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PROTEST
by Bev Reeler
February 20, 2002

PROTEST
The Woman's League took part in the 'Peaceful March' through town
on Monday 18th February.
They must have seen the beatings.
I cannot think that they approve of this violence,
and I wonder if they have seen it so blatantly before.
Whatever their political leanings,
they are elderly women
mothers and grandmothers.
Were they not shocked at the militarization of their sons, their grandsons?

Perhaps it is time for the Zimbabwean women to make a stand
Whether from Zanu PF, or MDC
Rural or Urban
Coloured, black or white.
These are our children!
And they are brutalizing our country.
They are not some foreign force.
They are beating their own brothers and cousins.
They are being used for cynical political motives.

The women in Chile made a pact
They went outside their houses at a particular time
and beat their cooking pots.
To register their protest at the disappearance of their sons

The women in Argentina also made a pact,
to appear in public wearing white cloths on their heads
as symbols of the nappies of their disappeared grandchildren.

All these women helped to overthrow dictators.

Perhaps we can do the same.
Beat our cooking pots
as loud as we can
at sunset each day
To say we DISAPPROVE.
-whatever our political leanings
-whatever our colour
Of this terrible use of violence in our land.

We need to make our disapproval heard.

AND WHISTLE
At the first sign of trouble
At the first sign of militia
in our homes, in our suburbs, in our shopping centres, in our growth points
Call everyone out
Whistle and come out in our hundreds.
We cannot hide from what is happening
We have to stand together
against this terrible infringement of our human rights.

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