SILGIL-KO TO ONE OF AFRICA'S GREATEST ARTISTS AND THINKERS!
GAMBIA'S EBOU MADI SILLAH
By Mbye Touray
February 2006
Sigil-Ko.
Comrade (Nyancho) is gone, Baaba, and it may sound curious to those who may
not understand, but somehow to me, as painful as his passing away really
hits me, his bravery and courage in confronting the reality that life will
sooner or later come to an end, makes it easier for me to fathom that one of
the Most influential people on earth who brought an added dimension to my
ideological perspective is no longer with us.
Comrade the philosopher; Comrade the Historian; Comrade the indefatigable
advocate of the poor and oppressed, where-ever they may be; Comrade whose
house was open to all peoples from all works Of life from the farthest
corners of the world; whose house was a forum for intellectual discussion,
and above all, a house where one learns that art and Artists have a social
responsibility to express that a different world exists for the poor and
oppressed-a world of hunger, misery, poor health, illiteracy, Joblessness;
and above all, a world that is sustained through political intimidation and
coersion, and yes, pure terror.
But perhaps, more important for Comrade Was his firm conviction to the very
end of his life that the resilience and will of the poor and oppressed
wherever they may be in their struggle for A more just, equitable and humane
society will ultimately prevail. SUCH WAS THE FAITH THAT COMRADE HAD ALWAYS
EXPRESSED IN HIS WORK OF ART.
The man was more than just a friend, or brother, or comrade-in-arms; he was
us, and we were him.
It is very easy for me to drift into a sort of eulogy about the mans
character, his talents as an individual artist, as a humorist, or devoted
husband, father, brother Or whatever, but I will be doing my man a profound
disservice if /we dwell on these individual character-traits; you see,
Comrade was larger than all of these-and in my view the honourable way of
honouring the man and his legacy is to make all concerted efforts to
preserve his artistic work in all the mediums He employed, including his
written word-simply put, we need to make a concerted effort to preserve his
legacy.
Mbye Touray.
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
|