Coloniality of mind- the ‘rural’ in me

By Brenda Nozipho Ncube

A considerable percentage of accidents happening during the Easter holidays and festive season claim lives of people travelling from urban cities and town to rural areas. Some will be coming from as far as the United Kingdom, United states of America and mostly in the neighboring South Africa.

Despite such statistics and dangers, people still flock to the rural areas and they will be gratefully sharing the number of accidents they met along the way or how they survived a car crash.

In my family there is even a rule that family members should not travel on one bus and thus they split and or travel on different dates. The reason being in case of an accident, they do not die simultaneously or if one dies the other remains.

People are aware of the frequency of accidents during the festive season and Easter holidays but they still flock and jump over other people’s dead bodies as they walk to the guillotine, offering themselves as the lamb of sacrifice.

It is so amazing that even in their coffins, they would still want to be taken home. When elders realise that their patient is in a critical state or ‘there is no hope’ as they usually put it, they would rather take them out of the hospital for them to go and die in the rural areas. A corpse can be ferried all the way from South Africa at a cost of about two beasts only in the name of being buried at home where they belong and where their spirits will rest in peace

There is a strong bond that ties Zimbabweans to the rural areas that is beyond family, lineage or ancestral relations. This bond lies in the mind and can be traced back to colonialism.

Even if Zimbabwe attained its independence in 1980, and the white colonisers left the country, the black Zimbabwean remained colonised. A form of colonialism that is that is the most critical- the coloniality of mind.

During colonialism, whites were entitled to the colonies’ riches and acquired wealth to build the urban areas where they resided in, while the blacks were left in the primitive areas they called home but was later termed ‘rural’ because there was now an ‘urban’ area.

There were dictations that blacks should remain in the rural areas where they were subjected to poverty and viewed as non-beings. The colonial values inferiotised blacks while superiotising whites and have remained following independence. A feeling that as a black man people remain incomplete and belong to the rural areas.

The problem really began when black man accepted that they were inferior to the white race and that they belonged to the rural areas. They found way to be content with the system and to be satisfied by living in rural areas.

As black men were used for cheap labor in urban areas, they were forced to leave their families behind in rural areas such that they will be always reminded that they do not belong in the urban areas and thus each time they got time off, they visited their wives and children back home.

Children of these men grew up in that set up and they did the same when they grew up, left their families behind, went to the urban areas and came back to the rural areas where they belong, a system that continued to date.

To make matters worse, after independence, the new Zimbabwean government maintained the status quo left behind by the whites and chased people to rural areas by burning down shelters during operation Murambatsvina.

There was a lot of emphasis on the late former President Robert Mugabe’s origin from his rural home Zvimbamarambafungwe. The former South African President Zuma’s Nkandla and the late Nelson Mandela’s Qunu origins to remind blacks of their rural origins.

As sweet as it sounds, such stunts are pulled to drive people back to rural areas where they are easily controlled by traditional leaders they appointed to help them win elections not because they care that you sleep in a mud hut.

I dare you to decolonise your minds, and wake up from the nightmare of belonging to the rural areas. Happy independence day!!!

The illusion of marriage

By Brenda Nozipho Ncube

Sitting at the center, surrounded by elderly men and women, her handkerchief was dripping wet as it was frequenting her nose and her eyes. When she looked up, her eyes appeared as if blood will drip from them.

That look of desperation and defeat on her face said that the odds were going against her.

One elderly woman shook her heard and said, “Do not be nuisance Sisa, every home is built like that. You can’t leave your marriage because your husband cheated.” Everyone nodded as she continued, “a man is like a maize cob, you share him with others and even the bible says that every man cheats and that’s how it is,” she straightened her legs as she put this last nail on Sisa.

Sisa’s story is representative of what most women come to face at one stage in life.

If I may rhetorically ask, how do you tell that one loves you if movie actors can make  audiences break to tears while watching a love scene as the act is turned into reality in their worlds?

Imagine having to choose one person in this universe to be your eternal partner? This is the difficult decision one has to make at a certain stage in life because failure to get marriage is a disgrace in the society especially for women.  

Society has made our beautiful sisters suckers for love in a quest for this unachievable goal so called “marriage”. They prefer to settle for less just to have a being inform of a male gender to call “husband”. They choose to hide bruises beneath their make-up protecting their lovely husbands.

Our sisters and aunties are going through a lot of emotional turmoil to the extent of opting to take life of oneself just to avoid being called names and ridiculed by the society they live in.

Marriage is not a bed of roses as people are made to believe. Women are turned into slaves and child bearers by their husbands and they choose to stay because even their parents will not accept them the moment they decide to run away from their abusive husbands.

The problem with marriage is that it only benefits men over women. Women give it all up, dreams included, and at times forced to quit their jobs just to go and become perfect house wives for their husbands.

There are unwritten laws governing the area of marriage. One of such is this disgusting law of cheating. It is okay for men to cheat in a marriage uncountable times and the society will tell women that its in man’s nature to cheat and are subjected to series of counselling sessions to help them stay in that marriage and get used to their pain. However, if a man merely suspects that a woman is cheating, she is sent packing out their matrimonial home because such conduct is not supported by any law.

