 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
shaka
996 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Jun 2009 : 19:50:41
|
quote:
Originally posted by Janko
A bird’s perspective has a wide-angle therefore a better aerial view than impressions gotten from land and water.
Don’t you think comparing UK and USA is a little bit ambitious, say, from a historical perspective and with both population and size in mind?
I think Janko had point here. It is unfair to make such brash comparison between Gambian migrants in the US and the UK without looking at the broader picture or trying to understand the genesis of migration of Gambians to both countries. Gambian migration to the US is and had always primarily been to study or education related. In fact it is safe to say that up 80% and more of long term(one year or more) visas issued for Gambian migration to the US is for study purposes. Then there is the facilities for students in the US available to all without discrimination, whether you a citizen or an immigrant. The policy of the US is that any student who stepped on its shores is potentially a scientist, economist, doctor, engineer, accountant etc who could be beneficial or useful to US society. Therefore the process of assimilation into US society begins when the Gambian immigrant steps on its soil where education of migrants is rewarded with an upgrade of your immigration status and a job to reflect your qualification. The US student can work while studying and can take breaks in between studies to work for more money to adjust to his needs. In this climate the Gambian student migrant can steadily strive, prosper and better themselves. The Gambian migrant student in the US is also less likely to go back home at the end of his studies because of the many benefits they enjoy there.
Migration to UK on the other hand is a hell lot more complex. Up until the 90s long term migration to the UK by Gambians was primarily study related. Gambians went to the UK, study hard, work hard and go back home proud of their achievements. Go to any college in London, especially the finance and business colleges, it was not uncommon to find as much Gambians as any other African or Asian citizens. The culture of study and hard work was deeply rooted in the Gambian community and they inspired and help attract hungry young Gambian students to the UK for the same good reasons. But by the late 90s to date, a new wave of Gambian migrants begin to dominate the UK scene, the beach boys and girls, the Bumsters. This was made possible by a surge in the number of tourists coming to Gambia in the same period. Gambia suddenly become the eldorado of sex tourism where sex-starved Europeans made it their top tourism destination. Young men seized the opportunity to go to Europe by marrying old European hags. With UK accounting for over 60% of total number of tourists who visit the Gambia every year, it is obvious that a similar percentage of these marriages of convenience(not always the case though) are between Brits and Gambians. Most of these people don't give a fcuk about education or studies, they came to fcuk Babylon period. Their new found immigration status permits them to shuttle between the Gambia, the UK and other parts of Europe with ease and earned them the right to party hard. Within a few years they have established a culture of raving and corrupted a whole generation of students and hard working Gambians. Recent near-xenophobic immigration policies for non EU students in the UK makes these new comers particularly attractive to Gambian migrant students. Young student women are lured to some of these young men with the promise of marriage to upgrade their immigration status and most of them foolishly abandon their studies to chase after them. A gala night with a Senegalese musician or carnivals are top draws for these two groups. Many a young women find themselves at the mercy of these Bumsters, who abuse and use them while blackmailing them after their immigration status become illegal. Young Gambian student men are mean while brainwashed into abandoning their studies to crawl the pubs and night clubs of the UK hoping to hook up with a UK or European citizens to marry. The whole UK scene is washed up with Gambians with confused priorities. Their numbers in UK jails are also swelling up for all sorts of crimes. Some of them are so dumb that if you hear the crimes they commit you feel like banging your head on a wall. The number of Gambians attending UK colleges and universities are dwindling by the second. Educational and intellectual forum is the last thing on the minds of this community. Jealousy, hatred, betrayals back-biting and backstabbing is the order of the day. Never-the-less there are many progressive Gambians even among the Bumsters who thrive hard to better themselves, their families and the Gambia each day. A wake up call is certainly long overdue. I personally would not encourage any ambitious student to go to the UK unless you are on government scholarship. |
 |
|
|
Janko
Gambia
1267 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2009 : 20:59:14
|
| An interesting elaboration, Shaka,…… "a bird’s perspective" |
Clean your house before pointing a finger ... Never be moved by delirious Well-wishers in their ecstasy |
|
|
|
Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2009 : 21:37:35
|
Good contrast Shaka. Ground breaking. |
Karamba |
|
|
|
Prince
507 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2009 : 23:05:07
|
Great analysis Shaka. Access to quality education in the UK is also made harder by the exorbitant non-EU tuition fees. Your analysis is a good reason for quote:
Originally posted by shaka
... not encourage any ambitious student to go to the UK unless you are on government scholarship.
