We The People Reign Supreme. A Notice To The Political Class

Our revolution was televised and the second coming will also be televised. The guarantors of our fragile democracy (we the people) are putting on notice the political class of our utter disatisfaction of the state of affairs and management of our commonwealth. Jammeh was booted out due to his discretionary attitude towards the management of our country. Gambia is neither a fiefdom nor a personal patrimony of any politician and or interest group. We the people are the shareholders of this going concern and it shall be our way or the highway.

The direction and development trajectory this country takes lie squarely in the hands of our elected officials but I can safely say without ambiguity that that the people want is what's going to obtain.

December 1st 2016 was a vote against Jammeh not a vote for anyone. It was our day of redemption and the renewal of our dignity as Gambians. I therefore condemn in the strongest terms the abrogation of our rights and laws. I unequivocally without hesitation demand from my government to remember how they were constituted. Activism will give way to positive and genuine aspirations to develop this country. Equally, activism will be activated when our rights are trampled on or that of other Gambians. For duty, honour and country, I remain a humble servant of my conscience and country.

Watch the space as the evolution of our new democracy takes the course the people choose not the whims and caprices of the politicians. There comes a time when citizens muster the resolve to  steer the course of civic action.

#Nyang_Njie

Is The Gambian Economy Stupid? #Budget2019 An Utter Disregard Of The Gambian Macro Fundamentals

Fiscal Prudence is what the Doctor ordered. #Budget2019 is worrisome and taming of fiscal dominance is what the economy needs. The core macro fundamentals of this economy are neither robust nor sound to absorb the proposed expansionary fiscal measures such as the 50% salary increase. Inflation is likely to creep when disposable income increases especially at the proposed rate of 50%. Watch the video for the rest

Gambia Fiscal 2019. An Ambitious Budget Without Sound Macro Fundamentals

Macroeconomic Stability is the anchor for economic growth and prosperity. A country cannot tax it's way to prosperity. Therefore fiscal prudence and economic growth strategies must be the strategic objective of any government.

Having said the above, I want to register my concerns on an ambitious budget for fiscal 2019. The budget process is a combination of several activities  starting with the formulation of a resource envelope. This envelope takes into consideration all macro activities and opportunities in terms of our revenue drive. Hitherto to the formulation of a resource  envelope, a call circular is drafted for eventual bilateral consultations between sectors and the exchequer (Ministry of Finance). The 2019 budget is over reaching and grossly ambitious without sound macro fundamentals to back the expansionary fiscal drive. The stance of the government on the 2019 budget can create inflationary tendencies and also raise deficit financing which will in turn increase the domestic debt and consequently, raise the policy and interest rates of the Central Bank.

The desire by government to increase salaries by 50% is noble but lacks a logical construct based on prudent economic management. I wonder if the economy is stupid or the custodians of policy are taking the macroeconomic environment for a joke. The government must first engage in civil service reform by down sizing the government then use the savings to properly renumerate the workers.

I foresee a lackluster performance in 2019 and an economy that is severely taxed. God bless the Gambia but our economic woes are largely a result of politically expedient decisions that disregard good economic thought and policy. Our last Flicker of hope lies with the Assembly. I do hope for once, they tame the excesses of government by taking their oversight function seriously in order to the much needed fiscal consolidation and productive sector development and growth.

Nyang Njie

Open Letter To His Excellency President Adama Barrow

Open Letter to President Barrow

Your Excellency President Barrow

I write this letter to you with trepidation and anxiety, as a concerned citizen in our nascent democracy, which you fondly call New Gambia. With utmost respect, Mr. President, let me remind you that the Presidency is an institution and all your powers are derived from the sovereign citizens of the Gambia as clearly stated in section 1 (2) of the 1997 Constitution which reads:

“ The Sovereignty of The Gambia resides in the people of The Gambia from whom all organs of the government derive their authority and in whose name and for whose welfare and prosperity the powers of the government are to be exercised in accordance with this Constitution ”

Mr. President, let me take this opportunity to remind you that all the powers you exercise are subject to limits set by the supreme law of The Gambia, our Constitution as stated in section 61 (2)
 
“ The President shall uphold and defend this Constitution as the supreme law of the Gambia”

Mr. President, We as citizens as the repository of the sovereign powers of the state, have delegated our powers to your office to execute your duties in accordance with the laws of the land. Mr. President, you are the custodian or trustee of powers that belongs to the people, a powers bestowed to you by the people and powers to execute in the interest of the people. In a nutshell, all your powers and legitimacy are derived from the citizenry.

