By Mwalimu-Koh M. Blonkanjay Jackson
Author, Educational Engineer, Scholar, Development Specialist
Simply Thinking Thoughts
In my thinking thoughts, I reflected on the current chronic confusion reverberating externally and internally within the collaborating political parties (CPP) regarding gubernatorial challenges due to vices of chicanery, ego, ambition, dishonesty, greed, and bigotry.
As various groups of gravy-seeking supporters in the USA and Liberia were going at one another’s throats, another group was busy manipulating a collaboration framework document that “eventually did not exist” As sycophants, belly-driven supporters, and paid agents of the various parties spewed political theories bridled by falsehood, ego, and myopias, Radio Talk show hosts (Truth FM, OK FM, Capital FM, etc.) simply laid back on their sofas and drank lustily from the kar-toes (small small gratuities from the guests).
As the group of jealous, yet enviable opposition supporters anticipated making the coalition for democratic change (CDC) a one-tenure regime and failed, H. E. President Gbekugbeh Weah and H.E. Senior Lady Jewel Howard Taylor relaxed in their elaborate residents and sipped their expensive red wine and drank Cognac, of course, without remorse. As the 2023 political debacle approaches “kick-butt” and “extract teeth” time, the CPP is behaving like a disgraced and embarrassing bedwetting Peepee Pap and crumbled like a tall tower of Babel.
The Peepee Pap Story (Soe-nee-dohn, Gbay-Mon-Dohn-Yon)
My fellow Brabbies and Brabboes, back in the day, there was an old style of punishment among the Bassa Americo-Liberian people for children who usually wet bed or pissed in bed while asleep (pepeeing to bay). This punishment was not because Mama was tired of washing peepee clothes, but because you brought disgrace and shame to the family by making the whole house stink with your peepee (urine). Each time visitors come, Mama and Pa were embarrassed.
Being tired with your crap, Mama would place the peepee blanket around your neck with an empty can and turn you over to your friends to be paraded around the neighborhood from house to house so the neighbors could mock you like a Simon helping to carry a cross and everybody following, singing, “Soe nee dohn oo” and you would answer “Gbay mon dohn yon” This meant, “Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee”
As the crowd beat the old cups and dishes behind you for the rhythm you were forced to respond to the song or else your whipping increased. Imagine the embarrassment as they approach your little sweetheart’s house and the mother who had always advised you to move from behind her daughter came outside with a whip and water bucket! JEEEEZUS!!! JEEEEEZUS, again!
“Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee”
“Soe nee dohn-oo, Gbay Mohn-dohn –yon”
Chicken can’t peepee”. Da dog can peepee”
You were beaten, -Swish! Swish! Swish! Splash! -Water was splashed in your face- Splash! Splasssssssh! – Everybody would come out of their houses to whip you, and splash water in your face and you were forced to respond to the song as it went on: ” Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee” “Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee. Soe-nee-dohn-oo” Gbay-mon-dohn-yon”
The so-called necessary torture and humiliation would continue either until an elder intervened or Mama felt your punishment was sufficient to stop you from Peepeeing in bed next time”
The Confused Tower of Babel Communications
According to the accounts of Genesis Chapter 11, the whole earth had a common language. Due to the camaraderie, they built a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that they could make a name for themselves. Now, when the Lord saw the city and the tower that the people had started building, He said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this thing by building a tower to reach my heaven, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”
Suddenly, with an eye of faith, when one person said something in favor of the common good, it was misconstrued and reacted to negatively. When the carpenters asked for nails, they were given A-4 papers, when the masons asked for crushed rocks, they received microphones, when the electricians asked for sockets, they received cook spoons, when the painters asked for yellow paint, they received used baby pampers. When the engineers greeted the carpenters, they understood it as cussing their mothers; when the day clerk asked for the timesheets, the workers put kicked in his butt. The language was so confused that the tower came crumbling and scattered the previously unified builders of the Tower of Babel.
The Confused CPP Communications
My fellow Brabbies and Brabboes, the Tower of Babel is an excellent anecdote of the current CPP nonsense. When the CPP was unified and supported one candidate, Abraham Darius Dillon, it was able to woo the electorates to levy two devastating nasty blows to the front teeth of the ruling CDC. When Henry Costa was being attacked by hoodlums in the streets of Monrovia, the CPP took a stance and the situation was quelled. When the CPP spoke, the nation stood still and listened. While CDC had promised to bring Hope for Change, the CPP stole the show and promised “Transparent Change” for the Liberian people. As a matter of fact, Senator Dillon was widely accepted as “the light” created by the CPP to shine for the Liberian people to see the vices and ills of the Liberian society.