A growing number of our ambitious students are compelled to join the British infantry to make ends meet. |
|
|
|
turk
USA
3356 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2009 : 23:06:04
|
| It's painful to admit, but Shaka is right. |
diaspora! Too many Chiefs and Very Few Indians.
Halifa Salah: PDOIS is however realistic. It is fully aware that the Gambian voters are yet to reach a level of political consciousness that they rely on to vote on the basis of Principles, policies and programmes and practices. |
|
|
|
Dembish
Gambia
284 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 01:25:59
|
| SHAKA you really got the point,there is nothing more to add to that, you have touched all the angles, from the harsh Uk immigration policies, to the Gambian bumster immigrants, to the fake student life of gambian student immigrants etc. |
There is no egg without a chicken, and no chicken without egg. |
|
|
|
MADIBA
United Kingdom
1275 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 10:11:06
|
What more can i say? After Shaka's brilliant expose and the rejoinders.
Well like most of you i have lived and seen it all. |
madiss |
|
|
|
shaka
996 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 17:19:24
|
Whoa!! Whoa!! Whoa!! Is this a night at the Oscars or something? Ok here we go then......First of i'd like thank the Emperor, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh for curing the warts on my arse without which i would not be able to stand on my feet in front of this great Bantaba audience. Secondly i'd like to thank God for giving me a life. I'd also like to thank my mum and dad for bringing me up and making sure i ate enough Mbahal to give me the strength to carry on in this mad world. My manager Moe for all the Zumzum and Chonkom to stimulate my thoughts...hey man, you are the best Zumzum man on the planet. Thank you Kuno for initiating this very important discussion. Thank you to Janka, Karamba, Prince, Turk...hey man i love you too!!(tears flowing down my cheek) Thank you to Dembish and Madiba. I am chuffed to bits!! Thank you everybody. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Mwah!! Mwah!! Mwah!!!!
On a serious note though, there is a lot the UK Gambian community need to learn especially from our brother and sister Yanks as well as the Scandinavians. |
Edited by - shaka on 25 Jun 2009 17:22:03 |
|
|
|
Moe
USA
2326 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 17:34:38
|
I think your name says it all King Shaka Zulu. The TRUTH will always remain as the truth ,no doubt about that .it was a good piece ,and we can all relate to it. I think Santa is our Manager we got his Satala  .good piece though |
I am Jebel Musa better yet rock of Gibraltar,either or,still a stronghold and a Pillar commanding direction
The GPU wants Me Hunted Down for what I don't know ..... |
|
|
|
Kuno
Malawi
17 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 19:17:23
|
Shaka's addition to this topic is really compelling. His points are lucid and enlightening.... I have gained new insights into Gambian immigrant life in the UK. But at the risk of loquacity, I will say that Shaka's jab at comparisms between Gambian immigrant life in the UK and that of the US was a tad irrelvant to the main theme of my discourse...that's why I disinvited myself of any response to Janko's terse comment. He was casting the net too wide...it was unnecessary. Nobody should compare apples with oranges...they are different in composites, textures, tastes, others. The same is true with America and the UK...two different entities, histories, politics, cultures, etc. I only brought the better educated, more established and better organized Gambians in the US as an afterthought in the consolidation of my central thesis about Gambians in the UK. May be I didn't do a good job...hence the misperception. I agree the conditions for Gambian immigrants in the US are far better than those of their counterparts in the UK....that's a function of history as much as it is of policies, attitudes and the general adaptivity of communities confronted with the here-again, now-again changing contours of social life. America is the younger society compared to the UK...but it has evolved better and faster compared to the land that gave us George Orwell, Sir Francis Beacon, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, the Magna Carta, Kevin Keagan, John Barnes, etc. America has always been the "Land of Immigrants" including the time the American Indian chiefs opened their arms to the English Settlers in the early 1600s. I have watched numerous times the documentaries about the relationship between the English settlers and the American Indians. At some time you are forced to hold back your tears...it is sad watching how the natives' kindness, friendliness, courtesy were trampled uopn by the foreigners. They treated their hosts with contempt and fury...and with their guns and other tools of coercion, they massacred the Indians and founded their settlements in New England and other areas. This documentary has shown me that the openness of American society was long in the making...it began with the Native Americans...extending their hands of friendship to the English Settlers, most of whom were running away from religious persecution in England. From 1892 to 1924 alone, about 12 million migrants from Europe arrived in America through Ellis Island in New York...historians have considered this as the greatest mass migration of people in history. The British historian Paul Johnson once said that no country on earth has the heart and the willingness to right its wrongs as America...yep that's true if you look at the massacres of the native Indians, the enslavement of Africans,the Jim Crow South, the Reconstruction period, etc. America was and has been forced to do better because of its ugly past...out of this sea-change in attitude has been borne new ideas, policies, programs, opportunities to impact the general mass of society.
