Martin Luther King of Georgia

January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

We have flown the air like birds,
השכלנו לטוס באוויר כמו ציפורים
حلّقنا في الهواء كالعصافير

We have swum the sea like fishes
השכלנו לשחות בים כמו דגים
سبحنا في البحر كالأسماك

But have yet to learn the simple act
אך עדיין לא למדנו את המעשה הפשוט….
لكننا لم نتقن بعد، تلك المهارة البسيطة ….

Of walking the earth like brothers
של ללכת על האדמה כמו אחים
أن نمشي على الأرض كالأخوة

Words by: Martin Luther King Jr.
מילים: מרטין לוטר קינג הבן
من أقوال:مارتن لوثر كينج

Afro-pessimism: Robert Mugabe

By David Mpanga

“I will never, never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans.”  Robert Mugabe, December 2008.

If a white fiction writer had dreamt up the Zimbabwe-under-Mugabe plot, he would have been roundly condemned as an Afro-pessimist and a racist. But we have all seen that after ruining the Zimbabwean economy with misplaced policies, purportedly intended to emancipate the downtrodden black man, Mugabe “secured” an 85.51% “landslide victory” by beating his opponents into submission.

Having failed to declare official results for over a month when it looked like the great hero of the revolution was losing, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission reclaimed its reputation for efficiency by counting all of the ballots and verifying the results of the presidential run-off election in one day. So it is back to business-as-usual in Zimbabwe.

Bishop Jefferts Schori on Zimbabwe

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, issued a statement May 6 on the political and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. The full text of the Presiding Bishop’s original statement follows:

Together with millions of people around the world, my heart has been drawn in recent months to the political and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe. The tragedy of that nation’s descent into internal chaos is magnified by the high sense of purpose and prosperity that a newly independent Zimbabwe brought to Africa and the world nearly three decades ago. Sadly, Robert Mugabe’s government has undermined that promise beyond recognition with its systematic repression of human rights, democracy, and economic opportunity for the people of Zimbabwe. The turmoil in the wake of Zimbabwe’s recent elections signals an urgent need for governments and other leaders in the international community to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, and call for an end to this long hour of human suffering and the beginning of a new era of promise and opportunity.

Durban 1947

By Roon Lewald

1947 was a good time to be a white five-year-old in Durban. The beaches offered halcyon days beside the Indian Ocean. The Durban July turned the town into an exciting tourist mecca. The Bioscope was still the gateway to Hollywood’s dream factory of the world. In that stronghold of English speakers, blimpish super-patriots of Empire basked in the last rays of the setting Empire, and the 1947 Royal Visit whipped monarchist enthusiasms to fever pitch. “Our magnificent Zulu” were complacently thought to be quite content with white overlordship, and one of the few blots on white horizons was the rapid encroachment of increasingly prosperous Indian merchants on previously all-white shopping and residential areas.

Simudzai Mureza WeZimbabwe

 

Phakamisan iflegi yethu yeZimbabwe
Eyazalwa yimpi yenkululeko;
Legaz’ elinengi lamaqhawe ethu
Silivikele ezithan izonke;
Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.

Khangelan’ iZimbabwe yon’ ihlotshiwe
Ngezintaba lang’ miful’ ebukekayo,
Izulu kaline, izilimo zande;
Iz’ sebenzi zenam’, abantu basuthe;
Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.

Nkosi busis’ ilizwe lethu leZimbabwe
Ilizwe labokhokho bethu thina sonke;
Kusuk’ eZambezi kusiy’ eLimpopo
Abakhokheli babe lobuqotho;
Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.

Simudzai mureza wedu weZimbabwe
Yakazvarwa nomoto wechimurenga;
Neropa zhinji ramagamba
Tiidzivirire kumhandu dzose;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.

Tarisai Zimbabwe nyika yakashongedzwa
Namakomo, nehova, zvinoyevedza
Mvura ngainaye, minda ipe mbesa
Vashandi vatuswe, ruzhinji rugutswe;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.

