I have this crazy theory, that once an American is more than a first generation American, they are an American, and nothing more, legally speaking, of course.  That is, say you’re Senegalese, and you emigrate to America you are, of course, Senegalese-American, and on College forms, etc, you’d write “Senegalese-American.”  But your kids, or, Second-Generation Americans, would be legally known as Americans, nothing more.

This phenomenon would really only do in America, a country of, I would guess, 98-99% immigrants.  Colorblind societies are dangerous, in that you risk assimilation and a loss of intrinsic cultural values–but this danger applies only to people on a superficial level.  The Wolof have a saying that goes “A log in a river does not become a crocodile, even after a long time,” meaning you are who you are, which is very existential.

photo: Thomas GilchristPeople know who they are, this will never change.  A Senegalese American will never loose his Senegalese heritage.  I hope he would continue to wear his boubou on Fridays, open a Senegalese restaurant in his neighborhood, and speak Wolof with those who know it, though driving a Peugeot and sacrificing a ram in the garage could get a little hairy.  But legally speaking, he’s an American.

It takes a stand that says “We will not judge others based on what we do not know about them.  We will not judge people by the color of their skin, or whether they are male or female or a little bit of both, whether they prefer to have sexual intercourse with men or women, regardless of their gender, whether they are smart or stupid, whether they are mean or nice.

A good friend of mine has a theory where he thinks eventually, racially, everyone will be the same.  But it’s not about race.  We should be able to acknowledge our differences, embrace them, but not hate people for them.  We should be able to love so much more than we often forget to do.  We worry about everything.  This is a privileged statement as there are many people who really do need to worry about a lot of stuff, but if we would love more, sometimes just even ourselves, maybe, just maybe people will be OK.

Falling in love is the most beautiful feeling in the world, and I pray to God that everyone has a chance to experience it.  It’s such a little big world out there.  Maybe we could experience it, with another person, so we have something to talk about.

I’m leaving February 28, 2009 at 3:00 am in the morning to return to New York from Dakar, Senegal.  Study abroad has taught me to know…. that things will be OK.

The true evil in the world, and I’m talking about hate here, occurs in estranged perspectives.  How Hitler was able to do what he did is an astounding misrepresentation of humanity.  Suicide bombers, war, fighting–how it ever gets to these points I will never fully understand.  We can all feel hate, feel anger, we can all pull a trigger and slide a knife, we all are capable of spitting in an elder’s face.  Humans are capable of anything.

But humans can choose to be capable of understanding instead of violence; we don’t have to be mad at each other.  We don’t have to feel like everyone is against us. We can feel loved and give love even when we don’t deserve it.

In the final scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Sean Connery says that he found “illumination” in the Holy Grail.  Illumination–how many times is one illuminated?  It’s not so much the actual illuminating that’s important, but the being open to illumination at a moment’s notice.  To put down the gun, to sign the piece of paper that says all humans are equal and then shaking your neighbor’s hand.

Maybe what I’m trying to say when I say that an American should just be an American, is that’s we’re all equals, that there are no differences between human beings in that we are all different, but we are all humans, so why don’t we just call ourselves humans then, hmmmm?

Jack Kerouac writes with a solemn love for humanity.  He treats people with respect.  His respect for humanity is intrinsic.  People have, I believe, an intrinsic respect for human that at times, they go to all lengths to cover up and reject.  You see it time and again that people are so sucked into whatever world they are in they forget they are apart of a world.

The French word for Earth is Terre.  In reading “Le Petit Prince,” it struck me that our planet has a different name in every language.  Of course I knew languages have different words for different objects, but I never thought about it in the context of an entire planet.

By Thomas Gilchrist

Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Buddha I suppose one of the things Senegal teaches you is to respect all people. Part of this has to do with the fact that you are constantly being presented with annoying situations to which you have to react. These interactions occur with people who are almost always poor and dirty and who almost always want something, either cash or for you to buy whatever they are selling. Senegal is also extremely tiring, and loud, and when you’re stumbling around tired and hungry with a ringing in your ears from some unnecessary loudspeaker, and some guy comes up to you and starts singing about how much he loves God and why you should give him money (I don’t think Jesus or Mohammed or Buddha or any religious figure in history has ever asked for money) and some other guy walks up and wants you to buy this t-shirt you don’t want and everyone is yelling and grabbing and trying to speak english and not taking no for an answer and following you around and you need to respect these people as much as you do say, your father, or whatever teacher inspired you to go to college.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Buddha

