Unlocking the silence of the mind that dreamed the dream
Filed under: I was just thinking, Zimbabwe, For & About, Zimbabwean diaries
(Excerpts from Spirit Talk: The Wisdom of Stone Revisited, work in progress based on newspaper articles)
Give us a thousand,
another thousand,
and a million years
and seal the wisdom of our forefathers
inside stone
Musaemura B. Zimunya, “Zimbabwe Bird”
…one begs to ask what is education? I would argue that an education system that limits, blinds, cuts off indigenous knowledge systems, tongues and perpetuates ignorance of one’s socio- historical and cultural heritage is not an education at all. Indeed, an education system that teaches that the past is dead can only create a nation of the walking dead. An education system that that teaches that our history is nothing but darkness before the coming of colonialism is a form of racial suicide. It is a form of selling away a nation’s soul, a people’s heritage, down the river over and over again…
For many years I was taught, and subsequently taught in turn, that we have no stories of our own to tell. For a very long time, I cherished and believed this lie. I was made to believe beyond any reasonable doubt that the defeat of our people in the Chindunduma or the First Chimurenga- the war of liberation of 1896-7, was more than a physical defeat, it was spiritual as well and none of our old ways survived. But while the devastating effects of that defeat echo in our lives to this very day nothing can further be from the truth. Indeed, while one looks at the Great Zimbabwe monuments and sees only ruins and echoes of a splendour long gone, the spirit of Dzimbahwe itself still lives today and is among us…
Sometimes we descend into myth not because we do not know…Like the Malian Griot Mamadou Kouyate, I delve into history so that you can know the history of our ancestors “so that the lives of the ancients might serve…as an example, for the world is old, but the future springs from the past.” There are some things which should not be known by outsiders, but are known by some who are “depositaries of oaths which the ancestors swore.”
…another observation made by the griot…: “Men of today, how small you are beside your ancestors, and small in mind too, for you have trouble in grasping the meaning of my words…To acquire my knowledge I have journeyed all around…Everywhere I was able to see and understand what my masters were teaching me, but between their hands I took an oath to teach only what is to be taught and to conceal what is to be kept concealed…”
The mind that dreamt this Dream
massively reaching into time and space
the voice that commanded
the talent that wove the architecture:
friezes of dentelle,
herring- bone,
check patterns,
chevron
and all
the many hands that put all this silence together,
the forgotten festivals at the end of the effort:
All Speak Silence now- Silence
~ Musaemura Bonus Zimunya, “Zimbabwe” ~
We are not that which is spoken about: faces that have no voices
which need to be deciphered and explained by others; we are not
images, or mirages that need definitions from outside; nor are we
objects that need to be defined by foreigners.
~Solomon Mutsvairo, “Who is Mbire?” in Introduction to Shona Culture~
Of this and this alone I am certain, although there are many things unknown, unsaid, unwritten and down right ignored, we too have ancestors, great forebears who, too, like Jacob, wrestled with God’s angels and won. To these ancient ones from ages now lost in the mists of time, the Creator was certainly revealed, and these revelations have been passed down throughout the ages from generation to generation. But as with all things, as time passes, man forgets, at best confining memory to the realm of myth and legend, at worst, to the realm of woeful neglect and oblivion…
Mambiri and his descendants’ migration, perhaps around 850 AD, was part of the larger Bantu migrations over a long period of time. It should be noted that Black people called themselves abantu which simply means human beings. Militant Islam had attacked and conquered Egypt and Kush (Sudan) around 639- 643 AD converting indigenous inhabitants who came under their ferocious swords and guns of Muslim imperialism in the process. Quite naturally, not all Africans were willing to live under religious tyranny and the new mores it imposed. So, as had always been the case in Africa since time immemorial, the disgruntled voted with their feet, trekking to new lands out of reach of their oppressors. It is interesting to note that the Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah states that:
The oral traditions took me back to traditions of migration. These traditions,
beginning with acknowledgements of places reached by people travelling
under pressures to extreme to adapt to, referred to an earlier place of departure.
Sometimes the reference was simply to the Great River or the Great Water.
.More frequently, the traditions of migration mentioned Misri, Misiri, or Luti.
Those are just other names for the area now known as Egypt, though in
ancient times it went by other, indigenous names: Ta Meri, Beloved Land, Tawi,
Two Lands, and, more often, Kemet, the Black Nation.
