The ism-schism game...

Now I know why the rastaman was sick and tired of the ism-schism game, because the isms (divides among people) are caused by the schisms (you know: prejudice beliefs like racism, Nazism, elitism, classism, etc).

Well, if only we had listened, maybe people like El Diablo of the United States would never have become President. But look around now. Look at us, man – half the world and her intelligent populace are being governed by nutcases.

Observation

The Gambia

Someone’s appointed
Social media reacts:

Is he one of us?
Yes?
Yay, they couldn’t have chosen a better person for the position.

Every wrong step that he took in the past will be righted and the cost extinguished from collective memory.

If not

Is he one of us?
No?
Man, he’s too old or too young, too tall or too short, too fat or too thin, was too involved or indifferent, overqualified or not up to it.

All the things he did right will be forgotten, and he’d be crucified for that one thing he did wrong.

Respect blue-collar (waacha raahasu)

You hear most rappers claim to have started from the bottom... well, some literally started from the bottom, but some lie; you know why? There's that (street) credibility that they command by manifesting how real their struggle was.

In fact, it's nice to look at yourself in the mirror, at how far you've come, against all odds, how you broke out of an "everyday ponseh" social position to climb up the social ladder and create that "mom, I made it" moment for yourself. Fulfilling feeling, right?

Well, here too, almost every young person wants to claim that G or even OG sort of status, but unfortunately, most of these kids are ashamed of the struggles thereto. I see folks don't wanna do odd jobs not because they ain't rewarding, they just hate to be seen wearing overalls.

Skinny for instance worked as a security guard for years and I never saw him in uniform. He'd rather don his jeans, Jordan shoes, Gucci belt, uniform in a Nike backpack, to be worn only at his station, but doffs it the minute he closes.

Wish me luck in trying to make him overstand that respectability of what he does is not in what he does, but how he does and values what he does.

In the meantime, respect concrete to all who have been there, done it, or are still doing it and remain proud of their blue-collar (waacha raahasu) values, for some paper pusher that you envy also thinks it sucks to be him. Yalna sutura yaaga.

60 Mosques - so what?

60 mosques shared out among 43 districts, given the number of villages and towns in a district is not as nation-shattering as the chattering on here.

Me? If the Press Secretary said it’s not public funded, Parliament, the Director of National Treasury and the Auditor General don’t think otherwise, I don’t care what business or individual is funding the project, and I doubt if disclosure of source is required. All I know is: money buys access, and so the moneyed will always have a voice above you and I.

About the mosque seeking communities, they just want to worship as they will; they want a place to preside over their marriages and honour their dead. If they think their existing grounds aren’t fit for all that, just like some creepy mosque I once prayed at somewhere in CRR, a mosque may not be your priority but it’s theirs.

And just like me seeing the president and asking him for a basketball court at SK East is no threat to soccer, asking for a new mosque is no threat on anyone’s secular welfare, really!

Gambian journalists...

The Gambia, in the past, due to media censorship operations, being a straight-talking reporter, in the face of all the fetters, and free thereof, was as hard as trying to grasp a shadow.

I ain't blaming none, even I would rather speak in parables.

However, today that there’s Freedom of the Press, we have two extremes:

1) reporters who are obviously in bed with the leadership, and

2) the presstitutes (those who misleadingly tailor their reports to fit opposition and often divisive agendas).

I know... for sure, like most rules, there are exceptions, and here’s to those badasses: may we know them. May we be them. May we be able to inspire many to want to be them, because with their objectivity, our democracy will go far.

Bloody thieves...

School's out for summer. Unfortunately, juvenile delinquency is turned on, and I have just been made a victim.

A thieving swarm of stray kids passed through my neighbourhood this evening; two teams, concurrently roadshowing absolute nonsense. You can imagine what a stupid and shambolic street party it was.

So... before I realised that my phone was charging in the salon opposite where I hangout, some kid must have taken advantage of the distraction, went into the salon, took my phone and left me a charger.

