Solidarity is ‘Western’ for Ubuntu/Unhu
In my culture, when someone asks ‘how you slept and woke up’ in the morning, you respond ‘ndamuka kana mamukawo’ meaning ‘I woke up well if you did too’. This is an acknowledgement of the existence of other beings around you.
You acknowledge other people because they are part of you and you are part of them. It is an acknowledgement of the importance of life apart from one’s own and it is a profession of love and respect for what surrounds you. In other words you stand in solidarity with others by the way you respond to those around you. I believe I do not have a choice for who is around me and who to respect and this makes everyone and their existence important. This is not something I strive to be, it is what makes me proud to be Zimbabwean and African and it is what I am. That we grow up living in solidarity, believing in solidarity and paying solidarity to each other without thinking about it. ‘I am, because you are, because we are!’ We are one whole and one body Read more