The UK, on the other hand, didn't have the same conditions...immigration in UK's history is not as much defined as that of the US. After the Celts who are the real tribes of Britain, immigrantion started with the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes and the Vikings (Norwegians), the Romans, etc.... Some historians don't even call them immigrants....because they are "different tribes of the same European race"....they all come from Northern Europe. If you consider the African presence in the UK, which is more relevant to our discussion here, you will realise it wasn't much of an impact in the UK compared to America....by the early 1590s, there were only 10 blacks in the UK...Queen Elizabeth I tried very hard to have them kicked out. The historian David Killingray in his book, "Africans in Britian" said blacks numbered from 10-20, 000 during the Atlantic Slave Trade in the 18th century. But he said the numbers declined in the 19th century...4,540 in 1911, 4,940 in 1921, 5202 in 1931. UK's immigration saw a boost in the West Indian (Carribbean) arrivals in the early 1950s, some years after the Second World War. By 1956, about 20, 000 West Indians a year were pouring into the UK. With the combination of the Africans, the West Indians, the Indians, Pakistanis, etc minus the immigrant Jews, who were there longer, immigration in the UK is more of a recent phenomenon unlike America.....The UK has not adapted very well with new realities...the society is still comparatively exclusionary...but that's also true of other parts of Europe ... France, Germany, Spain, Italy,..."Fortress Europe" is the name I think. The process of integration and assimilation has not gone well in Europe. Institutional racism and structural impediments brought about by society's refusal to undergo a wholesale change and be welcoming to the new and the different have made it difficult for immigrants like Gambians to survive in the UK.
Shaka brought up the issue of bumsters as the new arrivals in the UK, the jealousy, hatred, backbiting and therefore, causing some terrible issues in the Gambian community there. Look...I don't want to give too much credence to such arguments...Shaka is entrapping himself in a vortex of inflammatory subjectivities...bumsterism in Gambian immigrant life in the UK is, if anything, a symptom not a cause of the crisis affecting the Gambian community there. These problems are present not because the Bakau bumster,London transplant exists in the community but because they are rooted and have grown off-shoots thanks to the structural obstacles and the pervasive indifference settled within many quarters of the Gambian UK community. But what to do? Where do you go from here? What can you do to change course? Just kicking the can down the road will not solve anything. Organize, do something...the rest shall follow.
Kuno, The Bird
Lilongwe, Malawi. |
|
|
|
Kitabul Arerr
Gambia
645 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 21:24:24
|
Gambians in UK: Wake Up. Get Up
Great thread, Kuno, but it's a bit skewed!
The UK is no longer the center of the globe. It's influence and wealth has diminished, and that affects the Gambian community there too.
Which Gambian in the UK should Wake Up. Get Up?
#1. is a scholar, student or academic.
#2. is a nurse, lured by higher wages
#3. drives a bus just like his/her fella who drives a taxi
#4. has just been rendered redundant...
#5. been on the dole in time immemorial
#6. has a sugar mommy/daddy who taps the bills
#7. deals in illegal substances to make ends meet
#9. recently made it through the Euro wall/fort
#10. is just an average employer/employee
#11. has naturalized but still retains the Gambian roots
#12. is a house/industrial cleaner with pride
#13. etc...
Multiply these instances by thousands, and you get a varied class of Gambians in the UK, who's sole purpose within a crumbling empire is to make ends meet. Terming them passive is disingenuous. "Charity begins at home".
