This is a HUGE statue built in 2010 (it took 3 years to build) to commemorate the African Renaissance. It was a big controversy because it cost over a million dollars to build despite the fact that most of the country is in poverty and half the population is unemployed, so the money could have been spent in more practical ways. There are also rumors that the statue is pointing to New York City because the president wanted Senegal to become more western, which also brought up some controversy. The president who built this statue, Abdoulaye Wade, was widely disliked for many of his political decisions, but most famously his attempt to change the constitution allowing him to serve an extra term than was normally allowed. Tons of people protested in the streets saying that he was trying to become a dictator, with signs that said things like “keep democracy alive.” Interestingly the leaders of this protest were mostly Senegalese rap artists. We watched a documentary that talked about “Le Joula,” a boat that sank in 2002. Over 2,000 people died, which is more than the Titanic, but the story was largely covered up, another reason many people did not like Wade as president. There were apparently no rescue boats sent and the boat was carrying three times its capacity. Also, the boat was broken before it left the dock – many people complained because Wade did not pay to fix it but he paid for his own private plane to be fixed just before hand.

This is some random Grafiti I found on the street of my town, Ouakam. Macky Sall is the current president who won majority vote against Wade in 2011.