Dystopian Justice: The Streets of Dakar
One’s life can be broken down into many pieces. Spectators momentarily may place a greater importance on the “main idea” of a person’s timeline and neglect the significance of the arbitrary sections the writer chooses to support it. Occasionally, those who broadcast a moment of their life, will use fragments that don’t necessarily have any connections with what they are trying to assert – rogue passages. On paper, it may seem out of line and frivolous to include such content that strays from the initial direction of the writers’ purpose. However, what if this skill was meant to aid in the depth of the content; content in which the writer is trying to enhance. In the essay “Evidence,” Brent Hayes Edwards introduces us to this writing style. In Evidence, Edwards emphasizes his travels as a tourist in Dakar. He writes about his mistreatment on the streets and within the jail cell he was confined in. Numerous occasions within the essay he plants different passages on various literary subjects such as references to films and music to service his leading anecdote. While each of these references appear to play minor parts of the essay; each part provides purpose towards Edwards’ prime adventures.
The reference piece that should be explained first is his introduction of Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence.” Edwards first brings up one of Thelonious Monk’s tunes called “Evidence” to engage us – his readers, into what he is trying to achieve in his work. He points out that “Monk sometimes called the bridge (or B-section) of a tune “the inside” (53). Edwards is trying to hint that his text also has a specific section that reflects similar elements and provides similar purposes that of Monk’s B-section. These elements include the binding idea of the entire essay or the central purpose. Edwards also indicates that the surrounding information and section only enhances his “inside,” apart from hindering it: John Coltrane once remarked that “everything fits so well in Monk’s work once you get to see the inside” (53). By placing this line in his essay, he makes it blindly obvious that the “everything” aforesaid by John Coltrane, is the rogue passages in his essay. On other words, everything fits so well in Edwards’s work once you get to see the “inside” – Edwards’s descriptive portrayal of Dakar’s meager system of justice.
“A deeper rumbling overtook the city – subtly at first, then growing into a roar that seemed to rise from all sides. For the first time ever, an African team had won an international soccer tournament, and it felt as though the whole city, or maybe even the whole continent, was erupting” (45). Here lies a turning point in Edwards’s essay. At first, the setting set by Edwards may seem festive – almost jubilant. However, as Edwards goes out to the streets of Dakar in the euphoria of the moment, he swiftly realizes that Dakar had a different way of treating those who were unfamiliar with their surroundings. “On the streets of Dakar, foreigners are constantly bombarded with offers, demands, items for sale, “gifts”” (45). This indicated that it wasn’t egregious for tourists to be approached by people, and wasn’t shunned upon by the locals. Little did Edwards know, it was not hard to run into those who abuse their power in the streets of Dakar. Shortly after this passage, Edwards gets beaten by a couple of men which one claimed to be law enforcement. This was due to Edwards neglecting the man, for he did not wear any kind of uniform or identification/badge to properly state that he in fact was Dakar’s law enforcement. “By now a crowd had formed down the sidewalk, engrossed in the spectacle. I was screaming now: I’m a tourist! I’m here for a week. Qu’est-ce que vous voulez? I stared desperately into the eyes of a women hallway across the street, who stared back, blank, unmoving. Je suis touriste. Is this how you treat tourists here” (47)? This statement by Edwards was a very potent one, in which he establishes one of the points he is trying to convey in his essay. Why didn’t the women say anything, or do anything to help Edwards? Why was it so easy for Edwards to be framed for something he did not do?
