Zimbabwe Update: #notacoup Day 2
A NEW ZIMBABWE (AT LEAST ON THE INSIDE) - DAY 2
While the bulk of Harare is enjoying a quiet, peaceful, (largely hungover) start to their Sunday - reminiscing about the day that was, the day that changed the hearts & minds of the people of Zimbabwe... it is interesting to see how many out there in the world are already doomsdaying the worst for the New Zimbabwe.
Anyone & everyone who was on the streets yesterday will share the same sentiment - what happened in Harare (& elsewhere in the world) on November 18th 2017 was all about change and unity, all about people standing together because frankly - they've just had enough. Of course we understand that the next steps are going to bring some big ups and some big downs...
We all are hoping sense & reason replace madness & chaos. We are all hoping the process of morality & basic rule of law continue to be adhered to as they have over the past week.
We are all hoping for better days - who in the world isn't?
And there are some very strong reasons why most of the people in Zim - especially those who were dancing on the streets yesterday - feel this is more than just a rose-tinted dream...
1. With hundreds of thousands of people on the streets yesterday, not one shop was looted, not one thing burnt, not one weapon was raised, not one political shirt or cap to be seen anywhere. Hell, cars were even obeying traffic lights during the march! The only property damage that occurred were the odd suspension giving in on an overcrowded minibus & the (somewhat funny to be fair) various ways in which street signs & billboards with RM's name on were ripped, adapted (Chiwenga Airport - etc), or paraded with a sense of comedy. Now I've been to rugby games with a few hundred supporters that have ended in more violence than we saw across the whole of Zimbabwe yesterday... this is something to stop and smile about...
2. Although there was a bit of a plan for yesterday, nothing followed any set course or any set plan - yet it all worked out, organically, perfectly. There were no grand stand speeches (hell, most of those who gave prayers or said thanks-for-coming publicly forgot the basic fact that the human voice requires some amplification - two words guys: loud hailer). There wasn't a climax point where everyone sang an anthem or saluted a flag or a person or anything. And that's actually what made it so great. There were just a lot (A LOT!) of people singing, drinking, dancing & sharing a massive shift in their collective psyche...
3. Which leads me to the most important thing. Yesterday was more about conquering FEAR & PARANOIA than it was about a revolution in Zimbabwe. The Fear that has gripped this country has been carefully crafted by those in power (& yes, those likely still to be) to keep them rich & in power. Yesterday, the people broke the glass ceiling of this fear. And what a break it was... It shows that tangible love & human spirit can overcome an intangible and irrational based emotion, cultivated like a cancer for decades by greedy officials. It shows that Zimbos don't need to fear like that again - so no matter who comes in next, he/she will never be able to use the fear & paranoia card again in trying to oppress a nation. Only people who have lived under fear & oppression will ever know what that means...
4. Yesterday was not Zim's version of the Arab Spring(s) - something so many people are pointing out to us the rapid declines that occurred after those events. No, the only similarities between yesterday and the various Arab Springs were the numbers of people involved and the role of social media. But Zim yesterday had nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with violence, nothing to do with active military involvement, and particularly nothing to do with any forceful resistance shown by those being toppled. Those things alone make yesterday something completely different to the events of North Africa before...
So today Zimbabwe is enjoying a moment of yin after yesterday's yang - a moment to sit back and say:
Look what is possible.
Look what we can do if we decide to make the change.
What's possible when we realize our Collective Voice... (Geez - imagine if we could do the same about the planet, the plight of the poor, world peace... Miss World contestants forever more would have nothing to answer in their interviews...!)
Change has come to Zim. And it may not be visible on the outside yet. In fact, the outside may be a bit messy for a while as time & space catch up with the quantum leap that occurred yesterday. But the Change has come inside. Inside everyone on those streets who realized yesterday that Freedom is something we can Control. Freedom is something we can nurture. And just for now, just for a little while... that is enough...
https://youtu.be/fa3YDYhUYM0
