This was a note I wrote on my FaceBook page.
The advent of social networks has done wonders in bringing people together. Long lost friends, classmates and yes relatives are suddenly a search away. The internet has been around for decades, but the proliferation of social networking sites like this one (Facebook) has up the ante in connecting individuals. I have been blogging for years on Blogspot. I have a niche following of political junkies who read my rants and musings on everything from technology to mostly contemporary politics. One issue I have never dealt with is the history of the village of my birth, especially it's founding. This is a topic I intend to write about in detail on my blog in the very near future.
Why the sudden interest some may ask. That is where the advent of social networks and the power they possess in disseminating messages be they true or in most cases not so true comes into play. I have come across a blog posting on the founding of saba that parroted an old lie that has been perpetuated for eons. Here is a link to the posting in question (The author of the blog send me an email on 1/23/2011 to say he is deleting his blog. Sorry for the broken link folks).
Saba wasn't found by Madiba Singhateh. I know that is a bold statement for some folks born and raised in that village. But the facts will support my suppositions when I lay them out in the blog post I am working on. Opinions are entitlements, but no one is entitled to their own facts. The photos displayed on the blog post I reference above tell a different story. I am not sure if the author is clueless or trying his hands at revisionism. Hint...the first house belongs to someone other than his purported founder. The first Gate sat on land owned by the owner of the first house....you get the drift. Saba, like most African villages, has no written history. Most of its history is folklorist and embellished. However, there are landmarks that are agreed upon regarding there significance to the founding of the village. This is where fact base analysis comes in handy. I am not interested in what your grandmama told you if it is directly contradicting a known fact.
Stay tune folks ... the subtle bigotry that has been the norm in Saba will be laid to bare. Yes Bigotry. Saba is a very bigoted community. It is all so subtle, but the under current is brutal.
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