Gambia L, (writing in a rush)
I came to read the mails from Gambia L, this morning, and I couldn't believe
my eyes when I read, yet again, the shocking news of the killing/shooting in
the USA, of another Gambian.
The victim/deceased, this time, is someone I knew very well. He was indeed a
friend and a younger brother. In fact, I had the chance to visit him and his
wife in Houston, in 1995, while I was in Texas, on a training programme, and
needless to mention that he and Hatib Janneh had looked after me very well,
during my entire sojourn in Texas.
I am older than Saul Jeng, but he and I used to "vous" at NASA, in Fajara,
and I can still remember the brotherly remarks I gave him at his send off
party, a day before he left the Gambia, for the US, some years ago. Saul was
well-mannered, conscientious and hard working.
And I was not the least surprised when I saw him in Texas doing very well
for himself and his family. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Gambia L, in the wake of Saul's killing, and others before him, I am obliged
to ask the same question W.E.B Du bois had asked in 1952, even though the
circumstances are different.
Having regard to the mess, in which America was, at the time, Du bois had
asked: What is wrong with the United States? He had wondered why the United
States, despite all its wealth and intellectual prowess, could not just do
the right things.
I too would pose the question - what is wrong with America? - in the wake of
the countless random killings/shootings, which have now become part and
parcel of the American society.
Don't get me wrong. The United States is a great country, and, in fact, if
you believe in the adage that travelling widens a man's intellectual scope,
then the USA is certainly the place to visit. The USA from afar has an
attraction no other country can equal.
It is a true melting pot with all the cultures and races of the world
represented within its borders, and is a cross between modernity and
antiquity. The other side of America's success story is its gigantic
infrastructural development, not to mention its high consumerism.
America's infrastructural development is even more noticeable if you come
from the Third World, where the landscape is underdeveloped, and where
disease, famine and abject poverty are part of daily existence. The high
level of development in America is seen/felt at airports, universities
campuses, shops, stadia etc. But is even more appreciated when you have to
travel by road, from State to State, and you have the opportunity to see the
transformation of the country side into these very attractive edifices.
But, my world, in spite of all the seemingly good things in American
society, America is also one horror movie. There is enough to shock a
visitor. Personally, the random shootings/killings shock me; homosexuality,
which an accepted behavior in the West in general, and America in
particular, shocks me; paedophilia shocks me; incestuous relationships also
shock me. And needless to mention that all these things are common in
capitalist America.
Anyway, it is about time some thing concrete/realistic was done to combat,
or minimise, the random killings, now prevalent in US society. Yes, death
can come anywhere, and at anytime, but it is so ubiquitous and sudden in
America that you have to ask yourself whether America is truly a land of
glory. America is one country where you are always praying that you do not
fall a victim to a stray bullet.
Truly, on one hand, I am impressed by America's material development and its
high consumerism, but, on the other hand, I am surprised at capitalist
America having in the midst of plenty, homelessness, poverty and multiple
crimes.
Well, perhaps Don King's famous words - "Only in America" - can help us
here. In my view, Don King's words imply that it is "only in America" can
one have the best and the worst, the ugliest and the most beautiful, the
most dangerous and the less dangerous.
Having looked at the American reality once again, I have to ask myself
again: what constitute real development? Africa may be "underdeveloped" and
"poor", but Africans, in their poverty, have something that Americans would
die to have - a society without multiple crimes.
Of course, we do have our share of crimes in Africa, but certainly they are
not as bad and as shocking as those in America. At least in Africa, in spite
of abject poverty and the underdevelopment, you can still sleep with little
worry that somebody will end your life just like that, as in the case of
Saul Jeng.
You can accuse me of being a narrow Africanist, but Africans, despite their
Continent's underdevelopment and the massive poverty, have a caring society
where the poverty is mitigated by our communalism.
In fact, in my view, once Africa can produce honest and dedicated leaders
who can effectively address their peoples needs and aspirations, then there
wouldn't be any need for this mass exodus of Africans into the West, in
search of better lives.
Let's hope and pray that sooner rather than later, Africa will produce such
leaders.
Ebrima Ceesay,
Birmingham, UK.
PS: Ndey Jobarteh, I still don't know what is wrong with my e-mail account.
I can receive private e-mails, but I cannot still receive mails from Gambia
L.
I can also send mails to Gambia L, from my e-mail account, but I wouldn't
see them on my e-mail account. So I have been reading Gambia L mails through
Sandra's e-mail account, which still receives mails from the L.
In fact, I saw your note, and the killing of Saul Jeng, through Sandra's
e-mail account, and not on my e-mail account. Therefore, if you need to
contact me urgently, you can send me an e-mail through Sandra's e-mail,
provided you cannot succeed in sending it to my account.
Gambia L, I should have sent part 2 of my assesment of Jammeh's five years
in office by now, but there is no point in sending it when I cannot receive
it, together with reactions to it, on my e-mail account.
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