FREEDOM, a poem on South Africa by Afzal Moolla
Freedom The shackles have been cast off. Chains broken. People once squashed, under the jackboot of Apartheid, are free. Free at last! Freedom came on the 27th day in that April, 1994. Freedom from prejudice. From institutionalised racism. From being relegated to second-class citizenship. Freedom came and we danced. We cried. We ululated as we elected our revered Mandela. President Nelson Mandela. Our very own beloved 'Madiba'. Black and white and brown and those in-between, All hues of this rainbow nation, rejoiced as we breathed in the air of freedom and democracy. Today we pause. We remember. We salute. The brave ones whose sacrifices made this day possible, on that 27th day of April, 18 years ago. Today we dance. We sing. We ululate. We cry. Tears of joy and tears of loss. Of remembrance and of forgiveness. Of reconciliation and of memories. Today we pause. We acknowledge the tasks ahead. The hungry. The naked. The destitut...
Comments
Some may say it is part of your professional obligations and part of your self betterment but there is more to it than that. You are a son of the soil of Zimbabwe. Your success is our success, too.
I hope one of these days there will be a lot of your compatriots to blow more wind under your wings so you can even soar even higher.
Congratulations, Manu.
I appreciate the work you do too in preserving the story-telling tradition of Zimbabwe. We are all doing great work, each playing his or her part.