In Solidarity with the People of Palestine. From Zimbabwe.

By Takura Zhangazha*

In many activist circles we are very familiar with the importance of acquiring regional and international solidarity for our struggle causes.  It is a solidarity that we generally anticipate will take many forms but above all else  recognizes the significance and importance of the struggles that we are waging by people who would otherwise not be concerned. 

In Southern Africa we grew up on a diet of struggle solidarity.  From a Zimbabwean perspective our own liberation struggle would not have been successful without this regional and international solidarity.  Particularly as led by the Frontline States (now incorporated into SADC).  As it is probably the same for South African and Namibian liberation struggles. 

We also had solidarity from geographically distant countries such as Cuba, China, the then USSR (now Russia), Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Guinea to name just a few. 

And this solidarity did not end there.  In our struggle there were other liberation movements that while waging their own fights against oppression stood by us.  And one of the most outstanding ones was the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as led by the late revolutionary Yasser Arafat. 

After our national independence, we generally knew that there was the question of Palestinian freedom because it was always mentioned in various state events.  Or by seeing the local Palestinian ambassador to Zimbabwe on television explaining his people's struggles against repression and occupation. Also by way of news reports about what has now come to be generally referred to as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

In the late 1990s there was a shift in these assumptions of solidarity.  Largely motivated by a post cold-war global international relations system and a false assumption about the indefatigable nature of neoliberal ideology.

Moreover we also began to face our own internal political and economic challenges wrought by the same neoliberal ideological turn of events to the extent that we were no longer keen on giving solidarity to other people's struggles.  

Instead we sought more regional and international solidarity for ourselves in one respect or the other. Either in support of Mugabe’s then newfound radical nationalism or Tsvangirai’s then social democracy proposition. 

In this, we sought more and more to be a global centre of attention surpassing all other long standing struggles with what I now consider in hindsight as vainglorious vanity.  But it was understandable given the global interest in what was happening over here.  We just lost sight of the fact that our Zimbabwean struggles and challenges were and still are not the only ongoing ones in the world. 

And this is why I wrote this blog.  Recent events in the Gaza strip where there have been bombings carried out by Israel which have tragically led to the killing of hundreds of Palestinians including children made me pause and reflect on the meaning of solidarity.

While I am not an expert on the Middle East,  I know that Zimbabwe has always stood with the people of Palestine.  As much as they stood by us during our own liberation struggles.   And it is apparent that while our struggle for liberation ended. Theirs has not.

And comrades tend to mix issues up about this.  The Palestinian struggle for liberation is quite literally about their loss of land in 1948.  An historical process that they refer to as the Al Nakba (catastrophe).  And in the now they are still losing even the little land they have left as reported in the mainstream global and social media. Hence their latest resistance.

I however also know that the state of Israel in its existence means many things to many Africans this side of the Sahara.  And mainly for religious reasons.  I even have friends that may scream for solidarity on many matters but not on the matter of the liberation of the people of Palestine.  They are no doubt entitled to their view and also their religious persuasions. 

What is however important is the fact of the historical reality that the people of Palestine are a dispossessed and repressed people.  Whichever way you want to look at it.  As we once were.   And there’s the rub which can never be wished away with platitudes or political or religious correctness. 

In the tradition of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) we would do well to remember that we historically share the same struggles as the people of Palestine. And that we must stand by and with them.

In my personal reflections on solidarity across borders I asked myself  questions as to what does it mean to be human in the contemporary?  Is it to assume isolation? Is to gain proximity to power and privilege?  Is it to be politically or religiously correct? Is it to have money?  The answer I still came to is that to be human is to recognize the historical and organic equal humanity of others.  No matter their colour, creed, gender or religion.

That is why on Palestine I will never self-censor. Palestine and its people must be free. #FreePalestine

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)

 

 

 

 

Prisoners of Our Own Ambitions: Zimbabwean Lifestyles and Complexes.

 By Takura Zhangazha*

 I have made the occasional attempt at being a motivational speaker. And I admit in all these attempts I have never really been recognized as being good at it.  Mainly because I know I do not fit into the mainstream fashion of what it means to be as motivational as expected.  Especially where I do not serve as an example that demonstrates achievement by way of having material success legitimacy to broach a specific subject matter. 

