Hi Ebrima,
That was a brilliant speech.I wish i was there to listen to you.
Fatou Harona Drammeh
>From: ebrima ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Black History Month Celebrated here
>Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 05:47:12 PDT
>
>Gambia L,
>
>Thought one or two might be interested in reading this speech I gave last
>night, in West Bromwich, at a gathering organised by the Afro Caribbean
>Society in West Midlands.
>
>Here it goes:
>
>Brothers and sisters, I am very honoured to be asked to speak in tonight's
>forum, organised as part of activities marking/celebrating the black
>history
>month in Britain.
>
>Since all the speakers before me have already highlighted/listed the
>numerous achievements of the black people around the world, then there
>wouldn't be any need for me to repeat what these speakers have stated.
>
>Instead, permit me to say in a few words in my capacity as a black African
>whose fate is linked to that of all black and oppressed people in the
>world.
>
>Indeed, brothers and sisters, history has created a bond of solidarity for
>those of gathered here tonight, and the question we should never stop
>asking
>asking ourselves, in my view, is: how could we (Africans born in the
>Continent and those of you born here) collectively exploit our growing
>solidarity to change our age-long image and situation as an exploited
>people
>to one of a liberated people?
>
>Or do I have to remind you that, in spite of all the achievements cited by
>the speakers before me, we are still the long-exploited majority of the
>world whose tears flow the laughter of the exploiting minority?
>
>Brothers and sisters, the time has really come for us to ask ourselves two
>fundamental questions: Firstly, what are doing as blacks, in concrete terms
>I mean, to help build/achieve a genuine world order, based on justice and
>equality for all peoples and races?
>
>Secondly, what are we also doing to dismantle, or help dismantle the
>pillars
>of a world order based on "cowboyism", in which one country sets the rules
>and standards for all, in which one country seeks to interpret its narrow
>national interest as global interest?
>
>Brothers and sisters, the time has come, especially as we are about to
>enter
>the new millennium, for us to write our own history, and stop consulting
>history as taught by the Westerners or the white man, because it is full of
>distortions.
>
>Just last week, I was going through the pages of a new history text book
>for
>secondary school students here, and the author was again repeating what
>other Western historians had said in the past.
>
>The author wrote that it was Mungo Park, a Scottish, who discovered River
>Niger; David Livingstone, also a Scottish, who discovered Lake Victoria;
>and
>Christopher Columbus, an Italian who discovered America.
>
>Of course, the author's claims would have been deemed TRUE if his history
>went further to say that these three explorers - Mungo Park, David
>Livingstone and Columbus - had discovered these places for the Europeans,
>and not my ancestors who were already living in these places long before
>the
>three explorers came.
>
>The author deliberately failed or refused to take note of the fact that
>there were people, call them natives, living alongside River Niger, Lake
>Victoria and what is now called America long before these three European
>explorers ever set foot in these spheres.
>
>So it is clear that according to history as taught by the white man, we
>only
>came into existence after the white man set foot on our soils. But it is
>not
>only in their books that you find this distortion of our history.
>
>Even in their films and Television programmes, you again find this
>distortion of our history and, of course, all sorts of stereotyped images
>of
>the black people are also shown.
>
>I am sure some you do remember, for example, the Tarzan films, where
>generation of Americans and European were taught to believe that Africa is
>all jungle with native partying with wild animals/beasts.
>
>And, believe me, even as I am speaking to you now, there are many
>Westerners
>who still think that Africa is nothing, but a jungle full of uncivilised
>people. But, of course, there is an abundance of proof that Africa was the
>cradle of civilisation long before Europe.
>
>And apart from the architectural wonders of the pyramids, the sphinx, the
>luxor, Africa was far ahead in agriculture, medicine and transport.
>
>The respected Senegalese philosopher, physicist and historian, Cheikh Anta
>Diop, did establish, beyond all doubts, that, in actual fact, the ancient
>kingdoms of Songhai, Ashanti, Benin and others were highly organised and
>sophisticated at a time when Europe was underdeveloped and America was even
>non-existent.
>
>Even the first university in the world was set up in Africa. I think it was
>in Timbuktu. Africa's development, Diop told us, was hampered/interrupted
>around the 14th century by the heinous institutionalized enslavement.
>
>Brothers and sisters, the lesson is therefore clear. No history written by
>the white man would ever tell you these things. According to the white
>man's
>perspective, Africans or blacks for that matter, knew no great heights of
>civilisation before they (the colonialists) came.
>
>Another thing I've noticed during my stay here is that while the
>educational
>system in Africa, including my country, The Gambia, attempts to make its
>citizens well informed about the world and its geography, your system here
>tends to be inward-looking.
>
>You are only taught about Western countries, because I presume they are the
>countries that matter according to your educationists. No wonder, I have
>been asked several times by people who should know better whether the
>Gambia
>is near Brazil.
>
>Another worrying development I've observed here is the fact that I have
>visited many homes of Jamaicans, Nigerians, Barbadians, Trinidadians,
>Zambians, Ugandans, even Gambians where their children cannot speak their
>maternal tongue, and are as English as the average white kid. Brothers and
>sisters, that has to stop.