Mwari ropafadzai nyika yeZimbabwe
Nyika yamadzitateguru edu tose;
Kubva Zambezi kusvika Limpopo,
Navatungamiri vave nenduramo;
Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.

Lift high the banner, the flag of Zimbabwe
The symbol of freedom proclaiming victory;
We praise our heroes’ sacrifice,
And vow to keep our land from foes;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.

Oh lovely Zimbabwe, so wondrously adorned
With mountains, and rivers cascading, flowing free;
May rain abound, and fertile fields;
May we be fed, our labour blessed;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.

Oh God, we beseech Thee to bless our native land;
The land of our fathers bestowed upon us all;
From Zambezi to Limpopo
May leaders be exemplary;
And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.

South Africa’s Proposed Pledge of Allegiance

“We the youth of South Africa
Recognising the injustices of our past,
Honour those who suffered and sacrificed for justice and freedom.
We will respect and protect the dignity of each person,
And stand up for justice.
We sincerely declare that we shall uphold the rights and values of our Constitution
And promise to act in accordance with the duties and responsibilities
that flow from these rights.
! KE E: / XARRA // KE
Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika“

There is something unnerving about putting social ideals into words, especially when it’s about a country with a fairly fresh memory of an uneven and divided history. South Africa’s proposed Pledge of Allegiance, intended to be memorized and recited by millions of school children throughout the Republic, has caused a national debate over identity, inclusion and guilt.

Simba Makoni talks with Redi Direko

Last Monday Simba Makoni, Zimbabwean presidential candidate, interviewed with Redi Direko on South Africa’s talk radio 702 via telephone. The tension-filled interview gets off to a rough start which, unfortunately, sets the tone for the remainder of the program. It’s a pity that Ms. Direko adopts and maintains a confrontational interview style, and a greater pity that Dr. Makoni appears reactionary throughout. Personality dynamics aside, it’s worth listening to, though, as Dr. Makoni explains why he is not “standing against Mugabe, but standing for the people of Zimbabwe.” Listen to the entire broadcast here to form your own opinons about Dr. Makoni’s ideas on, among other things, national healing and reconciliation.

Simba Makoni’s Election Manifesto

Independent Zimbabwean presidential candidate Simba Makoni says he wants the 29 March 2008 polls to be a “contest of ideas” that will pull Zimbabwe out of the current economic and political quagmire. If elected president, Makoni says he will launch a National Authority, a body that would be charged with putting the country back on the path of economic recovery. His “manifesto” speaks to Zimbabwe’s current state and proposes a new constitution that, among other things, promotes “National healing and reconciliation.” Full text follows:

Tsvangirai to Zanu-PF – Fix Things Or Else

By Morgan Tsvangirai
Harare

“Mugabe en Zanu-PF wil ’n valse verkiesing hê en indien ons deel is daarvan, word ons ’n gevaar vir onsself.”

THE situation in Zimbabwe today requires a great deal of courage and maturity, endurance and our usual resilience. We are stretched to the limit. Daily, we are fighting despondency, hopelessness and state-sanctioned despair. I hope and pray that this is the last time our nation has to be exposed to these trying times.

Our families have gone through the worst Christmas season ever imagined: without food, without our own cash. As we enter the New Year, the year of our Lord 2008, from such a severely untenable position, I need to call on all my compatriots to make 2008 the last post.

Retribution and Restorative Justice: Declan Roche

, in  Retribution and Restorative Justice, examines the origins of a dichotomy he observes between the proponents and theorists of retributive and restorative justice models, and critically examines their rationales and effects paying particular attention to tensions and issues. Roche identifies Howard Zehr’s Changing Lenses as one of the seminal texts that has shaped the current thinking on restorative justice of practitioners and academics. In this landmark 1990 publication, Zehr observes modern criminal justice systems – and the historical and biblical approaches influencing them – leaving ” . . . victims, offenders and communities injured and unsatisfied” (75).