But there are some things that I do know.  For example, I know that I should never live in fear of my own informed opinion. No matter who I am talking to. Without emotion, even if with some sort of personal experience emotional baggage.  And how the person on the other side of the conversation perceives of the same. 

And as is the character of emotional baggage it sometimes weighs heavily on you. Or how you perceive your comrades to be handling theirs.

I also know that I am not good at writing.  Be it opinions via blogs or journalistic stories that suit a specific public interest moment.

But in all of this I am certain of one thing. I do not harbor any inferiority complexes.   Either as a black African, leftist intellectual or former student activist leader from Zimbabwe.

I make the above cited points because it matters that they be shared with young Zimbabweans.   Not as a testimony to a stubborn individualism. But more in order to begin a new debate as to what can constitute a new consciousness to being Zimbabwean. 

And I will start from my own personal experiences. 

It always astounds me that as a Zimbabwean my first personal encounter with consciousness was via the physical library. As actively encouraged by my mother and also the fact that a dysfunctional television set ensured we had no other options. 

Going to the local library also meant that we were free to read outside of the officially given syllabi.  To explore corridors of books that the teachers understandably did not expect you to read since they were not on the syllabi reading lists.

Exploring knowledge at that age was not only fun but akin to a small rite of passage into understanding yourself and your surroundings better.  An understanding of in part, naively so, causes you to come to terms with your own individual and family’s material circumstances.  Including thinking about ways to arrive at a relatively idealistic life in the future. One that would invariably include being able to buy and eat a lot of chicken and chips with your parents and siblings by the time you grew up and were working. 

But it has however not turned out to be as simple as that.  Our naïve personal ambitions in nascent consciousness have come to be represented in what we aspire to be in the contemporary.  Especially where it concerns the material.  Some of us argue we cannot all be rich or poor.  Others argue and present gilded pathways to wealth (not necessarily well-being). Others still make the moot point about politics and activism being the pathway to individual material wellbeing.

In all of this we may be missing some key points.

The first being that we are all equal in just the fact of human existence.  While contemporary global political economies have made us more individualistic and materially competitive, we should remain aware of the fact that all human beings are equal.  No matter their colour, creed, race or origin.  While we may still have aspirations to become an ‘other’ by way of material wellbeing, it is incorrect to assume that again material wealth dehumanizes other human beings.  This is an important point to make because in most instances our personal aspirations hinder our ability to see the overall bigger picture of building an equitable Zimbabwean society. 

Where we understand this, in the second instance, it is least likely that we will develop any inferiority complexes about who we are.   Not least in reference to other people’s countries and our departures thereto.  Proximity to those with access to wealth is not a banner to be held high.  It is more a question of your true character and being.  In this we are wont to ask the question why are you that close and to prove what material point to the rest of the country?

In the third instance we should no longer be prisoners of our material ambitions.  Because the material eventually loses its own appeal with the passage of time.  Or even within the context of the unexpected, unpredicted Covid19 pandemic.

It always means more when you know that health is a human right not a privilege.  And that you can rely on the public health system to look after an ailing relative. As opposed to having to put out money that you know you will never have anyway.  While access to health as a human right does not exist in Zimbabwe, we must concertedly work to make it a reality.  Not just for health but also education, transport, access to water, electricity and a sustainable environment.

To put it more straightforwardly, our individual ambitions are not the sum total of who we can be as human beings. In Zimbabwe or elsewhere. But then again we get captured in the doldrums of capitalism and assumptions of the importance of proximity to wealth. Wherein we incorrectly fetishize money and/or its acquisition.  Only to be left with generations that still want to depart even though they have everything they would have needed at home. In empty mansions. 

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his own personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)   

 

Education is Still Key for All Young Zimbabweans

By Takura Zhangazha*

 This week a young Zimbabwean comrade asked for some advice.  He had just collected his very decent Advanced Level (A Level) results but appeared disappointed.  I asked him why he was not happy. He explained that he expected to do better.  I smiled and replied to do better for who?  As expected his answer was that he had wanted to do better for his parents who had struggled to pay his school fees.  And also for his teachers but also significantly for his pride with his peers.

