A Journey In The Mind Of A Conscientious Objector

Thomas Paine one of the founding fathers of modern America once stated that "T'is the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. The time has come for us Gambians to put emotions aside and reason with each other without ill will. Our nation needs the service and input of all to be counted in the league of nations that are striving for prosperity and progress.

'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
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'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=thomas+paine

'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/conscience_2.html

If Gambia is our home land as ascribed by our solemn anthem then we MUST let justice guide our actions towards the common good. I deliberately used the operative word "IF" meaning that we hold the words of our national anthem to be sacred and self evident that Gambia comes first before anyone and any ideology. A lot has transpired in recent times in the land we all claimed to love and if the interest of Gambia is paramount then we all must be each others keeper. The Gambia has become a polarized nation where micro interests/issues has shrouded the bigger picture. As conscientious Gambians, we need to remind each other of our duty to country and our promise for man's brotherhood. 

That said, I will want to bring to light the trial of Lawyer Darboe and Co as it has climaxed. Naturally, it is believed that if one does a crime he/she must serve the time but equally, the punishment MUST fit the crime. The State has a right to bring ANY citizen to the halls of JUSTICE but also the JUSTICE SYSTEM based on our legal code endorsed by our constitution have created safe guards to protect the citizens from the over zealous reach of the law if they are not found wanton. For the Gambia to prosper, we all need to have a unity of purpose and common interest for an emerging Gambia. My citizenship in the going concern called the Gambia gives me a right that is equivalent to a shareholders right in a corporate entity. This right accords me the opportunity to vote during elections and to also voice my opinion reasonably in the interest of the greater good. Based on the foregoing concern, I plead with the custodians of justice and civil order to dispense justice without fear or favor or ill will. For our anthem tells us to " let justice guide our actions". Posterity is here to judge us all in the Gambian narrative and we must endeavor to be great citizens of the land we all claimed to love. This is not a plea but a solemn reminder to my fellow countrymen and women. On the auspicious occasion of Eid ul Fitr, the President and Commander in chief of the Republic admonished the elders to have the courage and conscience to dialogue with him in furtherance of the country we all claimed to love. I will go a step further by saying that we all as citizens of this blessed land called the Gambia have a duty of care to not ONLY speak the truth to each other but state our concerns and wants to the people that lead us. I pray for a unified Gambia that is not based on tribal lines and narrowly defined personal/political interest as our conscience MUST ALWAYS be our moral compass for our behavior and utterances. God bless Gambia and I can surely sleep at night for taking this heavy load that burdened my conscience for months. I am mentally free from my inner demons that asked me to speak. Love for country starts with being honest with self.

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts
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Race! Race! Race! The Great American Tragedy

All is not well in the land of Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington and all was never well since the inception of these United States of America. Serious grievous harm was inflicted on the Native Americans and the imported African slaves who toiled the land that industrialized America to the marvel that it is today. Theoretically, America is the best country on paper as the men that sat at Constitution Hall drafted a masterpiece for what they considered America. For a start, the sacred document stated that “All men are created equal and do have an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whilst this was enacted to law, the Negro in the US was not considered human and was therefore deemed property of farm owners who not only exploited them for their physical strength but were also exploited fiscally because the owners of slaves benefited financially at the expense of the African slaves.

Society cannot forge ahead without atoning for the sins of the past and creating a new paradigm whereby historical prejudices and racially based biases are eliminated. America has conveniently swept away race issues under the rug hoping that the ugly chapter of its infamous history will fade away quietly. Unfortunately, the ghost of Nat Turner, Denmark Vessey, and Django still haunts modern America in its attempts to move on without adequately addressing the issue of slavery.  Furthermore, the prejudices of yester years orchestrated by men such as Huey P. Long and the likes of Governor Wallace of Alabama shifted from the halls of power to a more powerful medium called the media. Right wing American media has over the years done a good job at dehumanizing the Negro and the reinforcement of the messages spewed on their mediums have solidified in the minds of most law enforcement officials particularly “White Policemen”. The Negro male is fast becoming an endangered sub-specie of the human race thanks to the systematic abuse of his fundamental rights of existence by the establishment. The Negro male has a high incarceration rate relative to the general population; he also encounters POLICE BRUTALITY more often than any other group within the general population and the highest fatalities in the hands of law enforcers. If all these statistical abstracts are coincidences, then I will safely say that there is a problem with the American social set up. Often times, we are uneasy to address or talk about the issues of race as we avoid offending the very people who perpetuate the very system that is oppressing the Negro (political/judicial) establishments.

When I hear emotionally charged right wingers especially the political elite pompously talking about the Negro being a burden to the state as it relates to welfare, I realize the ignorance displayed by the law makers that are charged with drafting laws to build an equitable America based on merit. The Negro was NEVER a BURDEN to the State as they are the underwriters of modern America and the halls of justice has drafted a bounced cheque for the sweat and tears of the Negro by failing to adequately protect and offer restitution to them. Once again shame on the collective psyche of modern America for not taking the bull by the horn and deal with the issue of race conscientiously with sincerity. The American system needs a complete overhaul as it continued where slavery and segregation left off without adequately handling the very issues that plagued the Negro since her forceful importation to the United States. The Negro needs equal protection under the law like any other United State citizen.