From Deyda Hydara
To Malick Kah
Dear Malick,
I do not subscribe to your claim that Seignior was opposed to Senegal's
independence as oppose to the aspirations of the people at the time. Where
does democracy stands in the face of such an accusation? Don't forget that
Senghor's party had the majority given to it by the people of Senegal. He
defeated Lamin Gueye's SFIO as well as his former friends of the PAI, thus
securing a mandate to run the affairs of the colony.
It is also on record that Senghor used his connection with former classmate
George Pompidou to get De Gaulle to accept to facilitate the independence of
not only Senegal but the whole former French West Africa as he was known to
have battle against the "Balkanisation" of former French West Africa.
He criss- crossed the region spearheading talks to get his colleagues to
accept a federation in lieu of balkanisation but most of them feared a
Senegalese hegemony and withdrew gradually from the scheme leaving Sudan,
Benin and former Upper Volta. As we know only Sudan remained paving the way
for the Mali Federation for which he gracefully gave the hot seat to late
Modibo Keita who later mingled in the internal affairs of the PS leading to
his Exit.
I would like to say some few words about his relations with France, but
before that let me quote him: " I wear European clothing, and the Americans
dance to Jazz which derives from our African Rhythms: civilisation in the
29th century is universal. No PEOPLE can get along without OTHERS."
(Emphasis mine)
The above depicts Senghor's obsession for Black people to be "Recognised"
and given the due regard they deserve. The concept of Negritude stems from
this obsession. When Senghor and Cesaire came to France, Africans were
considered as "second class citizens of the world", something that pained
them so much that they vowed to change such a negative and inhumane posture.
They were faced with classmates parading a "superiority complex" demarche.
Therefore they decided to prove them by "beating" them in all subjects until
they gave them their due recognition as equals. This led to their excellent
performances as students bagging degrees while their white colleagues were
"recalles" repeating exams.
Following their studies, they also addressed a bleak picture of the black
race being peddled in France through a derogatory advert depicting a
laughing black man amazed by the wonders of the world. Senghor in particular
swore to tear the "banana laughter from all the walls of France.
He beat the racists in their game by excelling in his studies, securing the
respects of his German jailers.
On the charge that he was a French henchman. Malick you got it wrong, the
Senegalese TV is airing interviews he gave to French journalists during his
tenure. Everyone heard him completely disagreeing with some of France's
African policies as well as of some of their global options. France
campaigned against the holding of the Olympics in USSR but he disagreed with
that as well as the Russian intervention in Afghanistan. The above depicts
Senghor's pragmatism. When the Sekou Toures and others were subjecting their
people to dictatorial rule, he not only delivered but also opened his
country to democracy and a free press.
He established the first African schools for rural cadres, the first for
agricultural technicians as well as the first school of administrators.
I must however concede that as a human being he made mistakes but overall,
he left a successful country with hundreds of thousands of cadres and
structures not readily available to countries without gold, diamond, cocoa
and oil. With their peanut, he contributed to what Senegal is today. Wade
confessed in an interview some days ago, that he was an admirer of Senghor
although he opposed him for 27 years. Do not forget that most of Africa's
liberation movements such as the ANC had offices in Dakar with Senghor's
blessings.
Hope we have now agreed?
Happy New Year to all
Deyda
>From: malik kah <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Is Senghor a true son of Africa or not?
>Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 20:27:38 +0000
>
>As we ponder about the demise of Leopold Senghore, it is right that we
>subject him to a discour for Zeng belong to a breed of politicians that
>will
>always intrests us Africans. After all these were the protagonists that
>fashioned the foreign as well as the socio-economic policies whose effect
>we
>still live with, hence what they stood for and what things they said is as
>much relivant now as it was then.
>
>It is apparent that Senghore was opposed to Senegals indepence as oppose to
>the aspirations of the people at the time. He was one of those success
>samples of the french policy of assimilados, he was what was termed then as
>coconut, black from the outside but white in the inside. His whole
>comportment was white hence he earned the admiration and support of the
>French establishment.
