Someone here mentioned the “illiterate” Faraba woman interviewed by Fatunet and how the “illiterate” woman engaged in serious PhD-level political analysis. I have seen this in African villages before. My 80-year old “bush village” neighbour had the most amazingly well cultivated Cassava trees in a small 30m X 30m piece of land which she lovingly cultivated herself. She was a philosopher too – and our PSs and Ministers in government could learn something from her and others like her in they could just humble themselves enough. I think she has mastered the “love of wisdom” amonsgt her Cassava plants – and put that wisdom into practice. Learning from her, I have planted Cassava too – though I have along way to go before I get anywhere near her expertise.
Finally Mr. Samba, a learned young philosopher from Harvard returned to his African village and in the morning decided to accompany his aging dad to the garden. “Dad”, said the young philospher, “what do you call that implement you are carrying on your shoulder?”
In reply, Dad dropped the implement on his son’s toe. “Ouch!”, wailed the philosopher, “It’s a jembe (hoe in Swahili)”. The amnsesia vanished, just like that.
My point being, Mr. Samba, your love of Greek Philosophy must be tethered to our African Experience – or Mwalimu and Andy will mercilessly drop the jembe on your toes!
Hey Luntango, Asante!
Alikuwa Kitu Cha Kijaana Naa Mzee.
Be wary of the weathered and wrinkly face of the African Mzee and Mama!
So Luntango, the Agricultural Officer went teaching his extension worker groups to plant corn at at a depth of 2-3 times the diameter of the seed. The conundrum there was that corn seed is actually not round but flat. That’s what he learned in college theory as the cardinal principle but do that in real life and you’d be sorry! Smile :-))
Samba, if you were/are on a mission to make me apologize for an alleged infringement. You can safely strike it out from your wish list. Besides, I can’t understand why my “anonymity” seems to bother you at all. Who is not at liberty to use pseudonyms here? Or do you wanna speak to me face to face? We can arrange that too. Am in plain sight.
You did a nice job of defining what a circle and a plant are. Elementary philosophy that reminds me of “Sophie’s World” by the Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder.
But classroom philosophy is too far removed from what the subject matter was, which is, race and racial categories. Your approach was from a philosophical angle, mine is from the angle of cultural history. A softer one, not complicated with theories.
That’s the simple reason, I assume, we couldn’t find points of convergence.
If you are on a personal quest to analyze all the terms I use here, hey be my Mwalimu, I am an eternal student.
Mr. Halake, I said if they observe “a” living thing” meaning both are observing the same thing. Please look up these words “Contrary” and “contradictory.” The law of none contradiction is at work here. May be you need to re-read everything I have been writing the last two days. I cannot tell where it is lack of careful reading or choosing to see what you want to see. To separate the artist (art) from the philosopher I direct the attention to the subject matter of each. The work of the artist is to imitate nature and the work of the philosopher is focused on ideas. And, no, I do not mean opinions. Most of what you said is off topic. We normally say my philosophy is this or that but that is not the strict definition of the word. Why don’t you spell philosophy with greek letters and see for yourself. I will wait for Jnr. I hope Jnr. lives up to the billing! If have said something that is wrong and Jnr. corrects me I will be very happy because that would be an opportunity for me to learn something. I hope I am not disappointed.
Like I was telling Andy, I got into all these analysis to demonstrate something to your guy, Mwalimu. I will repeat what I said yesterday, no human being has a complete monopoly on the truth. You judge people without knowing anything about them. You are making assumptions about me without knowing anything about me. Because I used philosophical analysis to demonstrate something, you bring up stories whether real or made up and which are beside the point. It says a lot about you when someone writes something and without reading carefully, you bring things that are completely unrelated to the issue being discussed. Honesty demand that people ask questions to clarify what is unclear. You, on the other hand, sometimes ask questions to embarrass. It is like when someone say something that is in fact true, it irritates you because you did not say it. That is why you come up with your one-liners and misquotes and when you are questioned on them you throw in the towel. You have always done that ever since I have been writing and not only on this forum. I told you I hold you to a higher standard because you have demonstrated mental fortitude when you have been unwarrantedly attack because of things you have written. May be like Mwalimu, you also think you are more African than the rest of us. At least you two give that impression. You know it will be helpful too if you two start tellings us what it means to be African. Is it in looks, in thought, or whatever that is.
Seeking knowledge and being fortunate to be educated know no geography or race or tribe or nationality. Your assumptions Mr. Halake are rather insulting. You know the rules of debate, ask legitimate questions to clarify so that the issue in controversy is clear. And if you say something make sure it is clear for all to understand. If you love truth, it does not matter where you find it or who said it. Have a blessed evening.
Mwalimu, I am not interested in knowing your true identity. I am anonymous too. It would be hypocritical for me to be anonymous and ask someone else to reveal his or her true identity. My point is that you went off line when you started calling Dr. Sarr brainwashed and not black enough simply because you did not see eye to eye. And for that, you need to man up and apologize. Of all the disagreement on this forum, who did you read about calling a fellow Gambian “not black enough” or “Brainwashed”? We have been debating the last two days and neither of us has called the other names and that is how should be. Even though you tried to slide that one in there yesterday, I never attacked anyone’s person here. I do not care who you are. My attention is on what you say and not your person. And no I am not interested to speak you face to face. The point is not about knowing who you are but what you write. And no gain, I am not here to analyze every term you use. I do not have time for that. I said, if you use a term, say what you mean by it. Don’t you think that would be helpful to readers to understand you better? There is no hidden agenda here. Since we are debating, clarity should be foremost. I define my terms why not you too. This is not something I should be requesting from you. It is something that you have a duty to do when you enter a debate. If I want to say something to you, you will not be mistaken by what I have to say; believe me.
