September 28, 2011

KAYJATTA

THE ATLANTA EXPOSITION ADDRESS; BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Booker T. Washington, one of the foremost black leaders in history, from the mid 19^th century to the early 20^th century, believes that the path for African Americans to attain equality with White Americans is through economic self-determination instead of political and civil agitation.  He referred to such agitation as the “extremist folly” (pg. 1741), in his celebrated speech at the historic Atlanta Exposition. Washington advised skills training, hard work, frugality, and strict morality as the path to economic liberation for the 19^th and 20^th century African Americans (Huso, D. 2011. R & L Publishing, Ltd). He insists that economic liberation must precede political and civil rights. Washington posits an integrationist view of history in that he preaches unity and better race relations between blacks and whites based on mutual interests. He captures this idea eloquently in his ‘fingers/hand’ analogy as thus; “In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington, B.T. 1901). Mr. Washington laments the untapped vast potential of African Americans-nearly sixteen million in population which if alienated and excluded could remain a huge security and economic burden to both the South and the Northern states, but he also praised the white community for their support and outreach to African Americans to take part in commerce particularly at the business exposition in Atlanta (Lauter, P. 2004; pg. 1740, 1741). He argued that the fates of both races-the oppressor and-the oppressed-are tied to each other by an act of history. Washington often alluded to the Christian values of service to others and the rewards that await those who give service to others (Lauter, P. ; pg. 1744). Booker T. Washington’s apparent centrist views endeared him to both sides of the racial divide. However, his pledge of African American support and advice for African American acceptance of less than equal work and political opportunities, at least for the time being appeared to have eroded his popularity with some black leaders of his time. He came to be considered as too subservient and accommodating to the white community and for not “pushing hard enough for equal rights” (Huso, D. 2011) perhaps partly because of his powerful northern white financiers such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Carnegie and Rockefeller largely funded Washington’s school, the Tuskegee Institute, a premier black institute for higher learning. Washington’s scathing criticism of the African American clergy at the time also further strained his relationship with prominent black leaders and ministers, although he was later vindicated. Booker T.Washington’s alleged soft stance on equal rights, economic and political integration sharply contrasts other black leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the founders of NAACP who issued categorical demands to the white community and laid out his expectations and obligations of White Americans. Washington’s greatest contribution was his services at the Tuskegee Institute and education he provided to the African American community.

REFERENCE:

1.      UP FROM SLAVERY, 1901

2.      R & L Publishing, Ltd. (dba SUCCESS Media)

LITERARY COMMENTARY:

KAYJATTA

THE YELLOW WALL PAPER; BY GILMAN

The Yellow Wall Paper represents the male-dominant society depicted in Gilman’s short story. It is repugnant, just as the society it represented.

Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wall Paper” is written in the first person.  Gilman appears to be the writer as she describes her “nervous depression” (pg. 1598) and her subsequent confinement by her husband, John. The story is about her medical condition- a hysteria characterized by nervous depression, a common diagnosis for women of her time. Gilman sets out to address issues of women’s health, gender and separate spheres of existence. There is a sharp contrast between her more practical, scientifically rational husband, John and her own irrational sensibilities (pg. 1598). She feels helplessness in the face of the male power exhibited by John and her brother both of whom are doctors. The author in the story talked eloquently about the house but couldn’t participate in offering ideas about her own medical condition. This again goes to affirm the separate spheres of gender (pg. 1598-1599). She talked about how to “dress and entertain and order things”, a typical women’s role (pg. 1600). The author mentions her baby that Mary is so good about, and how nervous she gets for being away from. She compares this to the fact that John never gets nervous, again illustrating gender expectations and separate spheres of existence. Gilman’s confinement to the house, nearly barred from all kinds of stimulation-writing, society, etc- while her husband, John works long hours points to the women’s confinement to the domestic sphere. The story is also about powerlessness. The author’s obsession and dislike of the wall paper indicates her feelings towards the gendered stereotypes of her society (pg. 1608).

THE WHITE HERON; BY JEWETT:

Sylvia’s rejection of the hunter’s money in defense of the environment and nature as represented by the White Heron illustrates her innocence and maturity, her humanity and sense of selflessness (pg 1642). This defense of nature can perhaps be explained by Sylvia’s relationship with the cow, Mistress Molly and her aging grandmother. Mistress Molly and the surrounding wilderness and its wildlife are an important part of Sylvia’s life, devoid largely of any other human interaction. This short story by Sarah Orne Jewett addresses a conflict between nature and human influences or nature and society.