>
>This was Senghores oulook and at this point in time the wind of change was
>fast blowing in Africa, the people were demanding the right to self rule
>and
>a genuine independce, hence it was very important for the colonial masters
>to have loyal servants to whom they can entrust their administration
>without
>hinderance, where they failed to cultivate such proteges they engaged in
>bloody battles to subjugate the people into submission. A lot of people
>confronted the colonial masters, hence they preffered to die as matyrs and
>patriots than be subjugated. A lot of genuine Sons and Daugthers were
>executed, those obstinate ones that survived and led their people to
>Independence were sanctioned and turned into pariah states. Infact many of
>them through dirty plots hatched by the colonialists were either murdered
>or overthrown. It was in such a climate that Senghore was the darling of
>the colonial masters hence he was a suspect collaborator and this was
>important because the colonial masters needed alliances to continue their
>presence so as to justify their involvement in the internal affairs of our
>countries, with the likes of Senghore they were using Senegal as a
>launching pad.
>
>This is why Senghore's acts needs to be put in a historical context, yes
>he
>was highly educated, well respected academic but that does not exonerate
>his
>policies for it was people like him that has mortgaged the future the
>consequence of which we now live with .
>
>The arrangements and self intrests that manifested at this embryonic stage
>of nation building has left us poorer and weaker and being one of those
>principal architects he must be remembered differently by the radical
>African, the ones that had called for a programme of independence and not
>dependence. The road championed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nkurumah, Saikou
>Touray, Modibo Keita as well as Patrick Lumumba is well documented it
>testifies to the intrests that were being defended by their contemporaries.
>In fact the blue print of their calling is what EUROPE is now implementing
>in full, from monetary union to military as well as trade and economics.
>These people were ahead of their time at a time when Senghore was being
>celebrated as a poet laureate these people were carving and strategising
>the
>future of the continent. No wonder they were feared by the colonial
>masters,
>the respect they commanded was evident, wherever, they appeared in Europe
>the media would follow every utterance they made. These people can never be
>forgotten, after all Senghore before he passed out was nearly forgotten.
>History has absolved Nkrumah, so whatever critics may say, on balance he
>contributed more to the African conciousness than any of us or Senghore may
>ever do. Their roles were different one was loved by the African people,
>the
>other by the Europeans, take you position and define yourself.
>
>He went for dependency and got all the support and now all that support
>turned out to be the debt that is slowly strangling. With such an approach
>Senghore must be ranked amongst those that failed us.
>
>>From: Jungle Sunrise <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Is Senghor a true son of Africa or not?
>>Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 15:49:05 +0000
>>
>>You see, you do use your head sometimes. It sometimes seems that we are
>>programmed in such a way that any view that is unconventional is to be
>>dismissed as lacking merit or irrelevant. For example, people would rather
>>remember Kwami Nkrumah for his speeches and vision rather than the way he
>>tried to implement that vision. Nobody, in his right mind, would deny the
>>fact that Dr. Kwami Nkrumah was both an intellectual and a visionary. But
>>try to talk about his short-comings and you are labelled "Anti-Nkrumah".
>>The
>>fact remains that Dr. Kwami Nkrumah was one of the first dictators that
>>Post
>>colonial Africa
>>produced. It is also a fact that one of the most repressive legislations
>>ever passed in any country in Africa was the Preventative Detension Act
>>(PDA). This piece of thrash was used by Nkrumah and those close to him or
>>in
>>uniform to jail inocent people for indefinite periods just because they
>>dared ask where the country was heading. Instead of explaining his vision
>>of
>>Ghana to those who were better placed/equiped to implement them, he
>>treated
>>them as insurbodinate anarchists. This is were President Jammeh differs
>>from
>>the rest of those Pan-Africanists. You people may not believe it now, but
>>time will tell.
>>
>>Have a good day, Gassa.
>>
>>
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