Brother Cherno,

Many thanks for these wonderful tributes to Comrade Sillah. In my own little 
researches on radical Gambian politics of the sixties, I have come across 
Sillah's name from a number of his contemporaries all of who spoke very well 
of him.
Somewhere at the back of my mind, I think I learnt that perhaps one of his 
greatest pieces of work is at the UN headquarters in New York. While I will 
certainly find out, it would be of great help if you can make enquiries from 
your sources about Comrade Sillah's art.
May his soul rest in Perfect Peace.

Good Evening,
Momodou S Sidibeh



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cherno Marjo Bah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 8:26 PM
Subject: Tribute to Comrade Sillah by Tone Cisse


> Tribute to Comrade Sillah
> By Tone Cisse. 20th February 2006
>
>
> Here is my tribute.... a poem:
>
> Tribute to Comrade
>
> Bright heat and shaft of blinding sunlight
>
> Strikes from a new sheet of corrugated roofing
>
> Midday Banjul heat
>
> Friday
>
> I turn off Otto Road into New Perseverance
>
> Through a dusty compound, under lines of drying washing, multicoloured 
> like an exhibition of art against the shade less sky
>
> The air heavy with the sweet smell of 'sasa' or maybe 'lobito' (1)
>
> A small room in a line of 'boys' quarters'
>
> Inside Ebou, Comrade Sillah
>
> Shirtless and sweating
>
> Pencil working on a sketchpad,
>
> Holds forth on dialectical materialism and Pan-africanism
>
> As, ignored, the muezzin calls the faithful to Friday prayer.
>
> Comrade Sillah is gone
>
> An 'elder brother' lost
>
> No more heated polemical debates
>
> No more inspired visionary paintings providing realistic windows on the 
> prevailing social conditions
>
> In shock at the news I remember
>
> Raging debates on Marxism,
>
> The application of theory to practice,
>
> The role of the intelligencia,
>
> Peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie,
>
> Comrade,
>
> Sitting behind a chessboard,
>
> Astride a sewage gully thick with green crust,
>
> Holding forth on the intricacies of the revolution in Iran, armed struggle 
> in South Africa, snowy wastes of past Bolshevik struggles, the Kronstadt, 
> the Paris Commune, and Amilcar Cabral (3)
>
> Mixed in with the 'Doumma' of a slammed down checkmate.
>
> Giants of history and political action brought to life verbatim in the 
> afternoon and Attaya of a Banjul 'vous', (4)
>
> Debates staged with others also now gone.E.O.Njie, Jallow Union.
>
> Comrade,
>
> Aficionado of jazz and 'soupa kandia', (5)
>
> His small bachelor room piled high with books, paintings flowing ashtrays
>
> Became our seminar room, our corrugated iron university
>
> A giant of the intellect, theoretician, historian, philosopher and 
> educator
>
> Communist, Marxist, Pan Africanist.Artist
>
> Artist,
>
> Nobel prize nominee for the work called 'Pater Nostra'
>
> A deep social realism.as sharp with irony and accuracy as his polemical 
> tongue in a heated debate.
>
> Comrade,
>
> My mentor, my teacher,
>
> It is only now with his passing that it starts to dawn on me how great an 
> influence he was,
>
> I see it in my own drawings, the power of pen and ink,
>
> the techniques of batik, and the maths in sign writing.
>
> the long afternoons of writing 'No Unauthorised Personnel' by the dozen 
> for a contract thanks to the US Embassy.
>
> *(but wait.did we ever get paid for that?)
>
> 'Sama rakk bul yabatey' (6) I can hear Comrade's comment.
>
> Comrade Ebou Sillah
>
> Flawed hero who taught us humanity
>
> And educated a generation
>
> You will always be with us
>
> Rest in peace
>
> Tony Cisse
>
> February 2006
>
> Notes
>
> (1) Sasa Lobito - strong varieties of marijuana
>
> (2) 1921 rebellion of Russian sailors against the Bolsheviks
>
> (3) leader of the national independence struggle in Guinea Bissau
>
> (4) Gambian expression - 'Vous' short for 'rendezvous' or informal club
>
> (5) Gambian dish made with palm oil
>
> (6) 'Don't be rude younger brother'
>
> Tony Cisse
>
> Visit my websites,
>
> http://groups.msn.com/TonyCisse - personal site with links to areasof 
> interest
>
> http://groups.msn.com/GuuySipiProject - website of my project in Senegal 
> offering small goup programmes combining a fusion of cultural exploration, 
> personal development, self-awareness, and coaching.
>
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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