SENEGAL: A First View of Africa

With this reflection I begin a short series of reflections on my participation in the World social Forum and the World Forum on Theology and Liberation held in Dakar, Senegal February 4-11, 2011. (See the previous post.)  The series will reflect briefly on Africa and  the World Social Forum before turning to a longer reflection on Liberation Theology.

    Anyone who visits a country, let alone a continent, for the first time, needs to be very careful about saying too much. One week is hardly time to have even first impressions. Nevertheless it would be unfair not to say at least something.

     Africa has long been on my horizon. To step on its soil was a deeply moving experience that brought back the centuries of struggle that have marked the life of its people through colonization, slavery, supposed decolonization through independent States and then the whole sad history of “development.”

     There are many paths of reflections that could be developed. It was particularly moving to visit Goré Island and the Slave House from which men, women and children were shipped out to the “New World.” We were told that many threw themselves overboard and that the water in the bay turned red from the thrashing of the sharks. It is a history that puts into sharp reflief the courage of those who continue today to struggle that every person might live with dignity and respect.

    It was a particularly significant time to be in Africa: the Tunisian government had just fallen, Egypt was in the process of ousting its president and several other countries were entering into a period of major popular mobilization. It was important to discover what the engaged people of Africa were saying and the week at the two Forums, with presence of delegates from every continent, provided an opportunity for them to tell the world about their efforts.  After my few days there, I came away with a tremendous respect for their wisdom, commitment and capacity for organization. Slowly they are working their way out of the rule of dictators maintained in place by the complicity of our North American and European governments. As one Tunisian told us, “We have done our work; now it is up to you to get rid of the real dictators, the heads of your governments” who try to dictate to the world what is possible.  

     Many people asked where I was from and I always said, “Quebec.”  I was surprised to find that the Africans, Senegalese in particular, recognized the name right away.  “Oh yes,” one young street vendor said, “You are part of the francophonie,” that is to say part of our French-speaking family.  Being in Africa led me to see Quebec in a clearer light. As a minority people in North America who struggle to assert their place, there is a resonance with the struggles of Africa and Quebec was seen by those I met as a partner in this struggle. I was able to look at the world through different eyes and find other horizons.