Africa Arriving

BabaBy Baba G. Jallow

1884
They met at Berlin
And set you on the table
A free piece of delicious cake
To be sliced and cut to feed
Bloated egos and greedy eyes
With selective sight that only saw the glitter
Were totally blind
To that which really matters to you

1960
They took over
From those who met at Berlin
And set you on the table
A free piece of delicious cake
To be sliced and cut to feed
Bristle egos and greedy eyes
With sight that only saw the glitter
Were totally blind
To that which really matters to you

1994
They took over
From those who took over
From those who met at Berlin
And set you on the table
A free piece of delicious cake
To be sliced and cut to feed
Even more bristle egos and greedy eyes
With sight that only saw the glitter
Were totally blind
To that which really matters to you

2015
They took over
From those who took over
From those who met at Berlin
And set you –
Not on the table
But on the stage of a world
Surprised and enraptured
At the beauty
Of that which really matters to you
Your ebony children!
Standing tall, humble, knowing
The past waits eagerly in the future.

Ends

5 Comments

  1. Yes we should & certainly can deliver the motherland from the infested jaws of the kanilai murderous predator….

    Only if sanity & the unhindered collective welfare of all Gambians becomes the foremost driving force for all above individualistic partisan provisions & gains…

    The immediate salvaging is paramount above all to stop the barbaric oppression & killing of innocent lives; then anything else comes after that….

    God helps & bless the collective endeavour to salvage Gambia; Ameen.

  2. Yes, Baba say it aloud.
    It was never about the people.
    From 1884 to 2015 it was always about them.
    How they can slice and cut the delicious cake
    to feed their bloated egos and greedy eyes.
    It was never ever about the people who mattered.

    Now that the people that mattered the most,
    “your ebony children” are fleeing
    the wretchedness and poverty
    and dying in the high seas off the coast of Europe
    the world now sees the ugly truth
    that it was always about them
    it was never about “your ebony children”
    it was never ever about the people who mattered.

    2016
    They want to take over
    from those who took over
    from those who took over who took over
    And they are not telling us anything
    about “your ebony children” who mattered
    it is the same story, the same script
    that it is always about them
    it will never ever be about the people who mattered.

    What a sorry state of affairs.

    Baba, thanks for the poem. Excuse me for taking the liberty to turn your poem for what you may not have intended. But this is the beauty of poetry.

    • Baba G. Jallow

      No worries at all Kamalo. We need to tell and re-tell this story of exclusion. Freedom and development remains elusive in Africa because the true objects of development have always been an continued to be excluded. Unless and until Africans learn to develop their people, our continent will remain mired in poverty and despotism. Develop the people and the people will develop their country. Nation-building is a cruel pipe dream. A state cannot build a nation. It is a nation that builds a state – the kind of state it could hold accountable. Thanks for adding your thoughts.

      Baba

  3. kamalo

    Prologe

    Many, many, years ago a small country in the West Coast of Africa, The Gambia, was colonized by the British. The country gained independence in 1965 and became a republic in 1970.

    The country was governed by the predominant political party of its first republic for 30 years; and by
    the ruling political party of its second republic for 20 years.

    The stage is set and the acts being played out in these scenes are a microcosm of what is commonly called the ”STRUGGLE.”

    Act 1, Scene 1.

    The curtains are drawn. Enters Pa Antou. He clutches his briefcase under his left armpit and confidently stride into the center of the stage. He gently bows his head and acknowledges the ululating cries of
    Antou, Antou coming from the adoring young people and students among the audience. He then takes his seat in a lone chair placed in the middle of the stage. He opens his briefcase and pulls out a neatly
    stacked of papers.

    Pa Antou: My fellow citizens, this is a very important occasion in the annals of our history. I take it as my fundamental obligation to cherish every minute, every hour and everyday of my humble existence to be of service to our country. I want to help our country rediscover its true purpose and image, and in the process enlighten young men and women who will take the responsibility, even if my generation is no longer around, to build a stable, peaceful and prosperous country.

    What we want to do; what we want to build should have been done since the time our country became a republic. Since it has never been done, it has now become our moral responsibility and duty to do it.

    And what we want to do is simple. However, how we can can to do it has become a major predicament. It has derailed all efforts to overcome any obstacles. This has been going on for so many years.

    The story of our country is a unique experience that has brought together a diverse people; a people with different ethnic backgrounds, different belief systems and different cultures. Yet we live together in
    peace and harmony to prove our common humanity. We can pride ourselves that this has always been the norm. But, alas, until we have our politics.

    We started to compete against each other; we started to campaign to win the hearts and minds of the people as to the direction in which the evolution and development of our country should take.

    This is where the Gambian struggle to build a peaceful and prosperous homeland started; and this is where to build a peaceful and prosperous homeland the Gambian struggle continues.

