Night Owls? Chat Away – And That’s An Order

Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry

A Note About the People of Senegal

SENEGALESE SAY…TERANGA..TO THE OBAMAS

by @zizii2

Teranga means “Welcome” in Wolof, the predominant language. And the people living on this Westernmost bulge of the African continent truly are some of the most hospitable people you’ll ever know. Climactically, however, Senegal is the Western Hemisphere’s house of horrors, as many of our hurricanes are birthed off Senegal’s coast when hot dry Sahara and Sahel winds meet southerly cold North Atlantic winds plus moisture from the warm Atlantic Ocean currents, The ITCZ clash zone known as The Doldrums  , to form the building blocks of storms

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Yet nothing takes one’s breath away more than standing on the craggy Senegalese coast in the evening and seeing the copper-gold sunset over the rambunctious Atlantic ocean. No wonder Senegal’s world famous poet and first post-colonial President, Leopold Senghor, called this land his “Childhood Kingdom” whose heartbeat is the Tam Tam (talking drum).

© BuildingOn

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Senghor’s eyes, though were mesmerized by the beauty of Senegalese women. His famously erotic poem, Black Woman, published in his 1948 Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache  , became a historical landmark for placing the African woman on a pedestal as a worthy model of beauty, thus challenging the centuries-old denigration of black women as antithesis of ideal white femininity.

“Naked woman, black woman

Dressed in your color that is life, in your form that is beauty!
I grew up in your shadow. The softness of your hands
Shielded my eyes, and now at the height of Summer and Noon,
From the crest of a charred hilltop I discover you, Promised Land
And your beauty strikes my heart like an eagle’s lightning flash.
[…snip]
Naked woman, dark woman
Oil no breeze can ripple, oil soothing the thighs
Of athletes and the thighs of the princes of Mali
Gazelle with celestial limbs, pearls are stars
Upon the night of your skin. delight of the mind’s riddles,
The reflections of red gold from your shimmering skin
In the shade of your hair, my despair
Lightens in the close suns of your eyes.”

Senegalese Women

©skyscrapercity.com

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Senegal: The Day in Images

@PeteSouza President Obama greets Senegalese youngsters on Goree Island

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President Obama introduces President Sall to the First Lady

President Obama reviews an honor guard outside the presidential palace before meetings in Dakar

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@PeteSouza President Obama and President Sall at their press conference

Text of remarks here

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First Lady Michelle Obama visits the Martin Luther King middle school in Dakar, Senegal

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@FLOTUS

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‘The Door of No Return’

President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama stand at the “Door Of No Return” during a tour of Goree Island in Senegal, Dakar

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More soon, chat away

In Safe Hands

@dougmillsnyt

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@PeteSouza

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The images from Senegal today are simply stunning, more in a while

An Image for the Ages

President Obama looks out of the “door of no return” during a tour of the ‘House of Slaves‘ on Goree Island

Senegal: An Image or Two

…. at the doorway that slaves departed from on Goree Island in Dakar

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@FLOTUS

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First Lady Michelle Obama visits the Martin Luther King middle school in Dakar, Senegal

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@FLOTUS

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President Obama introduces the First Lady to President Sall

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NPR

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Chat away, back in a while with more

Senegal: Coming Up

President Obama and Senegal President Sall at their joint news conference in Dakar – @PeteSouza

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All times EST

9:50 AM: The President and First Lady arrive at Goree Island

10:05 AM: Tour Maison Des Esclaves

12:40 PM: The President meets and greets with Embassy personnel

3:25 PM: The President and First lady attend an official dinner with President Sall

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A short video about Senegal’s ‘House of Slaves’ which the President and First Lady are visiting today:

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Reuters live streaming looks like being the best option today, they have a few Senegal events in their schedule

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President Barack Obama hails the amazing strides that Africa has made in achieving democracy. http://t.co/xOOjqQVnmw

— amk4obama (@amk4obama) June 27, 2013

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First lady Michelle Obama hugs students at Martin Luther King middle school, an all-girls school in Dakar, Senegal, June 27

Rise and Shine: Senegal

President Barack Obama greets Senegalese President Macky Sall as U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Senegalese First Lady Mariame Faye Sall look on, at the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal June 27

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Today in Senegal – all times EST

6:45 AM: President Obama and President Sall hold a press conference

White House Live * Reuters * CBS

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Clips from the press conference:

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7:50 AM: The President meets with regional judicial leaders to discuss rule of law

10:50 AM: The President and First Lady arrive at Goree Island

11:05 AM: Tour Maison Des Esclaves

1:40 PM: The President meets and greets with Embassy personnel

4:25 PM: The President and First lady attend an official dinner with President Sall

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@FLOTUS

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MoooOOOooorning everyone, just posting this quickly to get in the heads-up for the President’s press conference, will have more from Senegal in a while.