The story parallels the simple natural purity of rural life represented by Sylvia and the White Heron against the corrupted artificial urban life that the hunter represents. It is a conflict of two value systems, one of spirituality and private appreciation of nature and the other of materialistic and public utility of wealth. Sylvia’s love of nature trumps her love of money and the manufacturing town she came from (pg. 1630). This is a superior state of knowledge and maturity.

Literary sources:

1.      Sarah Orne Jewett’s White Heron: An imported metaphor, Sheri Joseph Vol.27 No. 3 (Spring 1995)

2.      Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Karen Ford Vol 4, Issue 2 (1985).

BURDEN OF PROOF:

KAYJATTA

And then I sat there
And they talked in the dingy office
Saying an alleged father
For a burden of proof
I 'm sure imprinted
On a July night in The Gambia
I have the genes

That my words fail
For a burden of proof
Obvious on a July night
Shining the foggy  mind
Of an alleged father
For a burden of proof
That drilled my core

 Time fossilized
Racked my genes for a descendant
All of evolutionary epoch fixated in West Africa.

LITERARY COMMENTARY:

KAYJATTA

LAY DIS BODY DOWN: A FOLK SONG

This is a song from the “Songs of the Slaves” collection. It is a song about reunion, a longing for peace. It expresses a hope for salvation and a respite from suffering. The repetition of the phrase “I lay dis body down” indicates a resting period or state after a period of suffering or difficulty. It is a moment of peace, according to Col. James Wentworth Higginson (Phylon, 1953). There are several expressions in the song that symbolize a period of tribulation, for example in the first line (I know moon -rise, I know star-rise), third line (I walk in de moon light, I walk in de starlight), fifth line (I walk in de graveyard, I walk troo de graveyard), and the seventh line (I lie in de grave an’ stretch my arms). These expressions represent a period of collective difficulty that a group of people, the slaves perhaps have to endure. Their lives were suffering just like the depressed light characteristic of moonlight and starlight which are both far less than the perfect daylight that a normal or an ideal life would be.

And when they go to the judgment, it was still in the evening of the day, as stated in line nine. The only time day breaks and their souls meet, and suffering ends perhaps; is when they lay their bodies down. Therefore, the refrain “When I lay dis body down” might mean death. Here death is the only event that will bring peace, rest and reunion.

I’M NOBODY! WHO ARE YOU? EMILY DICKINSON

This poem by Emily Dickinson is about acceptance or unacceptance, intimacy and a fear of being discovered. Dickinson, although from a privileged upbringing, considers herself an outsider in a tightly conservative society centered around church and the family with clear-cut gender roles. Hence, “I’m Nobody…”. Dickinson appears to have found a pair in someone and told her not to tell anyone because they would be banished, in the third and fourth lines. In the last stanza, Emily Dickinson expresses her fear of being public, to be “somebody”. He compared this to a frog that screams all summer “to an admiring bog”. This perhaps refers to the reproductive behavior of frogs and toads in the wetlands during the summer months of June through august. But the “admiring bog” could also be referring to the public whose approval Dickinson no longer seeks partly because she is certain of disapproval. Dickinson appears to be comfortable in her existence as a “nobody” and in the company of fellow nobodies. She has no aspiration to be “somebody” which she views as “dreary”.

This poem, in many respects, is also a celebration of individuality-as a physical, spiritual, and intellectual being. Emily Dickinson, in this poem, has also created and addressed a conflict between the individual (a woman) and the Judeo-Christian God of her time as characteristic of her disruptive unusually long dashes; as in “How dreary ---- to be---somebody!" (American National Biography online, February 2000). It is a rejection of a society that had rejected her- a society that demanded a standardization of human thought and behavior.

