The Diary of a Love Immigrant Taking steps
back to look forward…
I slip into the easy familiarity of the language
of change. Today I did not hear the word struggle,
but a talk that resonated with resistance, self-criticism, understanding, activism,
interaction, radicalism, and militarism amongst it all, still seeking
responsibility for the self and solidarity.
Yet, it is important to understand, this
necessary distance to gain a new perspective. Opening the mind to another kind
of space to grow beyond the dreams of freedom. Craving a post revolution
society transformed through breaking down the old and bringing in the new. What
did we inherit instead?
Bankrupt systems, a skills bank ransacked
through under development, a society soiled by lack of mass participation in
their own integration. Transformation believed to be synonymous with
transition; expectations to be compliant with mass delivery. Literally caught
in lines black and white. Spaces and places contested. Lives increasingly cheaper,
jobs globally dispensable and as the opportunities knock at different doors,
opening creative space requires more than participation. Leadership incorruptible,
change greater than a paradigm shift on paper.
But, we moved on, working hard, banking on
the elements of success, moving two steps forward, three steps back, the ghoema of life sometimes out of step
with the idealism nurtured on the path to liberation.
Beaches of paradise, pots of gold, guns for
hire, communities on fire, all part of a melting pot we call reality. We are
still caught in the nightmare of an experiment gone wrong.
I do not hesitate to proudly say “We
survived!” Ours is a rich heritage of understanding change, in time the next
generations will find a way to cope with the remnants of a racist, unjust
system.
Changing hearts and minds will always be
our challenge, like everywhere else in a world where the gap between the rich and poor exists and is widening.
We will continue to scuffle and scrape for diminishing resources. Love, peace,
forgiveness, joy, acceptance and prosperity are the words we need to nurture in
the cradle of Justice, Human Rights and Respect.
