The Heavy Gift of Memory

@Sikilizaspeaks, Dakar 2022

This is me recently exploring the sensory delights of Marché soumbédioune in Dakar.

Over 15 years ago I visited Senegal for the first time and spent more than four months backpacking and in a mission to discover self and my creative energies. 

Sikilizaspeaks in 2007

I was weaning off a very difficult phase in my life my pilgrimage trip was a pathway to find parts of myself I lost along the way. It was also the time I began the journey of this blog. There are no regrets.

It is a bittersweet memory as my biggest cheerleader while on this solo trip was my late brother…he encouraged me to photograph, write and be intentional about expressing myself. He bought me my first camera and gave me my first hand-me-down laptop. 

 I called him Swes but others knew him as Binya

He joined me briefly and together we took a memorable road trip to the Gambia, and visited some traditional wrestling events and did some sightseeing, where I got to know and connect with him much better. Being older and away a lot this was the first time we spent exclusive time together. 

Our trip very much like our lives and individual personalities were riddled with boisterous drama, huge fights, laughter and camaraderie. There was never a dull moment.

Swes in the Gambia, 2007.

I miss my brother more than mere words can articulate, the dull ache in my heart still reverberates.

Dream encounter with legendary  Tama (Talking drum) Assane Thiam in 2007 

As I pass by some familiar and not so familiar sights of present day Dakar…… I cant help but feel the profoundness of life and fate and the beautiful but sometimes heavy gift of memory as we walk through time and moments merged. I would not have it any other way…

The pizzazz of wrestling matches 2007

Some things remain the same ❤️