November 25 to December 10 marks 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women. Pamberi Trust held a musical and poetry extravaganza to bring home a strong message of saying no to violence. One performance in particular was all that and precisely what activist voices can embody. The poignant words of performance poet Xapa and hip hopper Misfit along with an affecting and we won’t stand down drum beat by Rumbi provided inspiration. The words and the drumming made the hair on my arms stand up. Made me want to change the world and hug every person I can find who personifies peace. The title of the performance was apt with respect to violence against women. And with respect to a great many other on-goings in Zimbabwe.

We should protest always

Always
The beating of the bongo like the beating of my heart
The beating of the bongo like my heart before you come
The pounding of the bongo like your fists upon my skin
The pounding of the bongo like the agony within

Violence in the garden
Violence in the house
Violence from the children
Violence from the spouse
The weeping and the wailing and the terror and the tears
The weeping and the wailing and the terror and the tears
The fat and the thin, the soul and the hurt and the fears
Violence from the sober
Violence when he’s drunk
Violence on the weaker
Violence on the young

The rhythm of the bongo like the rhythm of my soul
The rhythm of the bongo like the agony
The pounding of the bongo like his fists upon my skin
The pounding of the bongo like the agony within

Violence is coordinated, violence is control
Violence is from the place of the young of the soul
The fighting and the pressure and the struggles and the drone
The beating and the fighting and the immediate unfolds
Abuse of her body and abuse of her soul
Abuse of her feelings and abuse of her hopes

The throbbing of the drum is like the throbbing of my pain
The throbbing of the drum is like crying in my grave
The booming of the bongo there it is, let me go
The booming of the bongo, there’s victims no more

This entry was posted on December 4th, 2008 at 12:10 pm by Susan Pietrzyk and is filed under Activism, Inspiration, Uncategorized, Women's issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.