Like two tough bulls, two men are locked in a game of draughts under the shade of a

baobab tree, surrounded by a cocktail of nationalities, so typical of crowds in West

Africa’s Ivory Coast. Friends and passersby watch in suspense against a backdrop of

Zouglou music playing from a bar nearby. The game ends. One of the opponents drag

the other to some distance from the crowd.

-Forgive me for that joke I cracked about your wife. Just one of those taunts meant to

provoke you and spice the game.

-Nonsense! My brother, you need not apologize. You owe me a drink though.

And off they went, hand-in-hand, to grab a beer while Diallo, a Senegalese food vendor,

prepared attieké with fried salted tuna for them.

Tolerance, unity and hospitality have been the fabric that held African communities and

humanity at large together, until greed and politics arrived to plant seeds of hate.

Those seeds have germinated into hedges around our homes and national borders,

hedges around our hearts, barring us from speaking up against senseless wars,

barring us from showing love to those with skin colours and religious backgrounds

different from ours, people who do not wear our national colours.

The call for solidarity is a call to take on the humility of children who are blind to skin

colour, sexual orientation, nationalities, making room in our hearts,

making space in our lands. We are one family

What do you see # 314- 10 November 2025