Unfortunately, my fellow Brabbies and Brabboes, no sooner had the CPP begun to enjoy the confidence of the voters than egos set in and led to lawsuits, mudslinging, and hatred due to confused communication. For example, when LP asked Musa Bility for some gifts to beef up its logistics, he gave them loans in exchange for the chairmanship; after ANC’s Alex Cummings invited Benoni Urey for several lunches and meetings, he understood it as “if my food full your gut, take me to court”; when ANC told the CPP that Cummings would be second to none, they understood it as a love story; consequently, the hope of the Liberian people was dashed when communication broke down and the CPP Brabbies swayed away from their initial edicts. In the Tower of Babel story, God scattered the builders just as the CPP is scattered, albeit, many believe scattering is not enough and the CPP deserves further punishment.
The Proposed Punishments for the CPP
In many quarters, voters are frustrated to the extent that they want to punish the CPP for dashing their hopes. Some voters want to walk up to ANC Cummings and give him a nasty ECOMOG slap for his persistent ego, while others want to put a big foot in LP-1 Musa Bility’s behind for demonstrating gross shenanigans within the CPP; some want to shove their elbows in LP-2 Sen. Dillon’s front teeth while some actually want to place a kick between ALP Benoni Urey’s legs. For Sen. Karnga-Lawrence, because she is a female who deserves the utmost respect, some of the voters simply want to gently brush her without speaking. For Pappy Boakai, some want to say, “But pappy oo, you couldn’t control your children?” With all the experience, clout, influence, intelligence, weh happen so?”
The Deserved Punishment for the Peepee Pap Soe-Nee-Dohn CPP
Unfortunately, some of the Bassa-Congor voters do not want to be violent for that is not their tradition, no, never. Instead, they prefer to simply parade the CPP in a Peepee Pap march or Soe-nee-dohn, because it has brought big shame and disgrace to them to change the “Hope for the Change”
One wonders, supposed President Weah steps down one day and asked the CPP to lead for a month? Would they bring down the Executive Mansion with their egos and feeble communication skills? Would they not demonstrate states craft so adroitly that we would say, “My man Georgie, don’t go back in that mansion, let the CPP stay because they are really doing well” Would they be so disorganized and confused that they would be paraded as “soe-nee-dohn” that we would hang peepee blankets around the necks of ALP, UP, LP. If yes, we would whip their behinds and parade them from the Centennial Pavilion on Ashmun Street, up Broad Street around Cathedral School, down Broad Street, up Crown Hill to Capitol by-pass, down Bassa Community, and up to the Executive Mansion.
I am sure all of the zogoes and zogees downtown Monrovia would join the march to punish the fake opposition Brabbies who were trying to move their own Brabbie JorWeah. I wonder who else would be brave to join the crowd and as we sing behind the doggone condemned CPP the soe-nee-dohn song?: You want our Brabbie JorWeah seat and you can’t manage yorsef!!! Let’s go man. Push their heads. Your walk man, your think we joking? Swish, swish, swish, swish! Yor think we stupid? Skeewwww!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
“Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee”,
“Soe-nee-dohn-oo”, Gbay-Mohn-Dohn-Yohn”;
Clack! Clack! Clack!
“Chicken can’t peepee”. Da dog can peepee,
“Chicken can’t peepee” “Da dog can peepee”,
Clack! Clack! Clack!
“Soe-nee-dohn-oo”, Gbay-Mon-Dohn-Yohn”;
“Chicken can’t peepee” Da dog can peepee”
“Soe-nee-dohn-oo”, Gbay-Mon-Dohn-Yohn”
I am simply Thinking Thoughts
About the Author
The Rivercess man, CEO, and founder of the Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP), Mwalimu-koh Teacher M. Blonkanjay Jackson holds a Master of Education from Harvard University, and Master of Science in Mathematics Education from St. Joseph’s University; he is a Yale University Teachers Initiative Math Fellow, and UPENN Teacher Institute Physics Fellow. He is s part-time lecturer at the UL Graduate School of Education. Mr. Jackson served the government of Liberia diligently for four years and returned to private practice as Development Specialist and Education Engineer. The Mwalimu-koh can be reached at 0886 681 315