Black Folks Can’t Swim, Nor Win Olympics Swimming Medals?
Black Folks dominate many forms of sports, but how many decades of watching Africa needs to even significantly enter the world of Swimming competitions? Indeed the primary motive of my writing is not medals or the millions of dollars for few rising Africans , but how to raise the health of millions of Africans, save thousands of African lives we consistently lose due to lack of meaningful culture of swimming pools and swimming lessons. I have repeatedly accused blacks of having intolerable fear and over valuing of earthly life, which often leads to lesser life and more pain. The best of us should help our people conquer fear of waters and beyond, even if it means financial luring and more fractional facts of poking than the fractional facts many use to justify fear of water? The earth is largely water, Africa is surrounded by water, my birth country (the Gambia) is divided by water, river Gambia. So learning to accept water is naturally smarter than resort travelling on waters with fear. There was a movie called, ‘white men can’t jump’, which helped whites jump higher, so we need movies, songs, articles, etc around ‘black folks can’t swim’ to help establish culture of swimming, especially for health. A percentage of the proceeds and crowd funding ‘swimming pools for the Gambia and Africa’ can lead to thousands of Olympics standard swimming pools across Africa. The Gambia does not have even one Olympic standard swimming pool and perhaps other African countries like Bissau and which others? We some how own a fifty million dollars conference center and other questionable assets. What percentage of African governments, African billionaires, world billionaires, African world Soccer stars and others can we convince on transforming African swimming culture. Yes, the first human swimmer was likely black for fish, but did s/he became white or xyz and run from Africa for Olympic opportunities?
As said , funding is not a problem if rightly sought. Even loans to establish it will work. By strategically having preventive health centers , with swimming pools , in every Gambian district (county) as example, we can create stars and pay enough to motivate money worshipping Africans enter in droves. Since it is based on standard and Timing, you can smartly contrast with world’s best and give hope for more training. Michael Phelps is regarded as world’s best, he did 200 M butterfly in 1:54.92, so if ten Gambian teenagers do it in 2:5 seconds, then we can contract Phelps or xyz as coach or promise them a beautiful African girl? There are different styles of swimming styles and we can certainly find one or few we can beat America and tell them, Africa is finally awakening. Then if the reward is right, all the cowardly mothers who forbid children swimming will pay our monthly dues and may hire trainers. If your child does not make millions, s/He will get healthier, found a new love or hobby to stay away from drugs. God forbids if another boat sinks, s/He will likely survive or even help someone survive.
I preferred being a witness for President Adama Barrow, but he has sadly made me a witness against him, so far. Few months into his presidency, I wrote him about the need to build at least one preventive health center with swimming pool and others, so that business folks or government will learn and replicate it. He ignored me and dozens of Gambian lives drowned during his presidency. He may still be blind in how he is partially responsible for such deaths. A great parent understands reality to teach children how to swim, A great President also facilitates essential knowledge on citizens, including swimming. You should say about ten percent knew swimming when I took office, how can I raise it to at least fifty percent within five years and use words and policies that will raise it to 99% within fifty years. This essentially means every middle or senior secondary school should have a swimming pool and a garden. Your dumb advisers may tell you maintaining swimming pools are expensive, but there are many ways to have that next to zero in warm Africa.
So which African president will be smarter than Barrow and try to work with me in raising health of citizens, reduce patients in traditional hospitals, raise life expectancy, possibly have historic first African country with Olympics swimming medals, reduce drown ratio, etc? If politicians want me to bribe or beg, then which rich person can understand we can make money through such centers and still be helping people?
Our ministry of Sports, health, Tourism, are few to directly benefit and should try to seek such funding for the realisation. Beside government to government, institutions and companies, rich folks and crowd funding are doors worthy of seeking.
The irony is most African kids are fearless and eager to learn swimming, but their fearful parents feed them fear and fractional facts to eventually fear water. So by refusing to teach them swimming, a fraction of those kids go in more dangerous waters than swimming pools and that takes dozens of lives in even small Gambia, plus thousands across Africa. When boat disaster happens in Africa, the ratio that dies clearly shows an intolerable number of Africans refuse to teach or learn swimming. Once you get older it is much harder to learn due to fear and changes in body shape . Teaching helps than abstain and gamble when disaster happens.
Since African politicians and rich folks can be arrogant, indifferent, or down right dumb to see potentials, I urge our artists to use art and call for culture of Olympics swimming pools in and beyond the Gambia. I have already wrote a quick song with music video tips that will provoke debate. If need be, we can try even a movie. Let’s utilise every beneficial arsenal the Lord gives and once few African countries take a meaningful example, others may follow. We can free the African child with facts and jokes. The Gambian d[oers of]evils whisper fractional facts like, ‘sea has no branches’. Dummy! It was not meant to be or branches will hurt you. Anyway, our swimming pools will have branches called robes and guards. Or get a White, Arab, or Chinese girl say, ‘hey blacks, the branches of waters is in your mind, you just have to learn swimming and try to conquer fear’. I suspect blacks ate too much of the apple of fear, greed, and arrogance in heaven; came to a dangerous place called earth and avoiding harmless waters unless when going to Europe for money? The bad colonising westerners refused to build us swimming pools, just alcohol factories?. The bad African who sought independence took loans for roads, cars, arms, and other things lot less than the health we can gain through swimming? So you cannot keep comparing yourself with useless past African leaders, but instead try to be caring one who values every citizen as your child. If you want your children to learn swimming, then think about how can I help every Gambian or xyz to know swimming . When you are blessed with caring citizens like me, do not dismiss us or expect we should beg you to do your job. Appreciate us and try to work with us or may others do and God to take you out and bring a more caring leader. We demand a better Africa, not just Gambia. We have the opportunity to raise the health of millions or hundreds of billions of Africans, save thousands of African lives, and start dozens of African historic world swimming medals. May God bless us with Showlove Trinity : Let’s learn, let’s work , let’s have fun.