I think I'm angry, perhaps sad, or maybe I just pity the future of this young generation's future generation.

Gambian affairs... still

In the Gambia, perhaps even more disorientating than trying to remember a rhyme you made in your dream is trying to become an autodidact. Bloody hell! Here? What you know is not knowledge unless learned from the classroom.

If you haven’t gone through the shitstem, you better be seen and not heard, because the next jab they’d throw is: with what authority does he speak? What’s his qualification? You know – that arrogantly stupid ancient Greek mentality.

Still, on the Gambia,

and perhaps I’m being overdramatic, but I just can’t help seeing it so. I think our national politics is becoming a clusterfuck - the military calls its sort SNAFU (Status Nominal: All Fucked Up, or FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair). o, until fixed, I'm out!

Intelligence rules the world...

Marcus Garvey is right: ‘intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden...’

Take a look at the ingenuity of today’s sellers and the naivety of many a buyer – I mean buyers of ice in the winter, fire-seeking residents of hell, fountain-owning water-seekers, and those who live on the beach yet paying money for sand... imagine!

So, I want to add that ignorance creates slavish souls – you know: robots, toadies and beg-friends; those who can go along with anything, without any sound reason other than someone or some group they idolise is doing it.

You know, those people you see all over the place trying to buy from, shop at, attend, visit, subscribe to, join, or support things not because they have to, but because it’s embellished to look posh, and doing unimaginable things just to hang out at, or with people who do not even care about them.

I know, right? No class: the things the ignorant does for class, a false sense of class perhaps, because classy people don’t do trashy stuff like that, especially not with what they don't have.

Class, just like awareness, is not about the costly clothes you wear, the whips you ride, the names of celebrities you know, happening spots you frequent, the barbarian cuisines you eat or music you listen to; it’s attitudinal. It’s a state of mind.

Just an observation...

I have observed, and it's becoming a pattern that whenever it's President Barrow, some people choose to be so limited in their scope of consideration. So, whatever he does or intends to do is either wrong, not enough, or they'd rather he takes care of something else, something "more exigent," even if not feasible under the circumstances.

Here's the latest headline: 'Banjul - Barra Bridge To Be Constructed In 2019, President Barrow Promises ... '

Dummy's take: "Mtcheew! The president should leave that bridge and revamp RVTH."

Skinny: "Smh! What's an equipped hospital without electricity. Let them fix NAWEC first."

Spoonhead went off like an electric fuse: "Fuck all that. You know what... playtime done! It's about bloody time this government fixes the prisons or free all prisoners... or we'd take it to the streets. Power to the people!"

It's like the 'fallacy of relative privation.' In the end, and unless the president becomes a Mayweather about it, knowing that naysayers will always naysay, nothing he envisions will take off, because what's allowable should literally be the most pressing, and that's so, so relative.

The arrogance in the city...

If you live in the city and you still feel obligated to show courtesy to others, because you understand that even if we are differently privileged, no one was delivered from a golden womb, you’re one of the exceptions.

But if you’re the opposite of the above exception, or the cap fits, and you want to exercise your right to be outraged by this post, please shoot; I will totally understand.

Now here’s what’s on my mind:

I think a good number of city dwellers, be they native-borns or long-term residents, Banjul to DC, Marrakesh to Beijing, have superiority issues: you know, misplaced confidence and a thing for attempting to establish superiority over others in all things measurable.

That’s why in Banjul for instance, “ndongo Banjul’ became a synonym for choicest youth. So, even if you’re heartbroken, a typical “ndongo Banjul” will ascribe your state to you not being one of them: “Ah, yowe dor ndongo Banjul motakh.” But, tha f*ck! Does it really matter?

Trust your time zone...

The time I was writing this, it was 7:05 PM in Banjul, The Gambia, and 4:05 AM in Tokyo, Japan - difference being GMT+9. Now can you bring the two zones on a par?

