For Better or Worse (Part 1)

"Is this love, is this love, is this love, is this love that I'm feelin'..." Bob Marley crooned in the taxi as Isa fumbled through her purse for a 25 dalasi note for the driver. "Jerrejef" thank you, she muttered, not bothering to count her change as she stepped out of the taxi and onto the sunny afternoon that lay ahead of her. It was a little after one in the afternoon and because it was Friday, everyone had gotten off early for the Muslim prayers. No prayers to offer, Isa considered what she would make for lunch, and then what she would make for dinner. She meticulously thought through the menus in her mind, not allowing herself to envision the end result - chicken stew on white rice - until she had mentally prepared it all, from the skinning of the pale pink chicken down to the chopping of the onions.

Her thoughts always left her in a trancelike state.

Red Black Nonsense - Damaa Salibo

I can vividly remember a time when our streets were filled with young boys with sore shaven heads and tomato tins in hand begging for a living. These boys who were sent to Islamic scholars to learn the Quran were abused by their guardians and spent an eternity which was supposed to be used seeking knowledge, roaming the streets hassling people for change. It got so bad, the government had to intervene and a presidential directive was given which rid our streets of the “nuisance”. I still wonder what happened to the kids though. I ask myself if we simply solved one problem and created two others in its place. Had we documented what followed, we might have been able to see the effect it had on the lives of the kids and their scholar guardians.

It is my firm belief that our culture is one which encourages begging or panhandling as the act is more appropriately known by.

Even Darkness Loves the Sun

You uncover me every time you come around

And when you leave night wraps around me

Insufficient

Like a cold, thin blanket in the winter

Have all my attempts been to rid myself of your bright beams

Shining little golden bullets through my veils

Keeping me vulnerable and powerless against your fiery glare.

I squint and retreat at your dazzling exterior

Embracing love's blindness

Knowing that you will not return my sentiments

And that your glory is to upstage me.

In all honesty

We would make an unharmonious pair,

Me as I am, and you, so unreasonably shiny

But in spite of your laser precision highlighting all my weaknesses

 I still need to see you

You see, I need you to see.

Much Ado about Zilch

I met this woman a year ago and she had clear white skin and had the biggest...erm...eyes. She was German and later I got to learn she was an Atheist. You know; a white German atheist! In Christianity they are called “non-believers” and in Islam, “kaafirs”. It was later I would learn that the word “infidel” is actually derived from Christianity and from the word “infidelity” and should not be used to describe someone who doesn’t believe in the existence of “A God”. In Christianity, such generosity is shown by example in that Jesus dined with the tax collectors at Levi’s (no..not the jeans..The man) and in Islam it is directed as such; “‘O ye who believe! When ye go abroad in the cause of Allah, investigate carefully, and say not to anyone who offers you a salutation: “Thou art none of a Believer!” Quran 4:94.

Red Black Nonsense - An August Medley

A lazy Economy

Our economy is not designed to fail, and I will not be the little boy that cries wolf. However, how scary is it when businesses feel a need to close-shop “en masse”? In any other country, it might end up being an opportunity for new business ventures to start. In The Gambia however, with a lazy gene embedded within us, how will that ever happen? We have a monotonous business culture where one man’s success in a certain business venture does not inspire innovation but rather inspires a show of “copy cats”. It is like an assembly line at a production plant, mass producing the same product for the masses; different package, same product...sometimes even worse; same package, worse product!

We do not take risks and it has a lot to do with the culture we have. Anything out of the ordinary is frowned upon.