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 > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------