Baba Galleh Jallow
Baba Galleh Jallow is former editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer and Founder Editor and CEO of The Independent newspaper,
which was forcibly shut down by the Gambian authorities in March 2006.
With a BA in Political Science from Fourah Bay College and a Masters in
Liberal Studies from Rutgers University, Baba is currently a PhD
student in African History at the University of California, Davis. His
other books, also published by Wasteland Press, are Dying for My Daughter (2004), Angry Laughter (2004), and The Anatomy of Powercracy and Other Essays (2006).
Ultimate Conflict, published in 1999 in Banjul, (later republished in a comprehensive version under the title Dying for My Daughter)
is a short novel of 52 pages published. The narrator, Umar tells us
about his father’s decision to circumcise his (Umar’s) daughter who is living up-country with her mother, Amina, in Umar’s family compound. Everything started when he got a
phone call from his wife informing of her father-in-law’s decision.
Umar, a senior civil servant living in the city, tries to reason with
his father. The latter, not wanting to see his authority undermined,
invokes tradition, religion… to justify his decision. This book deals
with the sensitive question of female circumcision.
ISBN13: 978-1-60047-098-1 & ISBN10: 1-60047-098-XIn Mandela's Other Children,
Baba Galleh Jallow invokes the intriguing concept of a Pan-African
struggle against oppression. As he narrates his personal ordeals as a
journalist working in an oppressive "shadow state" since 1994, Baba
skillfully comments on some complex issues related to the African
condition that are not readily obvious to the non-African observer. The
pages of this book are littered with chilling accounts of how "orders
from above" lead to arbitrary arrests and detentions, nocturnal arson
attacks on media houses, the promulgation of unjust laws, the murder of
prominent citizens, the Soweto-like massacre of school children holding
a peaceful demonstration, and the forcible closure of radio stations
and newspapers critical of the government. But Mandela's Other Children
is also a story of heroic resistance, stubborn defiance, and a steely
determination to assert and preserve endangered sovereignties by
threatened social entities. This is a truly worthy addition to the
growing corpus of works on the postcolony. Students of comparative
journalism will also find much that is useful in these charged pages.
Angry Laughter
The Anatomy of Powercracy
gives an unusually clear and interesting insight into the inner
workings of dictatorial African political systems and the minds of the
dictators themselves, whom Baba describes as "elephants on mosquito
legs." Written in Baba's trademark flowing prose with a touch of humor
nicely blended in with the serious nature of his subject, The Anatomy
of Powercracy And Other Essays provides a wide range of perspectives on
contemporary African politics, Classical and Modern western political
theory, American Civil Rights issues and the psychology of Affirmative
Action in America's education system. This small volume will prove an
invaluable resource to both undergraduate and Masters level students in
the liberal arts and social sciences, as well as to general readers
interested in widening their knowledge in the above areas.The Anatomy of Powercracy And Other Essays is Baba's third book. His first and second books, Dying for My Daughter and Angry Laughter, also published by Wasteland Press, deal with FGM and African politics respectively.