Dear Saihou, I read your piece.

If I get you right, speaking of the realities of the village was a sin but
advocating for the surreal must be hailed. Again, I am worried that the time
factor is not again taken into account. When were Senghor's poems written?
In the 20s, 30s, 40s. Senghor always tells us in his poems "Je me rapelle"
(I Remember). In the 1900 or 20s or 30s when the majority of Europeans had
no access to refrigerators, I wonder how he could have chanted something
different from what he said in Chants d'Ombre pegged to his childhood days?
This brings me to Abdoulaye Jallow's question on Negritude. Senghor himself
defined Negritude as follows: " La negritude est l'enracinement de la race
noire dans les valeurs de la culture negre". There is a difficulty for me to
give an accurate translation of the word Enracinement as the suggestion in
my English French dictionary that enraciner means to root does not clearly
portray the meaning. But let me suggest the following translation: Negritude
is immersing deep into the roots of the values of the negro(black) culture.
For Senghor (and maybe not the others) there should not be any iota of shame
or complex to be identified as a negro, a black person. And this goes in
line with Wollof wisdom which says that "a curse or a dereogatory statement
or remark fits more the originator, the utterer than the one it is destined
to."
Senghor defended the blacks' rights to be part and parcel of what must be a
universal civilization today or tomorrow. This is what he called "Le rendez
vous du donner et du recevoir". The meeting point for complentarity in which
one gives and takes.
It beats the imagination that someone who advocated for such a recognition
of the black race as an equal partner of the  other races  in the universe
can be called an untrue son of Africa.
In fact the definition of a son of Africa is very simple. Senghor was born
in Senegal which forms part of the African continent. He led that country by
reviving its African arts and culture with a national theatre, a literary
revolution based on African values etc. etc. This suffices to qualify him as
a true son of Africa.
But for the sake of the current debate, can Senghor be blamed for the ills
of other African countries in the light of the arguments I developed in my
last take? I would want to add that Mugabe was in the shadows of Nkruma. He
has been the helm of affairs in Zimbabwe for more than 20 years. What has
Zimbabwean farmers got that Senegalese farmers don't?
I think in the final analysis, each head of state's results must be the
parameters for any judgment for we are all familiar with the concepts of no
interference in the internal affairs of states and the sacrosanct boundaries
issue.
Saihou I now come to LDMPT and Ande Jeff. Thesec parties have been in
existence since Diouf allowed them in 1981. Today, after 20 years or so of
existence, they only secured 1 seat each in the last elections meant for 120
seats. Don't you think Senghor was right to favour their original currents
which were more representative such as the one ruling the country today?
Rhetorics and representation are two different things.
On The Gambia's independence I cannot see how Senghor could have stopped
this country from attaining independence.  So, I will not waste my time on
this issue. But Read Omar Touray on this issue.
On Guinea Bissau, we all know that it was after Senghor met Spinola that
things change for the better in favour of the freedom fighters with the
Portuguese revolution followedc by the independence of Guinea Bissau.
One must also point out that Koro Sallah and Moja were providing blankets,
torch lights etc. as historically documented Senegalese soldiers from
Ziguinchor fought along side the Ninos and the Ansumanas for the liberation
of that country.
This is I am afraid my last take on this issue.
Thanks for your attention
Deyda



>From: Saikou Samateh <[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: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 00:37:49 -0000
>
>Deyda,
>Good to see you here and this great piece of yours.The issues that Malick
>took up here are of great significance in discussing Senghore.Malick was a
>student of literature at high school and at one time he was asked to
>compare
>and contrast two different poems "Night in Sine" of Senghore  with "Night"
>of Soyenka.Two different poems discussing the same subject,both of them are
>great poems.But only one of them is speaking the truth about what is the
>real villager life like in dark nights of Africa.Had it been that night in
>the village, is so sweet,is in so much conformity with nature,I dont think
>you would have pointed to some of us the "Teeth of the Sea",do you remember
>that evening.Senghore chose that life because it is more comfortable.This
>is
>all what Negritude is  about,speaking of the sweetness of the village life
>and yet choose to live the comfortable life so distant from reality.It is
>very false,because there is no African villager who would not choose the
>comfort enjoyed by the West,no African Villager will say no to a bright
>village,a refrigerator,etc,all of the struggle is about a better life for
>us
>and for the future  and not to fall in love with our terrible poverty and
>decadency.
>You might consider Seng to be a democrat,but he was far from that,in my
>opinion.You know better than I do what happened to,among others, our good
>friend Ceesay whiles Senghore was the president of Senegal and for what
>reason ?such would have been a head line as a typical character of a
>dictatorial regime,freedom of speech ,freedom of expression was scarce in
>Sengs Senegal.It was also Seng who banned all other political parties in
>Senegal,except that of his own and  two other opposition parties,it was not
>until Abdou Joof took over power that LDMPT,Ade-Jeff etc were able to take
>up open political work without fear of prosecution.We know what these
>parties have contributed and are contributing to the democratic process in
>Senegal.
>You are right that Seng spoke for the Independence of certain African
>countries,but Seng never spoke for Guinea Conakry and Why ?He even worked
>very hard against an Independent Gambia,he wanted us to be part of Senegal
>against the will of the Gambian people,a democrat would have think
>otherwise.He was among the very few African leaders who never supported the
>Liberation struggle in Guinea Bissau.In fact he worked very hard against it
>and gave the most reactionary forces in Guinea Bissau, protection and
>ground
>to sabotage the independent struggle of Guinea Bissau.He forced enrolled
>his
>opponents into the Army and sent them to the  frontline to fight against
>the
>PAIGC liberation army.Among those who had to experience such brutal
>nightmare was Abdoulie Bachilly,who is today serving the Senegalese people
>in parliament and in government.Senegal has never in its history been more
>democratic as it is today.
>Seng was a great intellectual and contributed greatly to that end,but his
>vision of Africa and the African was  very terrible and I see it to be the
>greatest hindrance why Seng will and can never be placed together with
>other
>past great African leaders like Nkrumah.Even though I am no follower of
>Nkrumah,I will never buy any explanation that he was a Dictator.Here is a
>great man,who laboured to carve,not only theory, that is indigenous and so
>needed by then but also worked hard for the  development and progress of
>the
>continent,he read Marx,he read Ghandi,he read the bible and so on to come
>to
>a conclusion,yes he made terrible mistakes,but these were not out of want
>of
>power but that of progress.If you take the trade Union question you will
>see
>his mistakes today and argued that our own Jallow Jallow made the greatest
>contribution on this issue.But Nkurumah on many other issues was far beyond
>that of his counterparts,had there been any serious approach to some of the
>questions that Nkrumah raised and work very sincerely for,there is no doubt
>that we would have been at another stage.Whiles Seng was working hard
>against the Independence of the Little Gambia,Nkurumah was busy given
>Gambians Scholarship as a way of preparing Gambians for the independence
>which he knew was certainly on the way coming ,among those who benefited
>from that scholarship are Gambians who have contributed greatly and are
>still contributing to all aspect of the Gambian society and he did not do
>this only for the Gambians but also for other African countries.A dictator
>will never contribute to the freedom of the other with so much passion as
>that of Nkrumah.
>
>For Freedom
>Saiks
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