The good citizens of The Gambia broke the shackles of a brutal dictatorship and are still healing from a very dark episode of that history. The freedoms we enjoy today were not handed to us on a platter but are rather the result of sacrifices of patriotic Gambians - some of whom paid the ultimate price, may their lives rest in peace. 

Mr. President I find it hard to believe that you allegedly made the statement that “The Gambian people were scared of Yahya Jammeh’s power because he had the police, the SIS, the Army, but I am more powerful because I have the Police, the SIS, the Army and ECOMIG forces”[ my emphasis]. 

Mr. President, with utmost respect, the Police is our police, the SIS is our SIS and the ECOMIG is our ECOMIG. Mr. President, as Commander in Chief, your duty is to uphold the Constitution and command the security forces in accordance with the dictates of the Law as provided in section 61 (1) & (2) of the Constitution.

Mr. President, Never again will our security apparatus be used at the whim of any leader against the citizenry or any person for that matter.  Mr. President all security forces are servants of the sovereign people of the country albeit under your command at our behest. We trust and expect that the era of Presidential directives to our security forces is a thing of the past. 

Mr. President, our country is at a crossroad. As we are trying to build the foundation of our democracy (Constitutional Review Commission ”CRC”) and seeking to heal as a nation (Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission “ TRRC”  ), the youths are anxious and impatient, and want to reap the democratic dividends now. 

Mr. President, the same security forces you mentioned as belonging to you, belonged to your predecessor and were used as instruments of oppression against the citizenry. Mr. President, rest assured that the fear factor is a thing of the past. We defiantly stood up against your predecessor at the height of the political impasse despite his army, NIA (now SIS) and Police. #GambiaHasDecided against tyranny or any form of Dictatorship.

Mr. President, with such a statement, what message are you sending to the CRC and the TRRC?  Our nascent democracy is still fragile; the citizenry is learning the new ways of living under a democracy with all their expectations and aspirations.  

Now, more than ever, as our leader, as captain of our ship, we are yearning for unity and peace. We are yearning for a “ New Gambia ” where the basic essentials such as water, quality education, health care and decent employment opportunities are available to Gambians, particularly the poor and the underserved.  We are yearning for transformational leadership and not politics of rhetoric or division. Mr. President, we respectfully remind you of your own slogan one people, one nation and one destiny.

Mr. President, I hope and trust that you will recalibrate and refocus on making Gambia great. Mr. President, humility is a great trait and will endear you to Gambians. I humbly ask for the old President Adama Barrow to come back and steer our country to greatness.

For the Gambia our Homeland





Salieu Taal
Initiator  #GambiaHasDecided
Concerned Citizen

WHAT IS IN A NUMBER? WHO PAYS FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW NUMBER PLAN

In telecommunications, a lot rides in a number. A numbering plan is a telecommunication scheme through which telephone numbers are assigned to subscribers and telephony endpoints. Each telephone number is an address assigned to an endpoint in a network through which a designated subscriber can be reached. Depending on the local telephony requirements and network, a numbering plan can follow a number of strategies. Generally, operators are differentiated by a prefix (the digit their number range starts with. Well this is rapidly changing due to the introduction of number portability. Number portability implies that a subscriber of telephony services can move from one network to another by maintaining a unique number. This clearly is a break through in telecommunication as numbers are a national resource that needs to be efficiently and effectively managed. 

In the case of Gambia, our number plan is not only poorly managed by the regulator but it is frivolously allocated without due concern to future needs of this scare resource. As at today, our number plan has 9 ranges 1-9 and each series has a possible combination of One Million numbers thereby giving our telecommunications sector 9 million numbers. Generally, the 1 series is reserved for public service etc. 2 and 7 are allocated to Africell, 3 and parts of the 5 series are allocated to Qcell, 6 is allocated to Comium, 9 is allocated to Gamcel whilst 4,8,5 are allocated for the various services offered by Gamtel.

There are talks to introduce a new number plan. This has adverse effects to destination Gambia as it will take time for callers reaching the destination to be aware of the changes on the additional digit(s) added on our existing numbers. In addition, there is a financial cost associated with migrating the number plan. The cost of such a migration will ultimately be passed on to the subscribers by the operators. Now the million-dollar question is Should Gambia Migrate to a NEW Number Plan? The answer is an emphatic no because the Gambia is yet to exhaust the 9 million potential numbers within our existing plan. The 4 and 5 series are used by Gamtel for their land lines and it’s a known fact that nationally Gamtel doesn’t have more than 75,000 lines and this figure is even on the high side. This implies that within the 4 and 5 series we have a surplus of 1,925,000 possible numbers to use. It is also noteworthy to mention that the 8 series is used for the CDMA (Jamano) service and no more that 40,000 clients subscribe to that service nationally. That leaves us with a surplus of 960,000 numbers not in use. This therefore implies that there is an inefficient use of our scare resource (number range). 