‘Sophie’s World’ Mwalimu? Classic! The little girl comes home from school and finds another letter from the Philosopher at the bottom of the gardent – nowadays the police would wait in the shadows and shoot him as a danger to children! My daughter has all 30 chapters on audio tape – I downloaded it off Utube after Jnr bought the book as a present for his sister. Jnr also bought me the ‘Blah Blah & The Art of Motorcycle Maintainance’ – read in a couple of days it is a brilliant philosophy book. I forget the full title!
Bax,
How can you agree with our Sister, Dr Isatou Sarr, the diehard Barrow supporter who hailed the INCOMPETENT/CORRUPT man from his “1.45 billion Euro pledge” conference in Brussels?
Is this what will plug us off from persistent poverty? Look at the list:
1) Februray 2017: after assuming office, the EU gave the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group) 225 Million Euros
2) February 2017: World Bank gave the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group) $7.8 million Grant
3) May 2017: China gave a GRANT of $50 million to the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group)
4) July 2017: World Bank approved another $56 million GRANT to the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group)
5) July 2017: The EU gave 30 million Euros GRANT to the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group)
6) August 2017: The EU again gave 25 million Euros to the Gambia government (the Incompetent/Corrupt Barrow group)
7) The 1.45 BILLION donor pledge is yet to come. On Grants and Credits!!!
Let’s exclude the UNKNOWN/HIDDEN grants/donations from the Saudi Arabia and Turkey governments. Those monies were diverted into personal accounts in Senegal, the UDP funds and construction of personal bungalows, mansions, detached houses, storey buildings, luxury cars, family/buddies’ tuitions abroad……..
Where is the loving, sharing and giving in the Gambia?
President Jammeh has long advocated for “eat what you grow and grow what you eat”. He personally demonstrated his philosophy.
The belly-profused “president” who cannot bend to pick a dropping pin from the ground would sit in his air-conditioned office surrounded by bootlegger “advisers”, the useless bunch of Think Tank members, his unqualified/corrupt ministers, permanent secretaries and the bloated State House staffers to squander the poor farmers/taxpayers’ resources. Later menace, coerce, threathen the poplutaion from speaking their minds or arrest, exclude, remand and eventually jail of GUN them down.
Calculate the monies pumped into the Gambia in so short a time, calculate the amount of “work” done and come out with a credible beneficiary gain for our under 2 million population, just a miscellaneous benefit!!!
Bax, I seriously and honestly credit you for your non-conformist and truthful stance on issues you engage/dilate on but I’d ask you to read indepth the postings of our most revered Sister Dr Isatou Sarr.
Luntango Kunkilingtaala Suun Gan Gi,
Sophie‘s World was my first brush with Greek Philosophy when I was still in Middle School. It turned my world upside down. I couldn’t put the book down, yet, it was a kind of mental torture to make a/the shift from a religious worldview and interpretation of phenomena to the abstract correlations between what we perceive to be and what actually is. I have to get me a copy again.
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@ Samba: Samba may be am missing something here. What do you exactly want me to define for you and for what purpose? Isn’t it the responsibility of all of us the readership to search for the meanings of words and terms we might not know, understand or are not familiar with, to find a dictionary and turn the pages or easily google them. Am not a standing encyclopedia. Besides, the convos here are not academic exercises for me, neither are they a debate on who is wrong and who is right on a particular issue. My understanding is that we are exchanging ideas on a broad range of topics from different perspectives, approches and backgrounds. You confuse me by constantly hammering on debate debate debate. What’s your goal? Scoring debate points or what?
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Your biggest bone of contention is why I used certain terms to label some people. And for that you want to put a gun to my head. Give it up.
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You want a philosophical definition of what it means to be African? Help me with the definition please. You seem to be far better at that than me. Indulge me teacher.
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Babu Soli you have a point regarding the governance ineptitude of Adama and co. Except, the misplaced praises you wrongly heap on Yaya. Let go of Yaya. He has failed you, me, them and all of us. Amnesty could also be secured if he will apologize to all the victims with sincererity. Gambians are the most forgiving people I know. He just has to be honest and own up to his atrocities both politically and economically.
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The police with their warnings again. They are ready to shed blood once more. Who will salvage us? Cheeeeeyyyyyyy!
Instead of focusing on protecting the lives of the people, they are once more looking for ways and means to demonstrate their ir/relevance. Man this makes my blood boil!
This is typical Yaya Jammeh style of ruling. Use the “security forces“ to murder the people and later send cash envelopes with half hearted apologies. And do it all over again. Disgusting!
It is the responsibility of a writer to explain words and terms that he or she use in his writings. After all you yourself chose the words and terms for a reason, right! Ask your guy Mr. Halake about that. You are saying, when you speak to an audience, it is their job to find out the meanings of words you used. You cannot be serious. When you write, you are trying to communicate something to others, right, then it becomes your job to explain clearly words and terms you use. I mean you use the term “not black enough” a few times here, so the onus is on you to say what that means. And I am not looking for a philosophical definition either. A definition in your very own words will do. What Mwalimu thinks “African” means beside being born in Africa or from Africa. That’s it. You and Mr. Halake have been portraying yourselves as more African than the rest of use, so tells us what it really means to be African. “Gun to your head” not even close.Your self righteousness won’t allow you to apologize. Not surprised, but at least, I tried to make you take responsibility. I am speaking for myself here. Personally, I do not expect much from you. You have manifested quite a bit here by what you wrote. Your writing demonstrate that you lack critical thinking ability.