>
>I see no reason why a child born to an African parents here, or any where
>in
>the world for that matter, should not speak the language of the foreign
>land
>of his birth and the language of his parents.
>
>Those of you from the Caribbean should speak your "PATUWA" (Caribbean
>Creole) to your kids, and those of us from the African Continent should
>also
>speak our languages to our children born here.
>
>Remember that even our ancestors had struggle to keep/preserve some of
>their
>old ways of doing things while they working for the slave master on their
>plantations in the Americas. In fact, this struggle should explain, or give
>pointers as to why one or two African cultures are still practiced/retained
>in some parts of the Caribbean.
>
>Brothers and sisters, I wouldn't be doing justice to my conscience if I
>don't tell you, in clear language, that it is not only the white man who
>exploited Africa and her people.
>
>Black rule in Africa has also imposed a new kind of exploitation, this time
>of blacks by blacks. In fact, some of these black oppressors are far worse
>than the colonialists.
>
>You see, most of you people think that Apartheid was the only crisis of
>freedom in Africa, but take it from me that as I speak now, freedom is
>still
>under siege in most part of Africa.
>
>Blacks are exploiting blacks in many parts of Africa, and while every form
>of exploitation is bad, the black man can be awful when he takes his turn
>to
>oppress as we have seen in Africa.
>
>Recently, during the war in Kosovo, many black African leaders were quick
>to
>condemn President Milosevic of Yugoslavia for his "barbaric acts" against
>the Kosovans. But are these black African leaders themselves not guilty of
>the very crimes that were perpetrated by President Milosevic.
>
>These African leaders were urging President Milosevic and the Serbs not to
>harass or kill the Kosovo Albanians and also to release all political
>detainees; but how many of these African leaders practice what they preach,
>or apply this charity at home?
>
>The celebrated African-American was indeed right when he asserted at the
>beginning of the century, that the problem of this century, 20th, was the
>colour line: blacks exploiting blacks.
>
>The problem is still showing its ugly head, and although I do not want to
>sound pessimistic, I am, nonetheless, of the view that as far as Africa is
>concerned, the new millennium will still see our Continent engulfed in
>black
>versus black struggle, the result of which will devastating.
>
>And, of course, needless to say that the beneficiary of this internecine
>strive will be the traditional exploiter who will stand by and watch our
>people kill each other.
>
>Brothers and sisters, since we are all black people - whether born here or
>in Africa - the time has come for us to forge stronger links/ties, as
>advocated for by Malcolm X in the early 60s, and be ready to make our
>voices
>heard whenever we see injustice - either here or on the Continent.
>
>As I told before in one of your programmes, it not enough to romanticise
>our
>African roots, or our Africaness by wearing African outfits, or by
>listening
>to African music, or by cooking African meals in our homes.
>
>We should rather express our solidarity by speaking for each other, and by
>supporting each other, be it morally or even materially if the need arises.
>
>Let us also be more tolerant towards each other, and avoid unnecessary
>confrontations among ourselves.
>
>And I must warn you now that if we really want to assert ourselves in the
>21st century and expect to be given the respect we deserve, or if we want
>to
>rewrite our history properly, we have to acquire sound education.
>
>This is an era of endless reading and studying. We must make sure that we
>have armed ourselves with the right knowledge, so that we can finally
>succeed in charting out for ourselves the right path we should follow in
>the
>21st century.
>
>Already, there is enough literate here that we can consult in order to
>enhance our understanding of the world and the politics of our respective
>governments.
>
>For Heaven's sake, brothers and sisters, let us read more and more if not
>for anything else, but for our own personal enlightenment. The books are
>here, and we have to read them regardless of whether they are written by
>our
>enemies or our friends.
>
>Birmingham University alone has over 2 million books - more than the
>population of my country. And its Centre of West African Studies has, over
>the years, collected/gathered enormous materials/books about Africa, for
>example.
>
>As we are about to enter the new millennium, we should also try to be more
>flexible and be more open minded, again, regardless of who is talking.
>Chauvinism, narrow-mindedness should not be part of us if we want to avoid
>unnecessary disputes in the new millennium.
>
>When I arrived in this country, I promised myself that I would study more
>about International Relations/Politics, but would also take courses beyond
>the realm of politics.
>
>The other day, I told Sandra that I was going to take a course in Theology
>in my spare time, and she was flabbergasted!!!
>
>"But you are a Muslim", she was quick to add. In reply, I said: "Of course,
>I am a Muslim and will remain a Muslim; but what is wrong with taking a
>course in Theology that would, in fact, widen my understanding of
>Christianity and Christians"...
>
>In the end, she got my point.
>
>On a final note, Brothers and sisters, I must tell you that I have now come
>to the conclusion (and this is what is consoling me now) that even if we
>cannot succeed in changing our age-long image and situation as an exploited
>people to one of a liberated people, the Almighty Allah will, in His own
>time, intervene and put us back on track once again.
>
>Meanwhile, I challenge you to do whatever possible, and within the scope of
>the law, to make sure that we get out of the mess we've found ourselves in
>as soon as possible. This is the challenge I will leave with you people
>tonight.
>
>Long live Africa! Long live the black race.
>
>Ebrima Ceesay,
>Birmingham, UK.
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