I therefore called on our regulator PURA to look into the rationalization and effective use of our scarce resource rather than adding additional cost to an already over burden subscribers who pay one of the highest tariffs in the region for data. PURA must concentrate on making the sector more innovative by rewarding investments into the sector. The Quality of Service (QOS) Model to be adopted by PURA must reward innovation and investments. It baffles me that a 2.5G Network (Comium) is still allowed to sell data to Gambian subscribers. This is not only appaling but must be halted. Alternatively, Comium must be charged a hefty SPECTRUM FEE to discourage the use of such technology. In a nutshell, PURA is aiding COMIUM to milk their dilapidated infrastructure that is not in line with the technological advances Gambian subcribers deserve. An investor in the Gambian Telecommunication sector must avail the Regulator (PURA) with a 5 year roll out plan per their capital expenditure to make their networks efficient and responsive to the needs of the subscribers.

The Gambia Telecommunications Architecture needs a rethink! Innovate or Pay. The case of Comium a 2.5G Operator

Telecommunications is the gateway to prosperity for any progressive nation. The policy direction adopted by a country determines 0the quality of service rendered to its populace and dividends accrued to the subscribers of telephony services and by extension the economy at large. Little over a year ago, I wrote about the telco sector with much emphasis on the international gateway and the reluctance of government to fully liberalize the sector to optimize the gains for the subscribers of telco services.

Well time has elapsed and not much has changed in the telecommunication landscape of the Gambia both in terms of regulation  and the desired outcomes expected by the frustrated subscribers of telephony services in the Gambia. At the heart of the maligned policy environment is the absence of a market driven regulatory environment whereby the regulator understands that regulation is all about equity by creating a state of Pareto Optimality where every one is made better off without making anyone worse of. This is logically possible if the regulator and the policy formulators understand that innovation is the driver of prosperity in the tech sector. The desire for innovation must be rewarded at all times. Having said that, I expect the regulator and the government to revisit the license regime governing operators in the Gambia by giving them a fiscal incentive for augmenting their capital investments in the market. Equally companies ought to be punished for delivering sub par services ( poor voice quality, permanent half bit rate voice across the network, poor and inadequate network topology) etc. It baffles me that the Government of the Gambia is still renewing the license of a 2.5 G operator to continue to sell data products in the local market. This is not only a regulatory anomaly but an affront to the subscribers of telephony services of our beloved nation. The time has come for the regulator to to recommend the revision of any operator selling data on a 2.5G to either upgrade or strictly operate as a voice operator. Case in point #ComiumGambiaLimited whose technology is below the wants and need of the average subscriber considering the fact that Data is King. Our national appetite for data capacity has exponentially grown over the years and the policy direction must encourage the investment of capital items in the sector by operators to address the frenzy of mobile data in the market

My prayer to the regulator and the policy formulates is to be more responsive to the needs of the Gambian subscribers by rewarding innovation and punishing the lack of technological advancements by our operators. A 2.5G network has no place in 2018 Gambia where our wants and needs per telecommunication is data driven. Companies have a right to live and the right to die and the choices they make in the course of doing business determines the trajectory they take.

Let's start 2019 with a responsive telco sector that will further open up the country than encourage  operators to further milk a depreciated asset at the expense of society. Let them innovate or pay. This concept  implies that we reward positive technological efforts or down grade a license at a cost by allowing 2.5G networks to strictly offer voice products.