Commodores - Nightshift

KAYJATTA

AN ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT JAMMEH'S 2011 MEET THE PEOPLE'S TOUR:

KAYJATTA

On July 21, 2011 President Jammeh returns to Banjul following a ten day "Meet-the-People" tour that took him around the country to meet with the people. The tour is a constitutional requirement, and has been practiced by his predecessor, Sir Dawda K. Jawara.
President Jammeh's return to Banjul coincides with the eve of the 17th anniverssary of the July 22, 1994 military coup that toppled the thirty-year democratic regime of Sir Dawda Jawara.
The 2011 "Meet-the-People" tour kicked off at Barra, North Bank Region (NBR). Jammeh's entourage, which included a cross section of  top government officials, security officers, and APRC party officials, received a tumultous welcome in Barra by a large crowd led by Governor Edward Seckan, the Chiefs of NBR and the former Chief of Lower Niumi , Tabora Manneh a prominent victim of the "Presidential witch hunt" years ago.
From Barra (Niumi), President Jammeh proceeded to Farafenni in Baddibu, Soma in Jarra, Kiag, Basse,Wuli and Foni among other places. The theme of this year's tour is "youths and development". Jammeh recalled in every occassion the infrastructural development achieved by his government since 1994, and urged the youths to take the opportunities available at home to contribute in national development. However, Jammeh's patronage and outreach to the youths clearly underlies his preoccupation with the youth-led uprisings elsewhere on the African continent, notably Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Jammeh thanked the people, and sometimes demanded appreciation and loyalty for the developments his government brought to them.
The tour itself, as stated earlier, is a constitutional requirement and (should be) not a political tour as both the President and his critics insist, however at every stop President Jammeh repeatedly appealed for votes in the upcoming November elections in exchange for any further development assistance. Jammeh insisted that the November election will decide those communities who want development and those who do not want development, and often derided Baddibu (Salikene to be specific) as an example of a community that is being punished for its opposition to the APRC government. Jammeh mocked that if you see any dirty passenger at the ferry terminal in Barra, you should know that he or she is from Salikene, referring to the lack of good roads to Salikene. This is shameful though, because despite political opinion, these are tax-paying Gambians whose tax money funds all government;'s development programs. Jammeh also made it categorically clear to the people that whether they vote for him or not, he is going to win. He reminded them that he did not come to power on July 22, 1994 through elections in the first place and that he is going to rule the Gambia for as long as he wants to. Jammeh, who entertains a 99% electoral victory predited by Mayor Yankuba Colley, APRC campaign director and a campaign by the district chiefs for his coronation as the first king of the Gambia said he doesn't in fact need elections to remain in power. These statements by President Jammeh didn't help the image of the Gambia's electoral process, already tainted by registration fraud. Jammeh's political grandstanding and sometimes outright bullying also reflects the level of political consciousness in the Gambia.
The argument by the opposition that the Presidential tour should remain apolitical is a futile argument in my view, however. The presidency is a political post and whether Jammeh admits it or not, he is a politician. The issues that Jammeh deals with on a daily basis are in the public realm, and therefore political in nature. Therefore, it is impossible for the president to "dialogue with the people" while remaining apolitical, especially in an election year. I think it will be rather more appropriate to have legislation to skip the tour in an election year so as to avoid an undue advantage for the president in the political field.
The President was well received across the country for the most part. However, parts of Kiang, Jarra, and Wuli were problematic for the president's entourage. The meetings were poorly attended and less enthusiastic. President Jammeh, true to his military nature-always with the burning desire to destroy his opponents- issueed dire warnings to the people of these opposition strongholds about the suffering (of lack of development, disinvestment, and isolation) that awaits them if they remain in opposition to his government. It should be noted that these are regions that have been isolated and marginalized for years by the APRC regime, whose development plans follow political boundaries in total disregard to economic reality.

♫♫Burning Spear - Identity - Live - South Africa♫♫

KAYJATTA

assane ndiaye-nguisstal

KAYJATTA

NOT MUCH GOOD:

 NOT MUCH GOOD :

KAYJATTA
_________________Not much good
That monster has devoured her off-springs
And this is no post-partum depression
The strong men of the continent
With hands soaked in blood
Shoot , kill , and loot
All I see is naked power
No great leader
Development corrupted, traumatized
A primordial soup that begotten not
Politicians  blossom by the impure

Not much good
In the grip of Morpheus
I saw a shooting star out of orbit
And why shall man rest
Until the sun awash the creepy night
It might be true
Africa was great
The cradle of civilization
That Adam was African
But while I sit in my house of exile
All I see is the stench
Dependency and pestilence
knowledge rejected
Truth rounded-up, surrenders to falsehood
Fear trumps liberty
The Leviathan lives on 
And I slumber
And my people scrape the earth
Barely the crust

Not much good
The self-centered politician
Strangled the economy
The Lieutenant, oh the retired Colonel 
Set us ablaze
Mine like Soyinka's - a waste
When I look home-ward
All I see is a smoking gun- smouldering

