Mr. Sanneh you said: “It is like the Martin Luther King Junior's principle of speaking non-violence to the Ku klux klan while Malcolm X was talking about any means necessary to achieve our independence and freedom.” Mr. Sanneh, I find what you are writing very interesting, noble and I must give you lots of respect for what you believe in. However, your reference to Malcolm X may be out of context unless my interpretation of what you are trying to convey is flawed. When Malcolm X uttered the phrase “by any means necessary”, he was talking about the people following King. King preached non-violence and you better believe, the American public (police and the average citizens) inflicted all types of horrific brutality against those participating in the civil rights or “King” marches. Malcolm X disagreed with King’s stance of non-violence in the face of the violence that was being perpetrated on all those who participated in this march. This is why Malcolm said King and his followers should defend themselves by any means necessary. The Black community at the time was divided on this issue. Although many people followed King with this non-violence stance, I would have to say, most people believed that you should yourself by any means necessary. Malcolm wasn’t saying you should go and pick a fight, but he certainly believed you have an inalienable right to protect yourself from a bully. If you don’t protect yourself, you will always be bullied. Each time you are attacked, the bully gain more momentum, the attacks are worst, they come more frequently, and you lose a little dignity with each attack. This is what happened to King and his followers. The Nation of Islam (to this day) is respected by some and feared by others because of their stance. They will not start a fight, but they certainly will not run away from it either. On a different note, I do think it may be a little irresponsible to say I am planning a coup or I want to kill Jammeh on the Internet. Those thoughts should be said in private if anyone is really planning on doing this. People kill people all the time, but never should you announce to your enemy (perceived or real) that I am planning to kill or displace you. This doesn’t make sense to me. Disclaimer: I am not advocating violence, each one of us, must decide what type of brutality (or not) they are willing to take and act accordingly or appropriately. ___________________________________________ Cynthia M. Daniels Northwestern University Biomedical Engineering Department 2145 N. Sheridan Rd. Technological Institute, E310 Evanston, IL 60208 Ameer Lab: 847-491-7646 Email: [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 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] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