    What we want to do is to create a lasting democracy. Democracy is relative and can mean different things to different people. The democracy we want to build is a democracy of the people. A democracy whereby those who the people elected will be the ones afraid of the people. A democracy whereby the ones who will be afraid of the people are those who the people elected. Thus the people will be free. They will be the ones who control power. There will be freedom of speech. There will be freedom of association. And there will be freedom to pursue a belief system.

    Those elected by the people shall be given a mandate to serve for a number of years. When that mandate ends they can no longer continue to serve and new people will be elected to continue the work of the people. This is the type of democracy we want to build.

    Act 1, Scene 11.

    Jeggan haughtily struts onto the stage. A persistent and loud critic against Pa Antou. He would not let any public statement made my Pa Antou escape his scathing rebuke and derision. He mockingly remarked at
    every opportune moment that Pa Antou is an unrepentant ultra socialist who is ardently promoting a dying and discredited political ideology.

    Jeggan is a breed of the proxy wars of the ideological campaigns of the sixties, and now prides himself as an unapologetic capitalist elite. Always a rebel who most often does not necessarily need a cause.

    Jeggan: What Pa Antou represents is a failed political system that has not succeeded anywhere in the world. He is an ultra socialist and for all intent and purposes Socialism is dead. The people has rejected his brand of politics and he has no favorable constituency other than the disillusioned and programmed fanatics …

  4. kamalo

    Act 1, Scene 11.

    Jeggan haughtily struts onto the stage. A persistent and loud critic against Pa Antou. He would not let any public statement made my Pa Antou escape his scathing rebuke and derision. He mockingly remarked at
    every opportune moment that Pa Antou is an unrepentant ultra socialist who is ardently promoting a dying and discredited political ideology.

    Jeggan is a breed of the proxy wars of the ideological campaigns of the sixties, and now prides himself as an unapologetic capitalist elite. Always a rebel who most often does not necessarily need a cause.

    Jeggan: What Pa Antou represents is a failed political system that has not succeeded anywhere in the world. He is an ultra socialist and for all intent and purposes Socialism is dead. The people have rejected his brand of politics. He has no favorable constituency other than the disillusioned and programmed fanatics who are living in their own idealistic world. They are removed from the day to day realities of the Gambian people.

    Pa Antou and his cohorts want to intellectualize the Gambian struggle. They have an uncompromising attitude that lends credence to an unreasonable allegiance to principles. They do not seem to understand nor recognize the urgency to do whatever it takes to end the unsavory political climate in the country. They think that they have all the time in the world to wallow in polemics, and argue about what is right and what is wrong. Gambians do not have the time for that.

    Silence. Deafening Silence. It permeates the auditorium as Jeggan makes his biting remarks. It is not the truth, but frustration and a deep sense of despair has gripped many who want to see a change in the status quo. Any other political view that does not support their desire to bring in change just for the sake of change is the culprit. Pa Antou and the political views that he represents are the scapegoats.

    Pa Antou is alarmed but not overly concerned. He can handle this. The deception cannot be allowed to stand. He gets up from the chair and with his head bowed takes a few steps to the edge of the stage. He slowly raises his head and peered into the crowded auditorium. He then finds his voice.

    Pa Antou: A country is like a work of arts. It can be molded. It can be fashioned and shaped into the most beautiful artifacts that can be the envy of many.

    Like a sculptor that spends a lot of time carving the image of a sculpture, so also does a country needs to be prepared to attain its true image and beauty.

    Vehicles of expression in the form of arts, theatre, music, poetry, audio and visual transmissions, the performing arts and various other public outlets must be utilized to develop this image and beauty.

    It starts with consciousness. The level of awareness and consciousness has to be raised, to the degree and extend that people will begin to appreciate themselves and their worth. To have a sense of belonging and ownership. To know what they own and how what they own can be safeguarded.

    A fundamental principle it should be inculcated in the minds of the people. It is the foundation for the building blocks of that edifice, that which we call a nation, and upon which we can build a well informed and dignified citizenry. This helps to change attitudes; to dispel long held myths and consolidate the rights and freedoms inherent in every human being.

    This is where we want to start our quest to participate, to freely give ourselves, to that which will advance the cause of democracy and development. Whatever is our plight in this sojourn we will accept in good faith. We do not need anyone’s sympathy.

    What we have done before we commit ourselves to politics, is to look not only at the political, social and economic realities of the country, but also as to how we arrived at our un-mitigating political circumstances and situation. This is what sets us apart. Everything we do is informed by our knowledge of the past, the interrogation of the present and the concepts we have developed to advance and promote the cause of peace, development and prosperity.

    We know how to take care of our critics. We know how to challenge their wrong assumptions; their untruthful mischaracterizations and deliberate misrepresentations. We know how to tell them not only what is the problem but how to solve it as well. We know…

    Reply

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