The real advice he wanted to ask for was not so routine however.  I had checked all the local university and college websites trying to ensure I could give him as many options as possible about not just a career but a new knowledge acquisition path.  He didn’t want that.  He was straight to the point in indicating his primary curiosity about his future.  Key questions were around what sort of job he would get if he did that degree or that diploma.  Questions that were directly utilitarian. 

And I understood where he was coming from.  With a bit of personal reminiscence about the time I also got my A Level results and the immediate career option pressures that came with them. 

And it is for this reason that I slowed him down a little bit.  I explained that the purpose of tertiary education is as complex as it is important for his personal career development.  And I separated these elements in two respects.  The first being that the complexity of it arises from the given importance of trying to acquire further knowledge through tertiary education.  That no matter the A level results and attenuated degree or diploma challenges, further education is always an important stepping stone to better things. I will come back to this point later.

The second with regards to the technical career importance of tertiary education focused on explaining how for example, tertiary qualifications in contemporary times do not guarantee a set career path.  Let alone individual success in the chosen career.  But that they certainly help. 

After this conversation with the anxious young cde, I also took a bit of time to reflect further on our tertiary education system and how it has evolved over the last two decades.  And also whether what it meant then should be the same as what it means now. 

The first most obvious change between then and now is that where it comes to tertiary education there is no longer an evident a bottle-neck system as was in the past.  We have more universities (though I am not so sure about any expansion in polytechnic colleges). Therefore tertiary education eligibility for many students has become more apparent. Though at cost since the government no longer directly helps students with tuition fees via grants or loans. That means the decision of a student to go for further education is largely based on their ability to pay for it either via their parents/guardians or almost impossibly by themselves.  In this case we need to seriously consider the fact that a majority of our students come from poor households that can barely afford high school education let alone its tertiary dimension.  And therefore we need to urge government to re-introduce a student loan and grant scheme for all potential students.  Even if the numbers are much higher than in the 1990s.  I always joke with my peers about how those that are at the helm of privatizing higher education are beneficiaries of its previous publicly funded predecessor.  

In the second instance, I looked at how we perceived of our own personal aspirations via education. And of course how we have generally turned out.  And I will give an anecdotal example.  At the height of the tragic diamond rush on Chiadzwa, a joke emerged about how those that did not do well in school (even Grade 7) were now drinking beer while their former teachers were looking on in awe and envy.  Largely due to the emerging disparities but now very real in the contemporary between individual economic success and educational status. Whereas in the past it was the type of qualification post high school that you attained that would give you some sort of chance at material success, in the contemporary it is your type of ‘hustle’ that justifies your competitive material wellbeing.    

In either example however the importance of tertiary education does not go away for young Zimbabweans. Especially in them learning not only newer knowledge but also as a stepping stone to that assumed next hustle.  And this is perhaps where we need to re-think how we value our children’s futures beyond platitudes.

The meaning of tertiary education is not just about that potential next well-paying job they can get and make their parents proud.  And this is where I return to the initial complexity of it all that I mentioned earlier.  We need to change our tertiary education system to value more the knowledge acquisition than just its individual materialism and assumptions of joining the rich and the elite. Where even some of the latter arrived there by way of inheritance and not necessarily knowledge acquisition. 

While the global trend remains one that elevates what is referred to as ‘disruption’, ditto tech industry executives (seriously cdes we can’t all be Bill Gates).  Our Zimbabwean reality still requires young people that still go to colleges and universities.  Formally and for a multiplicity of qualifications.  Be they in the natural, social, cultural and teaching sciences.  Together with a state that actively subsidises this at all levels and more significantly where it concerns tertiary education.  Mainly because this is where a new progressive national consciousness is always born.  Warts and all. 

In conclusion, we all have different life experiences to tell about how we got to be where we are.  Especially some of us who are part of what I call the ESAP generation.  And our narratives are those of the pain of having to get that particular degree or diploma to lift families out of poverty.  It worked for a while, then because we didn’t anticipate the future holistically, it has not been roses as we expected.  But we cannot pass on the same burden to young Zimbabweans. We need to emphasize again and again that tertiary education is a stepping stone to the future.  Not an end in itself.

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)