BTW, we're not talking about "Moelies" here, but real people.................................................lol! |
The New Gambia - Stronger Together! |
|
|
|
Janko
Gambia
1267 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2009 : 21:33:11
|
“But what to do? Where do you go from here? What can you do to change course? Just kicking the can down the road will not solve anything. Organize, do something...the rest shall follow.”
Good questions Kuno.
What is/are your recommendation(s) out of the situation? All suggestions are helpful (supposedly) on the way out of the … Let the ball rolling.
|
Clean your house before pointing a finger ... Never be moved by delirious Well-wishers in their ecstasy |
|
|
|
Moe
USA
2326 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2009 : 08:18:33
|
Well if Jammehs displacement is what the people in the UK should be working towards,and thats what you are driving towards ,Echuse me Kuno!!!. they did that already and the cyber fools are working on it 24/7 at the expense of their identity on their Blogs everyday
http://www.thegambiaecho.com/Homepage/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1545/Default.aspx.
Did you hear about the GPU-UK yet. Coming soon we will have GPU Canada ,GPU Guinea ,GPU SENEGAl, GPU Latrikunda and Kanifing ,sometimes i really think these guys are hallucinating i swear to Jesus Christ .
Like i said Freaky Joe was Booed off the stage for he said "his next album was dedicated to president JAMMEH" for all the hard work he has been embarking on. Like i said we all have our prejudices and no matter what we know when to be biased , Your nest is not far from Bansang am assuming ,it's freaky's home town as you already know.
We as Gambians learn not to hurt our neighbours to a certain extent and support them regardless of what they stand for or believe in ,just tell me you are being biased for he stands for something completely opposite of what you are driving towards . , Catch my drift here Kuno the bird.His political believes is obviously the reason for being booed off the stage ain't it.
You got us all confused please elaborate clearly ,what do ou think the Gambians in UK should be doing apart from cleaning up their acts ,and focusing on whats important.
Personally i wanna know what kind of bird Kuno is , am pretty sure he is not a "PICHI Serign",neither is he a " PURRA" or "SIBIKONO" .I think you are a "CACHOCACHO" . You know at Santafara's DAAKA by the Beach we used to watch them get drunk from the Zum ZUM on the palm trees .Then they would fall on the ground from being so drunk or just making hella noise.
What kind of a bird are you Kuno ?.........................Peace
|
I am Jebel Musa better yet rock of Gibraltar,either or,still a stronghold and a Pillar commanding direction
The GPU wants Me Hunted Down for what I don't know ..... |
Edited by - Moe on 26 Jun 2009 08:29:24 |
|
|
|
shaka
996 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2009 : 12:01:38
|
Lets get real Kuno. My take on the subject is from my perspective, my angle and my point of view, therefore it is indeed subjective. I do not claim empirical evidence and facts and i am glad that there are people who can identify with some of my point. My intention was to draw your attention to the evolution and dynamics of Gambian migration to the UK as pointed out by Janko with the aim of broadening angles and perspectives to draw a more balanced contrast of the Gambia diaspora. If you want to dig relevance and subjectivity from that angle then be my guest. If subjectivity is a crime then am afraid that you are the premier criminal in that your opinion on this subject is wholly subjective. So why do you accuse me of the same crime? Take care of the log in your eye first. And talking about relevance, thanks for the history lesson!!
Bumsterism exist everywhere in the world especially tourism attractive areas and i have no problems with bumsters or ex-bumsters. It is the attitude of some of them who could have taken advantage of their new found status to better themselves and the UK community but are instead driven to unnecessary delinquency that worries me. Yes Kuno i have big issues with delinquent former bumsters, jealousy, back-biting, backstabbing, betrayal of trust and hatred among the UK Gambian community and i believe they are some of the reason for disunity, mistrust and lack of commitment towards a united and cohesive community. If you see otherwise then God help you. A vortex of inflammatory subjectivities? What about "they are too busy scrubbing toilets and standing erect at security booths in grocery stores for a few pounds to work on a strategy for a new Gambia." Duul du haas daaye(pots and kettles) Kuno. You are very funny. |
|
|
|
jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2009 : 12:25:20
|
i agree with the statment that the UK is awash with Gambians with confused priorities.
As for those in jail that I am not getting, commit a crime in Gambia, jail or court case. Commit a crime in UK, same thing, which part did they not understand. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
© 2005-2024 Nijii |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
