"the Mosque is never complete"

 

I wish more Americans could experience Islam in its varied forms.  Throughout most of northern Africa, Islam took root almost immediately after the Hejira.  The Quran helped unify Africans in the north and west, bringing literacy and a shared language as well as trade.  After just a few decades of French rule, a man named Amadou Bamba founded a new sect of Islam under a tree in what is now known as Touba, the second largest city in Senegal.  Touba, which is a three-hour drive from Dakar into the center of Senegal, is a sacred place.  Even though it is crowded, life here is slow. It is also dusty and hot--to the tune of 107 degrees in the shade on a good day!  There are special rules for Touba, which is believed to be a holy city where spiritual perfection is possible. The Mouride here in Senegal have been aided by the Baye Fall--a brotherhood of men who volunteer to follow in the footsteps of Ibrahim Fall, one of Bamba's most disciplined and devoted followers.  In Touba, the Baye Fall support the Mouride sect. Instead of praying or following the 5 pillars of Islam, they work for the Imam and the Khalif.  They wear belts to indicate their willingness to work (see pic below). For example, during Ramadan, the Baye Fall will feed the pilgrims (over one million of them) who flock to Touba for the holiday.  Ibrahim Fall is buried in the cemetery just opposite the grand Touba mosque; I visited both the cemetery and mosque today.  Some years ago, I traveled solo to Bolgatonga in northern Ghana (with, I might add, a chicken on my lap for what turned out to be an 11-hour bus ride).  Touba reminds me of Bolgatonga in the way I *felt* to be there, namely, hyper-visible as a white person and yet invisible as a woman.  I had to purchase a dress that covered my ankles before even driving into the city limits of Touba.  I saw very few women inside the center of the city.  Yet, I learned so much more here about the practice of Mouridism.  In Senegal, people love to talk about religion and ethnicity, even willingly inviting a conversation.  I attribute this to the stability of the nation.  The folks with whom I traveled today attribute this to Bamba himself.  The story goes that Bamba was both an advocate for equality and an anti-imperialist (he founded Touba to purify Islam in Senegal).  Led by these values and open to the mysticism Sufism provides, Bamba created a religion based on acceptance, peace, and, for lack of a better expression, being chill.  In fact, the Baye Fall are known as Muslim hippies.  I can see that. Nonetheless, I also sat with several Baye Fall today who would put one's stereotypical hippie to shame in their devotion to purity and tradition. Here, there is a sense of brotherhood and a genuine joy in both nation and religion.  One of the clerics explained that the Mosque is always under construction because people are always improving: people are never finished, so the Mosque is never finished!  

Below are pics from the road, the cemetery, and the Mosque.  After our long day in Touba (I sat alone through three calls to prayer, including the 2pm call, which is a long one), we spent what felt like another whole day making our journey back.  

this is a video of the Baye Fall brother listening to the Quran outside Fall's tomb.
Not sure if it will work on blogger.

with Bada Sene and Assane

Moroccan artists are restoring the Mosque. Their work is breathtaking, but hard to capture.

if you look carefully, you will see Africa at left.
I always look for a truck with Africa on it as I travel.

Our truck broke down and we spent about two hours with this woman and her 13 children!
I do not, as most of you know, ever hand out anything to folks as I travel (believing it creates an uneven relationship).  I gave this woman money and judging by the kwashiorkor facing at least half of her children, it was a good call.

Jerreh and me, literally moments after hearing Daara J Family on the radio!
(they are my favorite Senegalese hip hop band and Jerreh used to sell
cds for a living).

Experiencing nighttime on the streets of rural Africa is about one of the most magical experiences possible.  The work
is done for the day and everyone is sharing public spaces that are as vibrant as they are sacred, distant
from the reach of global capitalism for just a few hours!

"a milestone for justice in Africa"

If there is any further example needed to support that "things happen for a reason," then I offer the following story of my day.

I was supposed to travel today with friends to the old colonial town called St. Louis.  It was to be a long drive to a place that many visit as a way to step into the colonial past.  I wanted to see the architecture and experience the heart of old Wolof country.  Things fell apart, and I ended up wandering the streets of Dakar by myself.  I tried to visit the national art museum, home of the best collection of art in West Africa.  It is closed on Mondays!  Then I got lost.  I stopped in a cafe for a cold coke.  To my right, I saw the lawyers from Human Rights Watch, including the world-famous "dictator hunter" Reed Brody (who I recognized).  I was there when reporters from Reuters and AP interviewed Brody via cell phone as he stopped for coffee after leaving the Court.  Elated, he explained how over 15 years of work came to a joyous conclusion today in Senegal.  Brody was part of the defense team that supported victims of Hissene Habre, former President of Chad.  On July 20, 2015, Habre went on trial  before the high court in Senegal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and thousands of counts of torture (including rape).  As far as I know, and have been able to read, this is the first case where a sitting court in a single country prosecuted a former leader of another country. Today, the Senegalese court convicted Habre to life in prison for his actions over the course of his 8-year presidency (1992-2000) in what has been hailed a fair, momentous trial that will be an example to all dictators.

