Zimbabweans have been urged by the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, during the Martin Luther King Day commemorations to emulate Dr Martin Luther King Jnr where their voices are heard in a non-violent manner. Read more here. It is true that we need to use non-violence to bring change and address areas of injustice in Zimbabwe. I believe every Zimbabwean has a little ‘Luther’ living in them but the environment around us is not conducive.

Take the example of men and women working with WOZA and MOZA. In 2010 83 members were arrested while they were having a peaceful march to mark International Peace Day. In Bulawayo two were arrested during a public meeting with the Competition and Tariff Commission to present views on ZESA. In Mutare two women were arrested a day after a peaceful protest.

Mr Ray, like Dr Martin Luther Jnr, has an ‘I have a dream…’ for Zimbabwe that is. The dream that was instilled in the 1990s when the government promised, ‘Education for all by the year 2000′, ‘Housing for all by the year 2000′ and ‘Health for all by the year 2000′. I still feel this can be achieved some year, say 2020. But my question today is how then do I gather 10 people to listen to my dream and not be picked up for being a public nuisance? I don’t just want to use my voice, I also want to do silent acts that bring change to Zimbabwe, which I so much love and I am so proud to be Zimbabwean. Like Rosa Parks, I want to remain seated for the cause of my plight. But I’m rather scared to give up my life like the vendor in Tunisia.

This entry was posted on January 24th, 2011 at 1:28 pm by Elizabeth Nyamuda and is filed under Activism, Governance, Inspiration, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.