No? Just what I thought! But technically, that’s what you do when you see some success stories, what they have achieved at their age and you feel hopeless because you think you’re aging.

STOP IT. Believers don’t do that. See, from when you're making effort and not procrastinating, leave the effect to your time zone, al-Qadar (the divine will and decree of your Maker) if you like.

Ndoling wo ndoling...

Once you achieve affluence, you cannot control being surrounded by people who just want something from you. Call them sycophants, parasites or whatever... get used to the fact that that's how this grasping world works.

However, if out of that whole heap of leeches you've someone who never wanted anything from you but you, proven, and you let the person go, God help you, but man, you're in for a very rude awakening. Ask Spoonhead.

Moderate is best...

The Gambia will be so ungrateful to NOT appreciate all who made the fight against dictatorship a triumph, be you fighting from abroad or ayard, especially given the fact that it wasn't as popular nor easy; y'all deserve presidential medals of honour.

However, what I find hard to indulge on here are the excesses of those who want to wear "you owe me" attitudes about it. I think it's unreasonable to expect this "New Gambia" to revolve around your demands. 

Even Moses, who, by God's will, delivered the Israelites from bondage wasn't as entitled. But that's perhaps because Moses was reasonable enough to know that even good things can become destructive if taken to excess.

Gambia... the reshuffle, still..

The progress of the process of democracy is not in building too many walls, because the walls we build as structures for defence or protection can also isolate us. One doesn't have to be a career politician to know that.

The process of democracy is about ending differences and building bridges, even if it means recycling some agents who in the past, and in a moral sense weren't all that.

On that note, I hope the ministers who are being given second chances by President Barrow will turn out to be better than our fears, especially now that they know better and their ministerial autonomy presumably unfettered

Jangjangbureh

Of all the places I have been to, in the Gambia that is, the memories that stuck with me through the years were the ones made in Jangjangbureh.

By far, that island used to be the neatest, tidiest, most organised and most enchanting town in the country, a town where every kid attains at least basic education.

Even with the country’s development arrested and the town fairly deserted, the empty storefronts, street traces, lampposts and almost decaying government quarters can tell how dope the place used to be. I hope it's revived someday soon.

Justice first then peace, that's the order...

The rastaman said we all cry out for peace, and none cries out for justice, and so he questioned how exclusive of the latter can the former be. It’s like everybody wants to go to heaven, and nobody wants to die he said. He’s right. You cannot enjoy peace being unjust.

However, by his lyrical portrayal of justice, he said what is due to Caesar gotta be given Caesar; all of it. So, injustice is not just what your system of laws do to you, but also what you do to, for and about the system, whilst knowing that those in charge also have rights.

Justice is behavioural. It’s about empathy, fair-mindedness over bigotry, service above convenience, compassion above egoism. It’s about protesting and demanding what’s rightful but lawfully so. It’s about paying tribute where tribute is due.

It’s not about sharing internet memes with passive aggressive and sarcastic captions just to humiliate another. Being just is about refusing to submit to the outrageous Machiavellian manoeuvres out there, and perhaps regularly seeking refuge from 'Ahlus Satan, Ahl ul-Pretense and Ahl ul-Nafheyha" (adherents to the Satan, pretence and hypocrisy).

Nice one...

The miracle of social media provides so many inspirational messages for those of us who want to inspire and be inspired. This one's for those who marry my type, yet expecting a perfect person out of him. You may change the pronoun as you wish; it will still make sense.

Hear this:

“He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break.

Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”

We move on to discover...

Just because it was great, seemed, or felt awesome doesn't mean there's nothing else that has the (remote) possibility of getting even better.

But, if you SO cannot get over the past, or feel you must let bygones be bygones, forgive, forget, start anew and, you know, all those cute and perhaps humanly stuff, dig in; I mean your foot, just not in with both feet.

Remember what they say about the soup not being a different soup just because it's reheated, or probably served in a different bowl.