Talking about the Chows , Gracie
Where on earth is Jacqueline Chow?
Habib
aisha camara wrote:
> Hi if I may bot in here. Macdonnell Street is renamed Jack Chow Street, the
> late father of mrs Eileen Downes Thomas the wife of Felix Downes Thomas and
> Ms Gracie Ngulu Chow.
>
> >From: Prince Obrien-Coker <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Attn: Sidi - The Banjul Street Names.
> >Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:55:54 +0100
> >
> >Sidi,
> >It is funny you asked what the new name of MacDonnell Street is. In the
> >late
> >60's Eric Janneh (Now a Chief in the Kombos) and other MacDonnell
> >"prominents" were advocating that the street should be named after your
> >dad.
> >I am honestly not joking. Kassy Janneh, M.I. (Kabba) Jallow and Oussou Njie
> >(Seņor) are online and they can confirm this. You see, In the Gambia the
> >people determine street names. No Government organ can change this fact.
> >A good example is "Tobacco Road". The government then had tried everything
> >to discourage the people from using that name. "Tobacco Road" is a song by
> >rock group called "Rare Earth". "The Super Eagles" popularised the song in
> >the Gambia. It is a song about a place you love so much, but it is being
> >destroyed by "dirt and filth" - corruption and all other political
> >iniquities. "The Super Eagles Band" was very good in using songs to
> >"Garuwaleh" the government and "Tobacco Road" was one of the most implicit
> >protest songs of the late 60's and 70's against politicians and their
> >practices.
> >When I was working at the BCC in the late 60's, I was partly responsible
> >for
> >the street name boards. One day Kutour Louis Prom asked us why we were
> >putting up street name boards, with names that the people are not using. He
> >said the street names should be the way people are calling the street. This
> >was said at an informal gathering at the BCC. The Boards were ordered and
> >when they came, we saw that some of the streets have completely changed
> >names to the way people call them. It was not noticed for over 3 months
> >until "The Gambia Echo" published it. I was called at the Mayor's Office to
> >explain the changes. That was not difficult. I told the City clerk, Mr C.
> >I.
> >Jagne, to call the Mayor's wife and ask her the name of her street. Kelepha
> >Samba was then the Mayor and I knew that his second wife was living at one
> >of these streets. She did not only call the name but she also spelt it the
> >way the new names were written. We all laughed and left the room.
> >The street that originally was Spolding became Spalding, Rakin became
> >Rankin
> >and Lemon became Leman. Although Leman street existed but it was an
> >extension of Lemon: from Hill street to the Brown Street mosque. But
> >popular
> >usage called the whole street Leman, from McCarthy Square (July 22 Square)
> >to Brown Street.
> >Kutour Prom would not have been the Kutour Prom we knew had he not been
> >instrumental in this. He also proposed that the Health Service Offices by
> >Russell Street should be call "Bordor Fell" (Board of Health).
> >Note though, some street maintained the street board while the people call
> >them by other names e.g Anglesea will always be "Angleseen", also
> >Perseverance Street is still called "Pasiveeran". Kent Street, to the
> >people
> >will forever remain "Ken Street".
> >When I just left school my mother used to advise me to go to Griffith
> >Street
> >to look for a job. It took me days to know where meant. Griffith Street was
> >in the place that we used to call "PWD" or "PUD" and today it is part of
> >the
> >Ports.
> >Among the streets that have, at present, changed names are Buckle, Leman,
> >Anglesea, Cameroon, Independence Drive (formerly Clifton Road) and Marina
> >Parade. Please do not ask me how they are called NOW. I only know Mandela
> >Avenue (Cameroon), because I was there everyday when I was in town.
> >I am sure you will say, "yes, but these are only the pronunciations of the
> >illiterates", but never forget that in the Gambia, illiterates sometimes
> >dictate to the literate how things should be said. The person who ordered
> >that "Twenty-Five Dalasis" should be written on our bank notes is surely
> >not
> >an illiterate, while any literate person knows that "Dalasi" has no plural.
> >You have never heard a mandinka person saying "Dalasis Kemeh".
> >Another example is calling the wife of a knight by her first name. "Lady
> >Chilel" was such a popular name that they name a ship after her. During
> >KuKoi's fray, the BBC thought that Lady Chilel was Jawara's daughter.
> >So don't ever under estimated the power of the Gambian people.
> >
> >Prince Coker
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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