By Abdoulie John
Barely three weeks after George Floyd drew his last breath under the knee of former Minneapolis law enforcement officer Derek Chauvin, the Vice-President of the US-based Democratic Union of Gambian Activists (DUGA), Pasamba Jow, has exposed the shocking reality Blacks are permanently confronted with in the United States.
“No Black man is immune in the U.S. from the callous menace (Police brutality),” DUGA’s second-in-command, Pasamba Jow, told this medium while calling for a proper investigation into the death of Momodou Lamin Sisay killed early this month by the Police in Snellville, Georgia.
As Black Lives Matter protests continue to sweep across American cities and the globe, calls are intensifying for U.S. authorities to open an investigation into the death of a retired diplomat’ son – in what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Family members, activists are demanding answers in the murder of an unarmed Gambian who has no criminal record.
DUGA’ s Pasamba Jow made it clear that is important for Blacks in America to vocalize their concerns and make big push with the view to ending racism and Police brutality.
“[I]t is paramount that we collectively (Africans, African-Americans and all minorities) stand for an end to systematic injustice,” he voiced out.
Jow’s remarks come on the heels of Gambia government’s decision to engage U.S authorities to shine light on the circumstances surrounding the killing of M.L. Sisay.
Pasamba Jow lauded the efforts put up by taken by Gambians authorities, describing the move as a “welcomed one.”
“Mr. Sisay is a Gambian citizen, and the government has a responsibility to make sure that credible investigation is conducted to determine the reason for his murder by the Police,”
“The Gambia Honourary Consul in Georgia and the Gambians Embassy in Washington DC are on the ground to support the family of the deceased and to also work with US authorities in establishing circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Sisay,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement issued last week.
When contacted by this medium to comment on the tragic death of his son, retired diplomat Lare Sisay declined to comment on the issue.
“Allow me to mourn the death of my son,” he told this medium.
Meanwhile, in a June 12 open letter sent to this reporter, Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, highlighted the urgent need to address racism and Police brutality.
“An unprecedented wave of Protests for racial Justice has swept the United States and the globe since the modern-day lynching of George Floyd on Memorial Day,” wrote the duo who are well respected in the Black community.
The two Episcopal authorities concur that the ongoing protests are “shifting public opinion about the need to sytemic racism and Blacks Lives Matter in American pubkic life.”
“But the new nation being born in our streets must rekon with four centeries of systemic inequality,” said the duo.
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