This scenario is later brought back when Edwards brings up the story that is told in the classic Senegalese film Camp de Thiaoroye (1987), by Ousmane Sembene and Thierno Faty Sow (49). In this movie, Sijiri Bakaba stars as Sergeant Major Diatta, in which his character illustrates a man who had studied law in Paris and wears U.S. – issue fatigues and aviator glasses in the streets of Dakar. Diatta even passes for American in downtown Dakar (49). This bears close resemblance to what Edwards might have been portrayed as while walking down the streets of Dakar. This movie – just like in Edwards’s case – takes an interesting turn when Diatta is confronted by a group of four U.S military policemen driving by in a jeep. One of the soldiers jumps out and start interrogating Diatta, asking for papers for identification purposes. Diatta identifies himself as French, however the man interrogating Diatta wasn’t content. Eventually the scenario leads to Diatta being suspected as a trafficker or a thief and getting beat from all sides until he falls (50). Being accused for something you are not or didn’t do would be a common occurrence in Dakar, however the way it gets dealt with is injustice. This passage played a large part in establishing how Dakar treated its foreigners. Aside from the movie which is a fictional piece of work, Edwards’s experience on the other hand were not. His time spent in a Dakar jail cell is not to be taken lightly. Edwards chose to include this passage to reflect upon the hardships that he had to endure within the walls of his jail cell and in the streets of Dakar.
“The cell is too small. I am alone, invisible. Ca commence la ou je n’entends pas. I am going to die here. I hold my wrist, trying to keep the flies away from the bloody scrapes left by the handcuffs. My forehead is throbbing, sweaty. What are the initial symptoms of malaria? Or maybe it’ll be dysentery, when I have to drink the water tomorrow morning. I’ll shit my guts out, slowly. What are the chances I’ll be raped first” (54)? Not everything has to be well hidden to provide a meaningful addition to a work of literature. Edwards chose to include this to show us the thoughts that were running through his head during his time of hardship. He showed us that he was even prepared to die in the jail cell for it was that unbearable to stay there any longer. Aside from desperation, Edwards most likely had an acute feeling of revenge and vitriol against the system of justice that placed him in the cell in the first place.
We get a taste of relief when Edwards mentioned the result of Major Diatta’s engagement. “Near the end of Camp de Thiaroye, the African American military policeman comes to Thiaroye to apologize to Sergeant Major Diatta for the misunderstanding. Diatta, his arm still in a sling, invites the MP into his cabin (“Take a seat, brother”), and they chat in English” (54). This passage was placed most likely to express Edwards’s expectations on his current situation. Edwards probably expected to be released from custody shortly and be given a great apology for all the misunderstandings and trouble. Diatta was given a grand apology and goes on to converse with Diatta to get on his good side. The MP even offers Diatta a pair of dark-tinted aviator sunglasses to replace the pair that was crushed during the fight (55). This text relates back to the “inside” of the essay because prisoners of Dakar are rarely treated like this unless they were of some importance or had money. On numerous occasions Edwards had to bribe the guards for food and fresh drinking water. We as the readers, must understand the process that Edwards went through to better judge the system of justice that resided in Dakar at the time.
Scouting over Edwards’s essay should make us realize that there are parts of the world that does not have a proper form of justice – or government – to deliver such justice. This essay could preface the corruption that resides in cities such as Dakar. What Edwards went through in Dakar has probably been a frequent occurrence in the past and was greatly needed to be addressed. Using evidence from his journey, one could claim that identity doesn’t matter if you are different – in the wrong place at the wrong time. What Edwards tried to do is relate many pieces to his own story to build a compelling argument against this inhumane form of justice. Each passage had its own elements that added to the emphasis and influence of his story. At first, each passage may seem a little out of context. However, as the essay continues, everything starts to make a little more sense and you get to see why Edwards includes what he does. If Edwards were to just narrate his experiences, his essay would have appeared dull and tedious. With Monk’s method of creating music, Edwards maintained composure and solidified his argument. While his message and experiences remained as the “inside” of his essay, the passages surrounding it aided us, the readers, to visualize and understand his take on justice.
Edwards, Brent Hayes. Evidence. Transition. Indiana University Press, No. 90 (2001), pp. 42-67. 2001. Print
Cover Letter:
Writing this made me realize that one should pay attention on how to approach such topic, aside from focusing on its content. Creating and intellectual problem and writing in reader prose changed my writing style because fulfilling those requirements were new to me. Also, when revising the essay, I found myself asking why a lot more often, rather than the traditional “it’s wrong, change it” kind of mentality. Overall it was a rather engaging essay to write and am looking forward to applying the skills I had learned writing this essay in future papers.