----- Original Message ----- From: gook makanga To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 12:17 AM Subject: Emancipate Yourself From Mental Slavery Emancipate Yourself From Mental Slavery THE WRITER: Tujadeen One of my favorite lines from the stupendously gifted career of the Late Bob Marley is: 'Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds'. The unfortunate thing is that many Africans will know this line, many have danced and more will dance to it but how many have really reflected on it and of those how many are acting on the profound mental transformation that Marley was calling for. The evidence of inaction is there to see all around us every day. Just last week I was passing through an African airport where chaos that one has become accustomed to is now compounded by the over zealous African reaction to Post September 11 whimsical security demands of a paranoid US government. Like lambs to the slaughter hundreds of passengers had to line up to have their bags individually examined by security and immigration officials who did not seem in a hurry. However, a certain brisk efficiency overpowers th! em when those who know how the system works 'greet' 'or 'throaway salute' at them. Naïve me I was expecting that everybody will get to the tables according to how they stood in the queue not realising that there were virtual parallel lines around the patient law-abiding one. Then a gentleman came, cut through the line and went over to one of the officials searching the luggage and mumbled in her ears and she tore out three security clearance tickets for him. This guy then proceeded to remove some baggage from the queue and asked their owners to leave the queue, "Everything is ok" he announced triumphantly. A middle aged British (white) couple and their teenage co-traveler thus abandoned the queue to follow their 'liberator'. As you can imagine, I was livid and I challenged both the official and the unidentified interlocutor on their behavior. One reacted that they were 'important people' and the other quickly added 'th! ey are diplomats from the British High Commission'. This is a coun try in which expansive arrangements are made to 'observe all protocols' even in the smallest of social gathering so that the prestige of any local champion does not suffer lack of recognition. Therefore it is impossible that it will not have separate facilities for checking in 'important people' and 'diplomats' for that matter. But be that as it may it should not matter what status one is as long as you are on the queue the same rule should apply. In any case the people were already on the queue before the 'express driver' came. Of course verbal warfare ensued between these officials and myself and I gave them a piece of my mind even with a few unprintable words thrown in. Most of the other passengers kept nodding their approval and some edging me on as I went to town on these irresponsible officials. As the racket went on unabated some higher official came over to placate me offering the most stupid explanation for his col! league's behavior: "It is discretion'. Then I asked him why the discretion is only applicable to 'White people' and he was lost for words and when he recovered he stuttered. "It happens every where'. That response obviously betrayed his limited travel. The only concession black people get is not to jump the queue but to be searched, questioned, queried and subjected to all kinds of indignity at European airports. What Prof Ali Mazrui, calls "equal opportunity for harassment'. We were comparing his ordeal reentering US after a lecture tour in Trinidad and my not being allowed on BA flights twice 'for security reasons'. I teased him that I did not think that big people like him could be treated that way. The ever-ready Mazrui responded: "if you are a Muslim it is an equal opportunity for harassment". I can only add that it is not just Muslims (even if they are the current targets) because any African who travels thro! ugh Europe and America will know that opportunity too well. Wh at has my recent experience got to do with Marley's mental slavery? Quite a lot. It is that slave mentality that makes our people to treat every white person as a superior being and be willing to grant all kinds of concessions while maltreating their own peoples. It is that colonial mentality that makes Europeans and Americans to act big when they are in Africa without many of us showing our contempt and resentment for their conduct. Those British people will not even jump a queue in the rain in London yet they are willing to let it be done (even expect it) on their behalf in Africa. Yet they will talk about the high level of corruption, inefficiency, etc, in Africa without seeing their own complicity in them. These things happen because we let them. It is not enough to just support someone who dares to confront these situations, we all have to resolve not to tolerate these indignities wherever we may encounter them in ! all our lives. Our silences are not only submission but also providing active encouragement for these insults to continue. Let it be your New Year resolution to encourage ZERO TOLERANCE to indignities against Africans at home and abroad. Ends Published on: Thursday, 8th January, 2004 Email this article to a friend. Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~