DARA JI - On The State Opening Of Parliament

DARA JI with Muhammad Jagana

The Balance with Mr. Nyang Njie on the ''CHAT ON''

What To Make Of The Forbes Rankings

https://youtu.be/TZjIZtSKl-whttps://youtu.be/TZjIZtSKl-w

Jakaarlo Bi - 20 JANUARY 2017 . My intervention at TFM

DECRYPTAGE :Political Impasse 2017

DARA JI With Secretary General &Head Of the Civil Service

MGI MUST NOT BE STRANGE BED FELLOWS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GAMBIA

The Americans are fond of saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. This age-old adage holds true for things that are normal and in order. The Gambian telecommunication policy framework is not in order and it is in need of dire attention and fixing. Telecommunication is a vital conduit for the development aspiration of any country. What we have been witnessing in the Gambia over the past 7 years as it relates to the mismanagement of our telecommunication industry especially our international gateway is not only a cause for concern, but a degradation of economic value that is going unabated in the telecom sector. The advent of the Africa Coast to Europe Cable (ACE) gave industry participants hope that the industry would be sanitized once and for all for the benefit of the subscribers of telephony services and the investors vested in the sector. These hopes were dashed as the previous regime of Jammeh plundered our national resource thereby rendering Telcos ineffective. Fast forward to December 2nd 2016, Gambians thought they had a new lease on life and the transactional nature of auctioning off our telecommunication infrastructure (Gateway) to the highest bidder would have been a thing of the past. The operators of telephony services and data providers were poised to see a liberal market where competition is rife. A series of meetings were convened by stakeholders in the sector and public policy practitioners to remediate the ills of the sector particularly that of liberalizing the sector without impeding on the operators wishes as per how to conduct their business. There was an overwhelming consensus to issue Gateway licenses to all operators and initiate a Gate Keeper arrangement to monitor all traffic inbound and outbound from the operators. 

This initiative has fallen on deaf ears with the issuance of a letter from the Office of the President (PR/C/676/Vol. 8(41-HSB) dated 11th April, 2018 bearing the caption Immediate Reinstatement of MGI’s Contract For The Exclusive Managenent of GAMTEL’S International Voice Gateway. Fundamentally, the contents contained therein in the correspondence stated above is validating the following;
1. A flawed contract signed before the coming of the present administration whose contents placed the Gambia at a disadvantage relative to the other party MGI must not be revisited for consideration nor accepted as an alternative. The same terms and conditions that led us to the fiasco/mess we find ourselves with MGI cannot be upheld by the executive or any other branch of government as the interest of the greater good MUST always be safe guarded.

2. The dates of the effectiveness of the contracts is not in line with the dates stated on the letter dated 11th April 2018 from the office of the President as the date of effectiveness of the MGI contract. The dates in question have a financial ramification and choosing a different date puts MGI in a better financial position relative to the Government of the Gambia. Based on clear evidence and instruments signed by MGI and the then MD of Gamtel Mr. Sanyang, the contract was signed the 1st day of June, 2014 contrary to the reported date of 31st December 2014 as per the letter from the Office of the President.  According to the contract MGI was to receive USD 600,000 monthly from the effective date until 31st December 2014. Thereafter, they were to receive USD 800,000 a month for the remainder of the contract. This amount were to be deducted from the total monies collected and the Government of the Gambia will bear all cost associated with making a call, billing the international carries, paying the staff associated with the operation and all other equipment or spare parts to be consumed by the project. This in itself was a bad deal but to make matters worse, MGI were to receive 40% of any additional revenue if the Gateway makes 5 Million dollars or 14 million minutes. Clause VI. On page 9 of the Contract was a clear rip off to the people of the Gambia because MGI was making free money without any effort to warrant such a reward. Furthermore, the contract explicitly stated that the revenues from the international gateway will cover all operational expenses associated with the Gateway.

3. The contract herein mentioned, is under review and scrutiny at the ongoing Janneh commission. Therefore, operationalizing it will be in breach of the good faith efforts being made by the commission to ascertain the validity of the said contract.

4. The decision of the Office of the President to bypass all relevant stakeholders (PURA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Telecoms and Justice) for consultations prior to the conveyance of approval for MGI to kick start their operations contravenes global best practice as it relates to public governance.

5. Based on the preamble on the first paragraph of the contract between the Government of the Gambia and MGI, it is stated that the government of the Gambia was represented by the Office of the President (Jammeh Administration). This once again was a fallacy as the contract was signed by Mr. Baboucarr Jatta the former MD of GAMTEL who is neither an official of the Office of the President at the time, nor a staff of the Government of the Gambia as he was a staff of a public enterprise owned by the Government of the Gambia. This anomaly once again puts the validity of the said contract to question.

6. Item 8 under the definition of OPEX (operational expenditure) states that Government shall pay for all fees and Social responsibilities carried out by MGI are at the expense of the gateway project. This is purely daylight robbery an including Social services or other contributions to the state. This implies that Corporate social responsibility projects must be borne by the state.


