A group of 27 African-Americans called on the Daily Observer yesterday, at about 10:00 am. The tour party, comprising teachers and parents as well as students, are on a week- long study tour to The Gambia.

The few, mainly young, students among them were said to have come from a number of schools in the United States, but most of them were from Medgars Evers College, a preparatory school in New York, United States.

According them, the visit was designed to accord the young students the chance to rediscover their root (Africa), where they could have the opportunity to see for themselves what goes on the continent, and to be able to link their identity with that of Africa.

In welcoming the guests, Dida Halake, the managing director and editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer, described The Gambia's major newspaper as a pan-Africanist organ celebrating Africans from all over the Diaspora..

"We are great supporter of the pan-Africanist leadership of this country and across the continent and beyond", he said.

Mr Halake expressed delight at receiving the guests and assured them of his company's willingness to work with the group on any development agenda they might have, in an apparent response to enquiries by one of the visitors as to how to help sponsor some needy students in The Gambia.

The focus of discussion of the visiting party and the staff of the Daily Observer centred mainly on 'Africanness' and African identity. And in their own way, the visiting party was keen to do their bit in establishing, if not strengthening African-American/African links, for the benefit of both communities. Sponsorship for vocational training for young Gambians who do not find their way to colleges and universities caught their interest most.

The group pledged to consider working with relevant schools, preferably vocational schools, through the Daily Observer, to help do their quota in the development process of The Gambia, in the form of awarding scholarships and donation of relevant educational materials like computers. According to them, one such way of helping their Gambian counterparts might be through the establishment of pen pal links between the US and Gambian students.

The discussion eventually took a pan-Africanist shape, much to the delight of the Daily Obsever MD, who shared his experience with the tour party on Africa/Gambia and pan-Africanism. He described President Jammeh as a true pan-Africanist who manifests every aspect of this phenomenon in all his dealings.

The issue of brain drain, cultural demise, especially among African-Americans in the US, as well as the effect of the US penal code, which is said to be partly responsible for the demoralised nature of the African/American males, were also a subject of discussion.

On the role of movements in the resolution of some of the identity problems faced by African-Americans, one of the elderly members of the group sought to explain that there have been two movements in the states, and these, he said, were the Civil Rights Movement led by the legendary Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and the Black Power Movement, led by the great Malcom X. They however moaned the demise of these movements, a development they attributed to a blatant 'assault' by the imperialist  and racist establishment.

Controversial African-American celebrities like Michael Jackson, and hip hop stars such as 50 cents, also came under attack for their role in facilitating the slow decay in social and cultural standards of the African community in the United States.

"But with the many problems, we are confronted with", remarked a member of the group, "only one formidable movement can change it, not at the home level".

A question from a young American students on the prospects of Gambian students visiting their American brothers and sisters in the United States aroused a heated debate on the attitude of the US Embassy, vis-a-vis visa opportunities for the many genuine Gambians, who seek to travel abroad. The party challenged the Daily Observer to spearhead a campaign of sensitisation that will seek to help both the embassy officials and prospective Gambian visitors about their respective role in the establishment and maintainance of such educational links. This, they believe, will facilitate exchange programmes between African-American students and their brothers and sisters on the continent, to help instill a sense of oneness among them.

The visiting party's next port of call was the SOS Children's Village in Bakoteh.