Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will...

This week in Senegal a journalist was sentenced to three years in prison for saying something about the national government laundering money. My tutor says this isn’t the first nor will it be the last time that a journalist is convicted and imprisoned in Senegal. After a brief conversation, in French, about freedom of speech and institutional corruption, he confirmed that with the justice system in its pocket, presidential powers dictatorially convict and imprison journalists for ‘bad mouthing’ the government. This has greatly disturbed me.
I go home for lunch to find another view point. My host Mom and Dad adamantly affirm that freedom of speech and democratic institutional transparency is alive and well in Dakar. Furthermore, the system was correct in its conviction because the journalist was given the opportunity to prove his statements and he didn’t- therefore he is guilty. Being the usual devil’s advocate, I respectfully challenged them to define ‘truth’ and ‘proof’ and question if perhaps the courts could have alterative motives (opportunities to practice being passive arise daily thanks to Wolof culture!). With vigor they insisted—“not in Senegal. Journalists must tell the truth because we can’t just have people going around writing whatever they want. Again, he was given an opportunity to prove himself and he failed.” Excited to understand more Senegalese culture, I politely proceed, “In the U.S. there are many different news sources, similar to here in Dakar. With the rights afforded by our Constitution people can write anything and it is up to the people to decide what to believe…” They found that a waste of time.

This evening I went with my Maltese-Jamaican-Chinese, net-working, crazy-energetic friend who has great dread locks to meet with some local film makers: a Senegalese documentarian and his French producer friend. They create films, my friend creates markets. Long story short, they thus far have two beautiful and high quality documentaries about environmental issues in Senegal. Well, that’s how they pitched it to us. As I was translating for my buddy I realized that while these documentaries definitely address environmental concerns in Senegal, there was a strong political undercurrent. We asked, “where have these films thus been shown?” They replied, “At one film festival in Paris…its too dangerous to show them here.” The conversation unfolds to examplify fear of oppression of speech/press/art.
The issues are real: streets washing out and homes constantly flooding during rainy seasons which translate to tragically decreased productivity not to mention immense nesting grounds for malaria invested mosquitoes; no regular garbage collection which translates to heaps of rubbish everywhere that street children rummage through only to find nasty disease, etc. Really, these problems could be easily mitigated by government attention. But, if a government refuses to let the issue be acknowledged then there is no problem.

I’ve heard and read about people being denied of freedom of speech and press. Nonetheless, it’s really struck a strong and out of tune chord this week. My American bred mind is really struggling with what it means to live in a society that could suppress the power of words.

So, while I can’t currently reconcile the bigger issue, I can do something else. (Frustrations are just opportunities that need actions!) The desire is to give African artists a platform from which to expose their art. I currently have access to copies of both documentaries in French, and we’re working on subtitles in English then Spanish and German (Its currently in Wolof). English should be ready to ship within a couple of weeks (I’ll keep you posted!). If you or anybody you know would be interested in seeing the documentaries and/or hosting a screening please let me know and we’ll get you a copy. They are both about 30 minutes long and display beautiful scenery of Senegal; nothing gory, no nudity, nothing overly depressing, just real issues. It’s a great idea for French clubs, university language depts, community organizations, local rotary meetings or a free evening to learn Wolof! Let me know: ellenk_miller@yahoo.com

Going on Margaret Mead’s words: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” So, while this might not solve the issue--- who knows, one day, it just might!