Peace to my brothers and sisters in the L. Clarification must be made as to the availability of the Gambia at the Crossroads Symposium video and audio tapes. We are now in the process of reviewing, dubbing and editing the symposium which was over six hours. This is a process which will be done correctly and will not be thrown together haphazardly in order to feed what appears to be a feeding frenzy taking place on the L. This presentation when made available should stimulate coherent dialogue and analysis. The Gambian elections are five months away. To continue to engage in reactive and non pro-active dialogue will serve only to let the world know that at a time when The Gambia had a chance to make a difference in the life of its peoples, it preferred to wait anxiously for the next soap digest of the 1994 coup (while important) and remain in a destructive state of name calling and margalization of people, philosophy's and parties. True leadership is about being able to function above the gutter. Based on the dialogues and attitudes displayed on the L, it appears that there is no one fit to function in a leadership capacity. Conversely, if the members of the L do not know how to function in a leadership capacity (not as a frenzy mob on the internet), how then can you expect to be respected in having a voice in deciding the Future Leadership of The Gambia! The L talks about the need for cohesiveness and the cry for political party leaders to step aside under the illusion of coalition and support the leader of "choice". The question is w hose's choice? And who is the favorite leader based on what criteria? Mob numbers on the internet! And when these leaders step aside for the "chosen one," what guarantees are there that the chosen party will remain honorable about fighting for the needs of all Gambians (including non-party Gambians). Are we talking about removing one autocratic regime and replacing such with a similar autocracy, under the guise of democracy, capitalism and privatization. Those Gambians on the L who reside in western countries need to really look around you and see how democracy, capitalism and privatization is "honorably" serving Africans of the Diaspora. What you have in reality is a system that perpetuates a few at the top while conning those who it never intended to serve in the first place. I think it is time for in depth, sincere, and mature analysis and functioning if you really intend to positively change things in The Gambia! While we continue to work on developing the symposium tapes, Brother Saul will prepare a written report/abstract of the evenings dialogue. We will advise you when the material is ready for distribution. WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! OTHERWISE YOU WILL HAVE NO ONE OTHER THAN YOURSELVES TO BLAME! Jamila __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.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 You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------