I was walking home today eating a treat I bought on the street for 100 FCFA, and it was oh, so good, and I was oh, so hungry, and you’re not supposed to eat on the street they say cause its rude, but around dusk its ok cause everyone’s going home for dinner anyways. And I look down and I see this tiny child tugging at my sleeve, covered in dirt wearing a t-shirt saying please, sir give me money. And he’s covered in dirt wearing a t-shirt I wouldn’t use to wipe dirt off the floor of my garage back in the States, no shoes, he’s got his little plastic container for people to give him rice to eat. He’s got coins in his hand, three or four, no more than a few cents snot on his face grooping down his cheeks his eyes crusted over with shit, not shit, actually. I look at him this little man, and he’s speaking some Arabic French Wolof who knows practically running to keep up with me, and I  say, “Shit, goddamnit.” cause I know I’ve been caught with food on the street. And fuck I don’t give these kids money cause I’m all about teaching fishing over but fuck cause I really, really wanted this tasty treat of mine I only had one left. But this Kid, I’ll call him Jesus, Christ my Saviour, I look down and see the shit and the crust and the snot all gooby and I know he has me and my heart just sinks.

I can’t bring myself to say forgive me brother till next time cause Jesus has me and my heart hits my shoes and I say Fuck! cause I really, really wanted this goddamn fried goodness, harumph I give the kid Jesus the whole thing and a half and he stops and puts his little eyes to the food and eats it.

When your heart sinks like that you feel whole again, born again, loved again, feeling again, hoping for something better for this world but realizing this world is as good as it gets for each one of us. Little Jesus, God Almighty, Allah praise be to Buddha right there is this tiny street child tugging and I yell Fuck cause goddamnit there’s so much to life but none more than the small children covered in dirt.

Mr. 44We stood, and we sang the national anthem, crowded inside the bar at Club Atlantique here in Dakar, Senegal.  The bartender had just passed out Champagne  to everyone in little plastic flutes.  When they asked everyone to stand for the vice-president and then the president, and then for the President and the former President leaving, we didn’t stand.  For our National Anthem, however, we did.  There must have been more than 150 people inside the room, and people were sitting wherever they could, leaning against the walls, and sitting four to a three person couch, with a crowd of children and mothers were gathered sitting cross-legged in front of the projected screen.

The crowd was overwhelmingly Obama, but I didn’t like  how people would jeer at George W. Bush.  The man served in the most important office in our country for eight years, and while many people may not agree with him, he should be treated with decency.

President Obama told the world that “America is ready to lead again,” which I thought was interesting.  People have referred to us as the “Default Superpower” amidst the economic downturn, but President Obama clearly has envisioned erasing “Default” from this title.

If George W Bush ended up standing for everything that is wrong with America, President Obama is a metaphor for optimism.  While it’s obviously dangerous to use the word “Change” alone, inspiration can manifest itself in actual results.  One could say Martin Luther King Jr. was an optimist, but the fact that he stood for something was much more important that what his shoes supported.

CNN reported on how Team Obama was going to get right to work, the very afternoon of their official arrival.  This is encouraging.  Being in Senegal since September 7th has left me a bit removed from the economic and social crisis befalling our country. Obama will disappoint many people, but if he’s the honest, intelligent, translucent man he appears to be, he will surely heal our country more than he disappoints.

The only people in Senegal I’ve found to have supported McCain (although don’t ask the names of either vice-presidential candidate, or even Sen. McCain himself) did so on a basis of religious conservatism, primarily gay rights and abortion.  Africa supports Obama.  What is sad, however, is seemingly few people do so objectively.  I’ve noticed the majority support him because of the color of his skin.

It’s hard, if not impossible, for a non-America to understand America, and the things that go on there.  The world community by and large hated George W. Bush because he was viewed as intolerant.  Obama is heralded as an answer not just to America, but the world.  With no longer just America in a recession, Obama’s jumping into the pit of fire couldn’t have occurred at a hotter time.  Why does the world seem to support him?  Why shouldn’t they? He’s vowed to do things much differently than his scorned predecessor.

This inauguration was a proud time for Americans.  I was proud, during that rare circumstance here in Senegal of being surrounded by citizens of the United States. I was proud because we are a great country that in the next twenty-five years will regain not only its fiscal, but its moral greatness.  Living abroad has made me love Senegal, and appreciate what the people here do, but it has also made me love America more. I never really considered myself an American before coming to Senegal, because I really didn’t know what that meant.

So we stood in this packed dining room in Dakar, Senegal, and we sang our national anthem.  A new man is our President, and new people will be making the important decisions for our country.  It will be exciting to return home, to see how people are feeling about having elected a new leader for the next four years.