Going forward, the Government of the Gambia must adopt a comprehensive approach to fixing the festering ailment associated with the Gambian gateway.  The government MUST accept the notion of liberalization and kick start the process with immediate effect by transitioning from the status quo. This transitional period must not EXCEED 6 MONTHS. The following prerequisites must be adopted before the liberalization of the sector in order to avoid market chaos and unfair market positioning or the abuse of dominant market power.

1. Telecom Operators (GSM Companies) must first and foremost approach the sector in a holistic manner and not focus on the competitive nature of the business.
i. They need to work closely to usher guidelines and rules of engagement that will enhance the value proposition of the market and also promote price stability in order not to destroy value through tariff wars. Tariff wars will only give an edge to the subscribers in the short term but the loss in margin will make reinvestment of capital expenditure in the sector difficult thereby compromising service delivery mechanisms in the medium term difficult.

ii. The Operators must have a preexisting arrangement with the Public Regulator (PURA) for the issuance of their licenses once the transitional period with Gamtel expires. This will allow a seamless transition from the interim arrange to a full fledge liberalized market. The licensing regime must not be an undue burden to the operators and ideally, the regulator can augment the existing GSM license to a unified license thereby covering all aspects of the telecommunication business process.

iii. The sector must agree on the imposition of a price floor for all outbound and inbound international calls. This will reduce the incidence of price wars and heavy handed market positioning by operators.

iv. The operators must individually calculate the economic loss incurred by the operators by way of the MGI contract with the government. A demand note must be presented to government to recover all losses associated with the MGI contract.

2. The Government of the Gambia must be committed to the liberalization track by supporting the process in good faith. It is the responsibility of the state to protect the interest of the greater good at all times and this includes the termination of the MGI contract because it goes against the grain of our strategic national interest and good governance. The government of the Gambia being the custodian/party to the MGI contract must endeavor to do the following; 
           i. Terminate/Rescind the arrangement with MGI forthwith
  ii. Facilitate the recoveries of all financial losses due to the operators
iii. Work with PURA and Operators to institute a competitive tariff for destination Gambia including a price floor to avert price war amongst operators
iv. Pursue legal action against MGI and government officials who are found culpable in the MGI arrangement
vi. Establish a gatekeeper arrangement through a clearinghouse model to ensure revenue assurance for government and illegal sim box connections and by passes

3. The Regulator PURA is vital in the transition and final liberalization process of the telecommunication sector. The erosion of confidence by the operators and the general public on the efficacy of PURA as an effective regulator must be rebuild. This perception is bolstered by the constant circumvention of PURA by would be investors in the sector who are knocking on wrong doors to achieve their economic interest. Therefore, the following actions must be undertaken by the regulator to not only sanitize the sector but protect the esteem Gambian subscribers from poor service quality and excessive pricing models.

i. Facilitate the acquisition of gateway licenses to all operators without undue bureaucratic hurdles
ii. Enforce a price floor mechanism for international call tariffs
iii. Monitor and ensure quality of service delivery and promote fair play and competition amongst operators. 
In conclusion, I am of the view that it is to the national interest to not only sanitize the sector but accord Gambians with international best practices for services delivered to the general public especially that of telephony services. I do hope that the vested parties adhere to the stringent guidelines listed above in furtherance of a buoyant telecommunication sector. I also implore on the Gambian authorities to take the telecommunication sector seriously as the next generation of economic service delivery will be anchored on digital platforms which will rely heavily on data provision and telephony services. What we have witnessed in the past few days regarding the reinstatement of the MGI contract negates all economic and legal interest of the Gambia.

Gambia @ 53 Looming

Gambians irrespective of political orientation need unity of purpose for the common good. Gambia @53 is looming and if we are to do an audit of our progress and collective socioeconomic development, we will realise that not much has happened in advancing the fortune of Gambians. This problem is not only  a consequence of our political immaturity but also our emotional state due to our social orientation. A country that constitute  bitter people, opportunistic lot who place self before the greater good will not usher in a dawn of a new day for #GM220. The incumbent  and the Opposition SHOULD place country before personal interest.What we have witnessed post Jammeh other than the relative peace and stability is not worthy of celebration. We have witnessed the emergence of a crony capitalist class who looks at Gambia as a cake to be shared. We have seen non public funtionarlies infiltrating public policy space and decision making. Case in point GIEPA and the meddling of Ambassadors at Large in investment decisions. Mr. President the trajectory taken by your administration doesnt spell prosperity and ewuity for all and it reminds me of my great grandmother of blessedly memory who always retorted when will independence be over with and I asked her why and she retorted atleast their was a semblance of order in the colonial era. We never intended to get rid of the colonials to only replace them with another group of Gambians to behave in an extractionary mode reminiscent of our colonial past. I predict that Mr President Barrow has the magic number 15 in his deck of cards. Yes 15 years of rule for the first 5 years will not be counted in the proposed term limit bill. Well for your information Mr. President, the new Gambian is not only impatient but intolerant to such oblivious acts.

