We lived in a rural village about an hour’s drive from Banjul, the capital, and had restricted entry to many academic alternatives. The few we did have gave us a bonus over our mother and father, who couldn’t learn or write — and even communicate English. Whereas our father was deeply suspicious of conventional education — calling it a assemble of the White man — our mom quietly supported our efforts to get educated and broaden our horizons.
However at the same time as we realized in major and highschool, we knew we had been nonetheless deprived. We didn’t have entry to school or university-level schooling, and good-paying jobs had been scarce. One of the best positions went to these most linked to the lads already in energy.
In distinction, America was an emblem of progress and mobility. And American popular culture solely strengthened our idealized notion of the US. Gambians all listened to American music — be it Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson or Mariah Carey — and we adopted American vogue developments intently. We knew the names of most American actors and routinely argue over our favorites. Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris stay two of the preferred.
Primarily based on the American media personalities we got here to know, we considered People as among the most empowered individuals on earth. In the event that they willed it, they may attain any academic or skilled heights.
America additionally regarded huge and numerous. Every state appeared like its personal nation — and but American democracy appeared to by some means maintain all of them collectively. We didn’t care about Democrats or Republicans or their political squabbles — we solely cared that American democracy appeared to convey peace, wealth and independence. And, extra to the purpose, we believed that wherever there was hassle on the planet, America would take the lead in addressing it.
Whereas our impression of America led my brother and I to dream of shifting there, it additionally led us to think about a greater future for Gambia. I didn’t but know the fragility of America’s personal democracy. However I did know that it was higher than what was passing as freedom in my nation, and I hoped we may replicate the mannequin.
I knew we didn’t must dwell this manner. America proved that residents can play a job in selecting their very own future, and so I began writing as an activist after which as a journalist — demanding extra of our authorities in every column I filed.
I continued to jot down for Gambian newspapers, when, in 1992, I left for the US to hitch my husband who was ending his education in Kentucky. Two years later, whereas I used to be nonetheless in America, Jawara was overthrown in a coup and Yahya Jammeh, a navy official, changed him.
Even from a distinct continent, I nonetheless revealed stories uncovering the abuses of the Jammeh regime. And but, regardless of my distance from Gambia, Jammeh nonetheless thought-about my writing a menace to his rule. When my father died on the finish of 2006, I returned to Gambia and was arrested upon arrival.
By then, I might already realized of America’s faults: the mass shootings, social inequality and every day wrestle towards racism. I additionally noticed how the typical American didn’t know the nation’s immigrant historical past, and I couldn’t imagine how frequent nativism was changing into. Merely put, I noticed the cracks in American society, and as an African immigrant who had believed within the American dream, it was a tough actuality to simply accept.
However for all of the nation’s systemic issues, America was nonetheless every thing to Gambians dreaming of freedom and prosperity. American democracy wasn’t good, however it was shut sufficient. In America, I used to be free to maintain writing about Gambia — a selection I didn’t have at residence.
However Gambia is not the one nation fighting democracy. Now I am watching with terror as American democracy falters, and I concern too many missteps may imperil international democracy, too.
The picture of America declines every single day in lots of elements of Africa — and all over the world. It is disappointing, it is scary and, to be frank, it is crushing our hopes.
Too many People who respect democracy imagine that the nation is so flawed it would not deserve to guide by instance. They imagine that for all of the nation’s errors and injustices, it is time for another nation or some excessive superb to switch America because the image of democracy all over the world. It is not so easy.
After all, People are proper to look at their failures and demand extra of their nation, however they cannot ignore their obligation to foreigners residing beneath oppressive governments in all places. It wasn’t simply American affect that made me demand higher from the Gambian authorities — it was figuring out that America was there that made me imagine that I may succeed.
I do know that People right now didn’t ask for this accountability. However now that they’ve it, they need to honor it. The image of American democracy continues to be probably the most potent international drive for freedom, and with out it, the world — together with my residence nation — faces a darkish future.
