Hello there, Are you from darsilami (kombo south)and attended muslim high school.If your answer is yes,you may be a long lost friend of mine. Please e-mail me at [log in to unmask] THANX,MUSTAPHA HYDARA --- wuri jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Greetings to everybody! I joined the List very > recently (in the wake of the unfortunate events of > April 10th/11th). May I seize the opportunity here > on the List to extend my deep-felt sympathy to all > the parents and relatives of those who fell on those > two fateful days. Most especially to the mothers! > Yes, for only a mother knows through experience > (pregnancy and labour) what it means to bring a > child into this world. Above all under conditions > lacking the soothing and comfort of epidural > anaesthesia! Feeding that child at the breast and > watching her/him grow, with high expectations of the > great achievements this child will harvest. For that > child to be shot in a student demonstration is > naturally any mother's nightmare. To all the > Mothers, may you be able to rise up from your (our) > tragedy to be able to make something positive in the > memory of the little ones. To Mr.Barrow's wife, hope > you will gather strength to keep your husband's > beautiful memory alive! He has already inspired > many. > I have been following the different shades of > thought on the List and I must say 'there is beauty > in diversity'! We should continue cultivating the > accomodating spirit. After the April event it is a > fact that a lot of people are angry, and who > wouldn't be? Nobody in their correct state of mind > can condone the shooting of school children (in a > peaceful demonstration or otherwise). It is > important to keep in mind that anger as a reaction > in this event is positive, but there should be room > to move forward. In Pulaar (Fula) there is a saying, > "no matter how angry you are, do leave some space > where you can get happy, and vice-versa". > > In this List it seems that some people are so angry, > that their faculties of reasoning are almost > blurred. And when that happens the possibility of > getting focused and being objective gets very slim. > That anger can get to a point whereby there could be > a conscious or subconscious strategy to block > anything that is not in tune with what we want to > hear or read. People got angry because President > Jammeh did not cut his visit short at the G77 > meeting. People got angrier because Jammeh visited > the children and the families affected to show > remorse. People got even more angry because a > commission of enquiry was set up to look into the > events. Would it be soothing then if the opposite > happened? Did the journalists take it upon them to > search and interview those parents so that we can at > least give them the right to vent exactly how they > feel. > > > Let us remember that one of the most instrumental > dialectical realities that brought apartheid down > was not only because on the one hand we had people > who saw it as an evil system, but because of the > fact that there were others too who were equally in > for that system. Who in our age cannot remember the > likes of Margareth Thatcher and their "no boycott" > iron stance. Yet, a political leader's wife in the > Gambia came out in the heat of the April gloom and > hailed the former as the symbol of femininity! How > many children, women and old people lost their lives > in Azania as a result of Maggie's political > affiliation with the Boers? This phenomenon known as > development by contradiction in basic political > thought was what moved South Africa forward to what > we have today. Let us in our forward movement accept > the beauty in diversity! > > Minister Farakhan in his One Million Man March > address pointed out a crucial point. He said that > when America bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the > Japanese did not shout, rant or whine. They > re-organised and are today relocating the most > important businesses from Wall Street to Tokyo! > People have the right to be anti-Jammeh but in the > famous words of Fanon; "what matters is not to know > the world but to change it". That brings me to Mr. > Katim Touray's 'Framework for Change'. Mr. Touray > took his time and energy to come up with that draft. > He called on everybody to join hands with him so > that in the end the piece would be a collective > product. Mr. Touray as I understood never claimed > dishing out a masterpiece. Yet instead of making the > necessary adjustment(s) that people felt should be > made, or coming up with a better alternative, Katim > was crowned 'chief cobbler', because he liked > Gambian music that happened to be presented on the > List by Tombong. A metaphor/simile I for one never > found fitting. And I am sure a Jawara or a Fatty, no > matter how much Shakespeare or Chaucer they have > chewed would never store that in their vocabulary. > We all know what a load of cobblers represent for > the Elizabethans or Chaucerians. I was hoping that > we are different. Cobblers are professionals. It is > important in our day and age to weed our vocabulary > of such phrases by liberating our minds. Let us stop > the biopsy of each other's brain cells when it comes > to the ability to speak and/or write foreign > languages! > > To Soffie Ceesay: in you I read woman at the zenith > of her political intellect. Your resolve in the > collective spirit distinguishes you as a woman of > substance. Be rest assured that even those whom you > are opposing may not like you, but for sure, they do > respect you! > > Finally, let us remember that firewood or the cooker > are important factors in cooking, but rice is never > cooked from the outside of a pot. Let us address the > burning issues together with our ordinary people up > to the village level. Let us not under estimate the > intelligence of our people and those who are there > struggling with them on a daily basis. Let us not > substitute ourselves for this force. Let us remember > that the people who invented the legendary words > 'Aluta Continua'( The Struggle Continues) Che > Guevera and Fidel Castro meant serious business in > uttering that slogan. Let the debate continue > respectfully! Have a nice weekend.Sister Jay > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of > postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------