Gambia needs all of us and desenting views are healthy for any progressive society to thrive. The politics of personality Must be replaced with politics of ideology. Most of us are disgruntled with both the GOP and the incumbent and somehow find ourselves strangers in our own land. As young Africans we expect more from our government and leadership. Equally we want to see more from the GOP in terms of program and sincerity. The sooner Gambians look at the bigger picture and not their narrow aligned self interest,  the sooner we can see a society that will propel economic growth  and social mobility. My dream of the Gambia and the new Gambian is yet to be realized. Yes we have a good number of educated class but our emotional intelligence gets the best of us. God bless Gambia and salvation  starts with us purging our hearts and minds by making Gambia the alpha and omega of our national existence. What a selfish and opportunistic lot we are. I often wonder where we went wrong along the way and I now believe  that we experienced a social revolution not a political revolution as our discourse often center around character assassination and vilification of adversaries. Gambians need to cross to Senegal for a lesson in politics and civic action. Our anger and perceived prior experience  has made us blind as it relates to the interest of the greater good. Our public discourse needs substance  not taunting. Kebba of Jarumeh Koto and Ancha of Sabah Sanjal are not interested  in the venom we spew digitally. They want and expect us to create socioeconomic dividend that will improve their living conditions and that of their families. 18 February 2018 is just around the corner and I expect our citizen in chief President Barrow to show us the way out of the #SHIT_HOLE Gambia finds itself in. This can be articulated in a convincing address if he believes in it. Mr President please rescind your Ambassadors at Large portfolio and move the business of running our investment opportunities from the state house. This is not prudent nor honourable. Shoe us the path of prosperity by championing an ambitious national development plan. We Gambians want an infrastructural revolution. Our little highways are congested, our drainage are clogged just to name a few. The is not much to desire and being better than Jammeh is not enough as Gambians deserve great leadership. We suffered 52 years of statehood from clueless leaders so let Independence 2018 be a new dawn and hope you have the impetus to transform our elongated speck of land. Mr President this country suffers from a  leadership deficiency and crisis of competence. Gambia deserves first rated public servants not third rated cronies. Our national assets and positions cannot be proffered to cronies and close associated as rewards for prior favours.

To the #Gambia, I remain ever true and this exposé is borne out of my utter dissatisfaction with the trajectory my beloved Gambia is charting.

MLK DAY

The United States just celebrated MLK day amidst the shambles of a man called Donald Dumb. A man who has further polarised the world by bringing race relations to its lowest ebb. Well MLK day has been for quite some time now a day of stock taking and reflection as I honor the altar boy from sweet Auburn Avenue that later became the immortal Martin Luther King. Conviction, perseverance  and faith  saw him through the bridge at Selma, Alabama and at the Mall in Washington D.C. As I take time off to remember MLK, I equally take time to remember brother Malcolm X. They had parallel live trajectories as it relates to ideology but they surely converged at the confluence of negro redemption. Sad that mainstream America wants to discount the work of Minister Malcolm but his legacy is indelibly scribed in our psyche for his contribution to the upliftment of the negro is undoubtedly stellar. Indeed the negro came a long way but surely the race is still not over as we now witness atrocities that are reminiscent of the days of Governor  Wallace and many other segregation stalwarts who refused to not only acknowledge the negro as equals but willfully usurped our inalienable rights. The government reneged on our 40 acres and a mule but we shall not forget as history is our guiding light to salvation. Hoping for better days for the negro in these United States because he has been  short changed for far too long and all he asked for is his fair share of the American dream. RIP Treyvon Martin and many others whose civil liberties were curtailed by zealous gun toting law enforcers who are ignorant and intolerant to the negro's right in the USA. Happy MLK Day and praying  for better days for my folks. As we celebrate MLK, we should equally remember the likes of Ralph Abarnathy, John Lewis, SCLC members and all freedom loving  people (whites, jews, Latinos) who worked hand in glove with the good reverend to get to the mountain top. We are yet to overcome but freedom shall surely come our way in and out of the United States. Oppression is a disease that needs global extinction. Social equality is a remedy to our global woes. The pie needs to be redistributed