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The search for a "never again" experience
Thabani Nyoni
April 12, 2010

This Sunday I visited the Plymouth Congregational Church for the second time in as many weeks and besides the spiritually awakening services, this church took a moment to honor Yom HasHoah, a Holocaust remembrance day that is on April 12. Church members were invited to take home red roses in memory of those who "lost their lives to the power of hatred and fear and to pledge, "never again." The mention and memory of the Holocaust in my mind quickly connected with the broader universal struggles against the domination of one by another. Genocidal tendencies like the Holocaust are comparable to the state sponsored, indiscriminate killing of about 10,000 to 20,000 innocent, unarmed and defenseless citizens of Zimbabwe in Matabeleland and Midlands through a brutal and bloody campaign known as Gukurahundi. Naturally, I longed for day when Zimbabweans, in churches, homes, schools, and workplaces and in different public and private settings could stop for a day to remember this regrettable moment and pledge, "never again".

Continued silence on the atrocities has denied the nation the opportunity to moved forward. Opportunities to heal the wounds, reconcile with the past, and with the enemies continue to be missed. The time to seek and share the message of love, truth, peace, and harmony is one reason people must be allowed to speak. Despite the diversity of identities, there exists a common thread which goes beyond the carrying of red roses in hands to the message of love in thoughts, actions, words and faces! There is no doubt that fear, anger and hate abounds and continues to be nourished within some sections of the population, including those whose loss continues to be of no official consequence in our nation. In fact, low intensity but subtler Gukurahundi tactics continue to be experienced on a widening scale.

Daily, one citizen or another is given a brutal reminder of the past and present politicization of a culture of fear, violence and intolerance that contaminates our human dignity. One example was the arrest of Owen Maseko, a Visual Artist in Bulawayo on Friday 26 March for holding a solo Exhibition at the art Gallery on Gukurahundi. As this goes on in Zimbabwe, the question is, where is our trumpeted value of Ubuntu (I am because you are)? There seems to be a deafening silence on the sacredness of human life, even the very principle of treating human beings as the ultimate beneficiary of processes. Human dignity remains the unwritten but self-evident foundation of our moral constitution upon which the foolish deeds of our excesses are governed and restrained. It is the foundation of the human politicalness that inspires the desire to join with others as part of something broader, bigger and beyond one-s existence on earth.

One thing is for sure, no amount of threats, beatings, abductions, or intimidation can wish away violence and memory that mark our blood stained political landscape. History is like a stubborn mirror that reflects the ugliness of the face of our political past without fear or favor. One cannot change that image by simply breaking the mirror. Intentional conversations of transformation inspire an extraordinary initiative by the ordinary people to commit to a higher standard and a greater cause. Our politics must begin to encourage each citizen to rise above their pain, their past, and their daily experiences. Commemorations and conversations must sufficiently accord that mountaintop experience. The task of emancipation is more than freeing of the oppressed from the pain of losing lives and limbs. It is about liberating our oppressors from their fear of freedom and the revenge that may befall them. Advocates of peace and national reconciliation may have to appreciate that a true and genuine path to progress, peace, reconciliation and healing is a collective effort that balances the aspirations of the oppressed and the fears of the oppressor.

Properly conducted conversations whose focus is to build sufficient foundations for a "never again" existence are required. In these conversations, Zimbabweans must have the opportunity to think and speak about the things most painful to them until they cannot feel the pain anymore. The aggrieved must afford to mourn and dwell in their past sufficiently enough to be able to move on. They must be given the normal attention and support given to all people who find themselves in such a situation. Continued stifling of dialogue is a sign of denial and this denial has been to permeating all levels of society. No generation or group should be left to say that they do not know such atrocities have been committed to fellow citizens. Remembrance must push people to a point of asking themselves; how could such an unspeakable acts happen? How come the world never took notice? What kind of conversations and processes need take place before the "never again" aspiration is realized? Current and future government of Zimbabwe who feel threatened by the talk of the past to the point of arresting citizens may not appreciate the gains of love, peace, human dignity, and mutuality which would likely emerge from this action. Chances of such atrocities happening again remain high, as long as those who perpetrated them in the past are the ones who silence the legitimate public mourning and remembrance. Such may represent a genuine fear by the responsible individuals of what may befall them for taking a brave step of accepting their sins. It becomes incumbent upon the whole nation, especially the victims, understand that they also hold the key to reconciliation and this process must be aimed and moving the nation forward.

There is a Jewish organizing maxim that says "If your suffering does not serve to unite you with the suffering of others, if your own imprisonment does not join with others in prison, if in your smallness you remain alone, then your pain will have been for naught." Communities affected by persecution may want to refuse to fight their struggles in a compartmentalized manner. The occasion of those who lost lives and family members should remind the nation and world of the danger of power without people, of intelligence without heart, of policies without people. If leaders are guilty of crimes against humanity, then citizens are responsible for what happened and continues to happen around and to them. Past struggles against slavery, colonialism, dictatorship, poverty, and hunger should inspire us to take actions to change the course of the future and establish a new dispensation that recognizes our commitments to a "never again" future.

As Zimbabweans celebrate independence in six days- time, it may help to examine what it has been like to be independent and not have food, freedom, education, health and even the opportunity to mourn those dear to us but departed. It may also be important to reflect on what the country may look like in the next ten years if no intentional efforts to heal the nation wounds, wipe tears away and a proper burial our painful past is not done.

Thabani Nyoni is a community organizer for social and political transformation in Zimbabwe. He currently writes from the University of Minnesota where he is studying public policy analysis.

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