The conviction is a landmark one--for the fight against impunity worldwide and for the African court system, which has taken many knocks.  The case would never have happened if the survivors of Habre had not devoted their lives to his trial.  They wanted justice, and today, they got some version of it.  What makes this all the more meaningful for me personally is that I was able to hold in the light a former professor of mine--Sam Nolutshungu (best known for his anti-apartheid activism, but also for his protest against Habre).  He was one of the professors who took me under his wing at the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African American studies....changing my life.  He invited me often to his home for family dinners and I helped him conduct research for his book "The Limits of Anarchy:  Intervention and State Formation in Chad" (for which he thanked me in his forward).  He died just after I graduated from college, and, at his funeral, several people spoke about his advocacy against Habre.  Today, I was able to tell Brody that I knew Nolutshungu and, as a result, shake the hand of the man who helped bring about this historic conviction.

If you have 8 minutes, you can watch a terrific Human Rights Watch overview of the Habre trial here:  
https://www.hrw.org/tag/hissene-habre

After that really powerful, chance encounter, I found my way to the island of Goree, via a ship departing the second largest port in West Africa.  After initially declining the help of a guide, I relented and had the most wonderful 5 hour conversation with a Mandingo teacher from the Casamance region (near Gambia, in the south of Senegal).  Jerreh, the guide, is part of the Mande caste known to produce musicians and historians.  So, needless to say, we had fun talking about globalization, ethnicity, Senegalese history, and music.  He also gave me what has to be the world's very best introduction to the world-famous "point of no return"--Goree Island.  I applaud anyone who is still reading :)

Settled in 1536 by the French, Goree became one of the largest slave markets in the heinous and highly productive Atlantic slave trade.  I have been to the equivalent in Zanzibar for the east African trade, across the Indian Ocean.  Goree undoubtedly shows signs of "the west" in a way that one does not see in east Africa.  While I prefer the down-home feel of Zanzibar, this was a beautiful and meaningful visit for me.  It reminded me of walking in northern Haiti with my dad many years ago, reflecting on the Haitian uprising.  You feel the history in your bones.

Today,  this island off the coast of Dakar is home some 1400 people who are a mix of Fulani traders, Christian nuns, and Islamic families of the Wolof and Baye Fall traditions.  There are no cars, no bikes, and very little drama.  It is an oasis of bougainvillea, art, and weighty history. What is fascinating, as always to me, are the layers of silences.  There is the obvious silencing of the millions (11 million?  20 million?) enslaved women, men, and children against whom traders committed the ultimate denial--slavery or death. Beyond that, though, is the story of the Senegalese government who forcibly removed the fishermen who lived on Goree to turn it over to families willing to preserve the buildings as a testament to esclavage.

p.s.
I cannot figure out how to place the accents on the words, so for the francophiles....my apologies. Instead, enjoy these photos as a penance.

seems crazy that such a dark assault on humanity would today be such a colorful place

the door of no return

Senegalese teachers from all over the nation bring their students to Goree for a field trip.
One teacher told me she was there when Nelson Mandela visited in 1994.  Mandela, the story goes, cried. It is emotional.

Lauren:  the heart-shaped mask is for you!

children coming home to Goree from school in Dakar. 

Gail--doesn't this remind you of Colonia in Uruguay?

Hard to believe the baobob tree, symbol of Senegal but present almost everywhere in Africa, begins the 600-year-long journey as this little black seed.  Jerreh confirmed for me that, in fact, the Mande bury their storytellers in the trunks of baobob.  We looked for one that had been the final resting place of a griot...no luck.  

Damien:  look familiar?

This woman asked me to trade my lipstick for a gorgeous glass bead necklace
that I plan to give to Nathaniel for a graduation gift...it was her father's.  I tried hard to pay her for it since the lipstick did not seem a fair trade, but...she does look good in it!  (she would not smile--she explained she does not like her teeth;) 

Five Lenses in Dakar

I started today having breakfast with a friend from University of Chicago who greeted me in the lobby as if we had never parted!  She is now an Associate Professor at Indiana University, researching the social production of visuality and value in Dakar.  She is presenting a paper at the conference I am attending later this week.  It was terrific to catch up and connect with a member of what was once a really vibrant post-colonial studies group in south side Chicago.  After breakfast, I visited the home of Mamadou's sister and brother in law, who welcomed me into their large and loving home.  There, I met four of their five children, neighbors, cousins, and Mamadou's mother! Adama and the 14 year old nephew I have been calling Little Mamadou, took good care of me--translating and (though I swear I did not ask) bringing me a cold coke.  In the class I teach, we read segments of Dayo Olopade's book called the Bright Continent.  In that book, she asks us to look at Africa not through the tired and damaging lenses western media provides (dark, poor, diseased, etc), but, instead through the lenses of nature, commerce, technology, youth, and family.  Today, I looked through all five lenses, and, as always, I love what I see.  

 LUNCH AT HOME OF SOKNHA AND WALE

Mamadou's cousin, preparing lunch

Little Mamadou and Wale, Mamadou's nephew and brother in law 

Ba Gueye, Mamadou's friend University of Dakar.

Sohkna's prayer beads.  

Soknha inviting us to sit and eat

my first and likely my best taste of yassa, a Senegalese dish that is as delicious as it is beautiful!

SPENT LATE AFTERNOON WALKING IN PLATEAU AND MEDINA NEIGHBORHOODS

The beach behind the hotel where I am staying.  

There is a close partnership between Morocco and Senegal and there are signs everywhere, including these flags.

I have many pictures of fish, some Barracuda and other large fish
(one fish with what looked like human teeth
...seriously, look...)

one cans see almost the same launching pad for local fisherman in eastern India and Dar es Salaam.  

I survived the encounter with the eel.

watching the football game