Dorrance Publishing, a well-known American publishing house, which has been in the business of publishing books since in the 1880s, recently released a book entitled Our Tears And Sorrows.
Written by Gambian writer Seedy Bojang, who is now a writer-in-residence in Frederiksberg (Copenhagen), the book is a portrayal of the blows to media freedom and democracy on the African continent.
Below we reproduce the author’s comments on the book:
The press has been and continues to play a fundamental role in the democratic dispensation of nations. But the heartier the works of journalists, the more they have been subjected to all forms of inhuman degradation in different parts of the world, and Africa, in particular.
As a guest writer, since stories are lived even before they are told, I am obliged to write a piece that construes what had been depicted in the case of the protagonist of the story in my latest book.
Entitled OUR TEARS AND SORROWS, the book mirrors the story of a young female script typist cum graphic designer, Maimuna, who lost her husband in what has been described as a string of attacks on media, to silence independent-minded journalists who trade their skills in modern day African society.
As she was reeling from the sudden disappearance of her husband, armed men stormed her offices at the Vanguard Newspaper, setting one room on fire and severely damaging a number of printing machines.
The tale is an epitome of what all civilised world would condemn as an assault on democracy, human rights, and freedom of the press.
In a few words, it chronicles all blows to media freedom and democracy on the African continent.
While this systemic silencing of independent-minded journalists is not only confined to one particular country in Africa that has continued to inflict terror in the minds of journalists trading their skills, the book exposes the sorry condition of these fleeing persecuted journalists in the service of humanity.
It is a common knowledge that this enigma is often linked to the refusal of African leaders to be accountable to the electorate and to cling on to power by any means necessary for fear of public enlightenment that might have grown from the truth being heard by the wider spectrum of the populace. Sadly most journalists continued to be victimised for flimsy reasons, while networks of national saboteurs in different parts of the world go scot-free.
In Africa today, it is evident that there is constant and systematic deployment of all forms of mischievous tricks and strategies to silence independent-minded journalists, and to frustrate journalism from being flourished as a cohesive hypothesis of a field of study. And, in some cases, the information they transmit are sometimes rubbished in most quarters as ‘unfounded, even though they are balanced and objective to the point’.
About the author
The author, Seedy Bojang, is a well-known Gambian journalist and author of several books. His works include The Changing World, ABC of Journalism, Devil’s Lover, Tip of The Iceberg, Bumpy Journey and Shadow From My Past. He also co-authored another title, Does God Exist?
Seedy Bojang is Frederiksberg’s (Copenhagen) first guest writer.
A copy of the book OUR TEARS AND SORROWS can be obtained from both Amazon and www.redleadbooks.com