ON WHY DR. JANNEH SHOULD BE UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASED IMMEDIATELY:

KAYJATTA

The First Amendment lawyer, Floyd Abrams stated that; "we don't need free speech for a lot of speech in society. We need free speech most of all to protect people who say and do unpopular things...unpopular with the government, or unpopular with the public at large".
Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. also stated that "...the principle of the constitution is the principle of free thought, not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for those whose thoughts we hate".
These two quotes above are very instructive, and should be the guiding light for freedom of expression in all free societies.
The late Isaac Asimov, the celebrated scientist, novelist and poet; wrote about a mathematician by the name Pochik who suspected his colleague to have stolen and taken credit for his groundbreaking work. The only way this could have been done would be to know Pochik's password, but Pochik insisted that it was impossible for anyone to break the code to his 14-letter password. In short, the great mathematician, Pochik demanded an investigation into how his password could have been discovered by his rival mathematician; but he (Pochik) would not tell the investigators what his password was. He wanted them to recreate the password and then provide the explanation of how someone could have cracked the code. This (Pochik's dilema) was similar to the story of the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar and the three Wise Men. The King had a terribly scary dream, and called the Wise Men of his kingdom for an interpretation of the dream. The problem was that the King has forgotten the dream; all he knew was that it was a scary one. He therefore demanded the Wise Men to recreate the dream and then give the interpretation, failing which they will all be executed.
It is very true that President Jammeh of the Gambia operates pretty much like the Babylonian King. In the cases of the former police chief, Inspector Ensa Badji; the former Army Chief of Defense Staff, General Lang Tombong Tamba; and now the former Communications Secretary (Minister), Dr. Janneh among many others; the Gambian leader, as the State-run newspaper the Daily Observer fundly calls him, badly needed an interpretation of his fears, but did not have a story. Therefore, he summoned his Wise men-the NIA (National Intelligence Agency), NDEA (National Drug Enforcement Agency), and the GPF (Gambia Police Force) to create one.
This trump up charges against Dr. Janneh, a made up story by the Gambia's security forces is so wobbly-so groundless- that it is laughable. There is not a single thing in all of their allegations that is illegal. "printing and distribution of T-shirts, End to Dictatorship, and Freedom" are all legally protected speech because they  express a state of  mind. The purpose of a constitutionally-guaranteed free expression is not for speech that we all like-such as the letters of "appreciation" that fill the pages of the Daily Observer every day. The purpose of free expression is to protect expressions that the government or the general society may dislike. Free expression is critical to creativity and economic development. The allegations of "clandestine and subversive" acts are nothing but myth rooted in the autocratic thought of the Jammeh regime. Dr. Janneh, by his words and actions, did not incite violence. He did not procure any weapons, no stock piles of weapons were found in his possession, and no revolutionary literature was found associated with him. Therefore, all that Dr. Janneh should get is perhaps a speeding ticket since his vehicle was allegedly running at "top speed". T-shirts with the words "End to Dictatorship", and "Freedom", did not add up to a crime anywhere in the world. The violence in the Middle-East and North Africa that Jammeh is using as an excuse to root out potential uprising was started by the oppressive regimes in those countries, not by the peaceful legitimate protesters.
The worst that Dr. Janneh may have committed could be an attempted instigation of mass protest against the government or government policies. But again that would be perfectly legal. Mass protests against the government are protected by the law. Citizens have a right not only to speak out against the government, but also to petition and protest against the government.
The Gambia opposition parties, if they want to be credible in the eyes of Gambians, must add their voice and if necessary flex their muscle also to redirect political socialization in the country. Silence perpetuates impunity.
I have to appeal to the Gambian courts again. The courts-the judiciary- is that finest branch of government that Madison (one of America's Founding Fathers) called the least tyrannical and the least dangerous. The Gambian courts must stand up to the true meaning of their creed and rule against these frivolous cases. The courts must rid the Gambia of all the trappings of autocracy. But I am aware that the concept of a "Gambia judiciary" may be a fallacy in the true sense of the word, because the Gambia governments-past and present (but even worse in the present) has out-sourced our legal system to Nigeria. Nigerian judges of dubious personal character are in control of the Gambia courts....
Notwithstanding, the Gambian courts are hereby urged to throw out this case against Dr. Janneh for lack of merit....