What is fascinating about Armah’s observation is that dovetails with Shona narratives of migration…the descendants of Mambiri … testify … that they came from the Nile Valley- “the Great River/ Water”- where under their founding father they established the Mbire kingdom east of Lake Tanganyika (another Great Water, which … features in many oral traditions) where they were led by Mambiri’s grandson Murenga… Murenga’s children, Runji, Chaminuka, Mushavatu, and Nehanda among others continued with the trek southwards after leaving a place they called Govanwa (The Place of Division) where there was further segmentation, with various groups taking up different totems, to allow for intermarriage- kucheka ukama (the severing of blood ties) and allocation of spheres of influence…
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rmupfudza, this is very interesting stuff. I like that quote from Mutsvairo because it reveals the fundamental problem of black Zim. You mention the bantu migrations. Do you know what caused this migration? On another tip rmupfudza what do you think we can do to ensure that ‘our’ story/ stories is/ are told. I’m convinced something needs to be done as a matter of urgency
It is only by conscious recognition of the damage done to us, and an active effort to reclaim through creative imagination that we can begin to tell authentic stories about our being. In the absense of that conscious trascendendalism, we will remain the ramshackles that we are —
@Brian Gondo What caused Bantu migrations? Well many theories abound, but it is important to note that these migrations did not happen in one huge wave, but happened over a long period, although there was a stage where they peaked. Notice for example, that among the early Bantu to enter Zim were those predominantly of of the Dziva- Hungwe totem- hence the Zimbabwe bird (we shall explore this later)
One view, though, that keeps cropping up, is that as Islam made inroads, via the sword, many who could not stomach the prospect giving up their way of life, and indeed, offer a strong enough resistance, simply moved out of the sphere of influence of this new form of conquest.
Of course, there was always the impetus of nothing but sheer adventurism, the desire to discover and tame new lands, internal strife (once there were power struggles, there were in the absence of mediators to come up with a power- sharing deal, those who felt short-changed simply migrated in search of of a new land/ kingdom with a different dispensation, preferably their own…Even the search of new hunting grounds could result in a mass migration, but the upheaval that had a huge and lasting impact have to be the conquest of Egypt & Kush( Sudan) between 639- 643 AD by the Arabs, which would have a domino effect…(More later) Of course, after the Arabs, the European slavers came, that must have resulted in some internal migrations as well away from the most affected and dangerous lands ( but in the end, very few places would be too far from the greedy hand of the Children of Europa)…
What can we do to ensure that ‘our’ story is/ stories are told? I was intrigued to discover that Ayi Kwei Armah has learnt to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, and speak, read and write the Language of the Ancients and has detailed this in his memoirs, “The Eloquence of Scribes.” The question is how many of us have seen or read this book, let alone heard about it? And therein lies our bane- Information, knowledge is power and we need to harness, and control its distribution to one another…
We need to take our stories, too, from the realm of serious, cloistered,usually dry academia, and put it into the public domain, retelling history in a way that is accessible to the general public and in a way that makes it relevant…Imagine, for example retelling the story of Great Zimbabwe with the magic and splendour with which “3000BC” was told? With CGI, et al…the rest is silence
And research, more and more research, capacitating those with the will and passion to do this and then ensuring that these stories are told through all the various forms of communication at our disposal today. Eish, man, there is so much and I know there so many capable and willing individuals out there (look at your Arrk of the Covenant foray for example, and the interest it has generated)…now if we could broaden our reach, bring scattered individuals together, think tanks, institutions of learning ….I could go on and on…
It is said that if you want to hide something from a black man put it into a book. If you look at most of us save for reading for syllabus/ exam purposes we never indulge in much reading. Chief you had an interesting initiative about books (Mapungubwe) how is that going. When I look at the current turmoil I often wonder if anyone is documenting this. We need to learn from history but we also need to record it. We need to become a more literate society that values knowledge. Let us put those stories into books, plays, poems, film etc but if something like this is done by one of us it is not valued, but if Hollywood were to do it suddenly it’s important. The book you mention rmupfudza “The Eloquence of Scribes” do you have a copy or do you know where one can get their hands on it. I’d like to read it.
I’d also recommend to those who are interested to be part of an exciting book club called Tavavanhu African Literature Enterprise (TALEnt). This is run by two energetic young women Marcellina and Diana. You can email me on briangondo(at)gmail(dot)com and I will gladly provide you with their contact details. One of the key aims of Tavavanhu is to unite Africans through literature (especially African Literature). Their aim is to take you throughout Africa so that you fall in love, laugh with and cry with other Africans through literature.
“There’s no reason a new Africa can’t be created right here and now.”
GENERAL COLIN L. POWELL, former U.S. secretary of state, before he performed a Nigerian yahoozee dance at London’s Africa Rising Festival
And he is right. Madhibuti once wrote “…if we define ourselves as a people, as Afrikan people, and set up the necessary mechanisms and institutions that will re- educate people to such, we will then begin to act and not to re- act in the best interests of Afrika and Afrikan people.”
We have tended to re- act, in terms of the injustices perpetrated against us, defining ourselves in re- action to those who have sinned against us, but it’s time to rise not by pulling others down, but based on our frame of reference. No, we shall not negate history, just as much as Jews will not forgive and forget the holocaust…
I guess we have a lot to learn from the Jews. But, more importantly, we need role models - people who will step out of the limited version of self and launch out into unsharted waters of redifing what it means to be an Afrikan. Underlying this will be a need to empower ourselves economically. Outside economics, the project will crumble. The cultural reawakening and reformation project needs an economic handle.
Chief K.Masimba Biriwashas last blog post..Quote of the Day