Memorial Nightmare

 Ibrahim Toure

February 25, 2025

ESL 100-CE

  Memorial Nightmare

March 26 has been celebrated as a Memorial Day in Mali because of the Coup d'Etat that was led mainly by the military Amadou Toumani Toure against the President Moussa Traore. A Coup d’Etat is an attempt by the military with the help of the population to unseat the leadership of a country. In Mali, there have been many military Coups, but that one was the one that had the most terrible effects. That day, the military organized a protest, and most of the population was part of it because they were obsessed, and they wanted to show their dissatisfaction. Some consequences of the Coup were the destruction of a lot of public properties and even private properties of innocent people. The amount of death at that event was over three hundred people. The main cause of the Coup was because most of the population blamed the regime of corruption and mismanagement causing the undevelopment of the country.  My grandfather was the minister of education at that time, so he was part of the regime. He faced most consequences just as the president himself. Because my grandfather was part of the government during the Coup, it made him, and his family suffer a lot.

At the end of the Coup, my grandfather was arrested and faced charges for economic crimes and murder. He was put in a guarded villa waiting for his judgment for more than twelve years. While there he had to let go all other projects he was maintaining. If he was not at the office, he was on his field. He was big farmer, but he couldn’t find anybody of trust to help him take care of his land while he was in jail. At first, his staff were trying to help him take care of it, but they could not handle it. My grandfather had a financial loss for the harvest he had grown that year. That was all the money he had left because everything else was taken from him. In addition, the living conditions were also intense for him while being guarded. He was constantly moved to other regions, so he couldn’t even see his family like he wanted to. He went into depression because of the turning of his life. He went from powerful and rich to powerless and poor. 

During the time that followed the Coup, my grandmother had her own nightmare due to these events. My grandfather was the only one working. He was in charge of everything, so when he was arrested, his wife needed to take care of things for herself and her children. They had to find somewhere to live because their house was destroyed the day of the Coup. She started working really hard in small trades, so they could be able to at least have food. Moreover, she was obligated at a time to move to Senegal, a neighboring country of Mali. She had to do that because as years were passing, there was still anger in some people's hearts. In order not to be  judged everywhere, she had to leave the country, and her husband while not being able to do anything for him, but she also had to do it to protect her children.

 

My mother was not in Mali when the event happened, yet she didn't suffer less than the others. She first came to the U.S for her studies on a scholarship, but she couldn’t go back to Mali because there was so much going on in the country. She was stuck in the U.S. as a refugee. She ended up living among other people from Mali that were also here in the U.S., but they turned against her. Most of them were supposed to be her friends, but they were bullying her, harassing her, calling her a thief. Some people even used these same exact words: daughter of a criminal. However, after finishing her studies, she got a green card and became a citizen. I would  say in all that happened, that was the only positive thing. My mother finally got married with my father who had been protecting her during her family's hard time and found her beautiful family.

This military coup had a lot of bad effects in Mali and even Malians living abroad. My grandmother and my mother struggled a lot. My grandfather wasted twelve years of his life waiting for a judgment for which he was not even pronounced guilty. When this kind of distress comes up, it is considered as a nightmare that will persist. However, they all tried to keep the positive part of this event. Because after this hard time, they were able to live a normal life, and there will be a story to tell the descendants of this family.