It is with an angry sadness that we learned of this giant's death over the weekend. If there was one book that I could name that had such a profound effect on my thinking, it was God's Bits of Woods. We named our son after Sembene Ousmane. We have long wanted to interview Sembene Ousmane in these pages, but somehow didn't manage to work up the courage to speak with such a giant. His contribution to our understanding of the struggle for emancipation in Africa is unmeasurable. His memory lives on in his films and his writing. It is for us to make certain that future generations in Africa will study his works, and by studying them, find the pathway to freedom.

The following select list may help those less familiar with his work:

Selected filmography:
Borom Sarret (1963)
Niaye (1964)
La Noire de...(1966)
Mandabi (1968)
Xala (1974)
Ceddo (1977)
Camp de Thiaroye (1988)
Guelwaar (1992)
Faat Kiné (2000)
Moolaadé (2004)

Books:
Le docker noir, 1956, Paris: Debresse, novel, new edition: Présence
Africaine, Paris, 2002,
- engl. The Black Docker, London: Heinemann, 1987.
O pays, mon beau peuple! 1957.
Les bouts de bois de Dieu, 1962.
- engl. God's Bits of Wood, London: Heinemann, 1995.
Voltaïque, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1962, short stories.
L'Harmattan, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1964, novel.
Le mandat, précédé de Vehi-Ciosane, Paris: Presence Africaine, 1966,
- engl. The money-order: with, White genesis, London: Heinemann, 1987
Xala, Paris: Présence africaine, 1973.
Le dernier de l'Empire, L'Harmattan 1981, - 'a key to Senegalese
politics', Werner Glinga, engl. The last of the Empire: A Senegalese
Novel, London: Heinemann, 1983.
Niiwam, Paris: Presence Africaine, 1987, engl. Niiwam and Taaw: Two
Novellas, Oxford and Portsmouth, N. H.: Heinemann, 1992.