The most mind harrowing is this obsession of women to marriage. They make it top their goals and even prayer points to believers. Some go from church to church, seeding and tithing believing God for a husband. They go from one traditional healer to another, drinking portions and being sexually abused believing in gods to provide a husband to them.

Why all this trouble for the worst troubling ritual called marriage -a ritual that only serves to officiate sex between a man and a woman. If it is sex that women are looking for, why going through so much trouble to get when they can have it even when they are not married?

The world would be a better place if women stopped obsessing on marriage. Marriage must not be a goal in a woman’s life, but something they can do whenever they’ve achieved their dreams and conquered the world. The focus should be in securing their own bags of cash that depending on men for it.

Shamed for being a single mom

By Brenda Nozipho Ncube.

Being a single mother in a patriarchal African society is living in hell while still on earth. They are called names by the very society that should be protecting them.

When it comes to marriage, there is a general skepticism towards marrying a single mom. Men would approach them just to get a fix and move on as they are seen as cheap targets desperate for them.

There is an assumption in society that single mothers are failures in life. They are treated as outcasts, loose people who could not maintain and preserve their dignity until they marry.

On the other hand, men can have as much children they want even with different mothers before they marry and they will still want to marry a virgin or someone who does not have a child and the society is okay with that.

Why is it that the same society crucifies women in every interaction they have with men, whether they are the ones at fault or not? When the society scorns and shun women, where is the men?

In having a child, there are two people involved, a man and a woman. A woman will endure the nine months of humiliation, going around showcasing evidence of unprotected or ‘ungodly sex’ as they love to put it.

A woman will be blamed for failing to close her legs, but where is the man who got between those legs because if she did open them without a man surely she would have remained a virgin. She is blamed for allowing men to trick her but where is the man that tricked her into this?

Before the society call single mothers names, here is what you need to know: Sometimes she is a single mom because she could not settle for less. Because she deserved better than how the ‘baby daddy’ was treating her or because the ‘baby daddy’ was an abusive monster who drank her tears and could not provide for her.

So yes, being a single mom is sometimes a choice that society need to respect because no one would really want to get married to a loser only because he impregnated her. Given a second chance she would really make it worthwhile.

To men, if I could change your mind about marrying a single mom?

Firstly, she has evidence that she could bear children. If she managed to raise her kid by herself, what will make her fail to take care of you and your children?

This is a woman with a plan for her life, who has seen it all and she is ready to settle. She is tired of a dramatic life and given a second chance, she can make out a warm home.

And to single mothers, keep your heads high, you are the queen mothers and you deserve better. Never settle for less. If he is tripping, leave the nigga alone because he does not deserve you.

To the society, please mind your own businesses!

POPULISM, A CONTINUOUS THREAT TO DECOLONIALITY

Story by Michelle Masiyambiri

What is populism? In simple terms it is the widely believed. In lesser simpler terms it is a way of life that is widespread, leaving in its wake an organisation of forms of thinking and identities and behaviors. The populism way of thinking is difficult to challenge as it contains common nonsensical, taken-for-granted values. These are the values that people don’t often question and they are hailed as truthful and objectivity therefore plays a role in normalizing social order thereby maintaining a status quo. Populism can be constructed around race, ethnicity, gender and class, whereby the status quo is through hailing or superimposing the values of a particular race, ethnic group, gender or class in society, at the expense of the lesser. It is the compliance to these “unwritten commandments” that is critical. Populism plays a role in granting entitlement to land, power and citizenship. During colonization of Zimbabwe, whites were entitled Zimbabwe’s riches on the basis of race, while blacks were entitled to poverty. Blacks were actually viewed as non-beings without gender or class. The white race on the other hand was “godified.” Zimbabwe did not just win their independence back from the white settlers in 1980, they also inherited these colonial values that inferiority lacks while superiotizing the whites. The blacks still wanted to be white. There was what we call “a dependency inferiority complex”, a feeling that as a black man or woman, you remain incomplete. This has ensured that white superiority continues to rule, enabling the outflow of capital to the West. Another issue that has enabled this is ethnic cleavage which has allowed for the self-enrichment of a small ethnic group while the rest are impoverished in mass poverty. Some call it the replacement of race with ethnicity, forming an ethnic hierarchy.

Sexuality as a backbone of populism

The definition speaks to populism meaning there are widespread notions on sexuality, underlined by unwritten commandments, organising how men and women think, relate, identify and behave. At the centre of sexuality is the objectification of both men and women. Sexuality defines how men and women become inattentive to critical issues. Sexuality calls into question issues to do with race, gender and ethnicity. It is defined through the eyes of the spectacles of race, gender and ethnicity. Racism denied the existence of sexuality in the black race. It was for this reason that the word beauty does not exist in the eyes of the whites in view of the black. This explains the inferiority complex that the non-whites have had over the years. The knowledge that Africa has about sexuality is western oriented. The damage that was done on Africans cannot be undone again.

Robotic Zombies

by Genius Moyo

It is no longer news that technology has penetrated the social spheres, undermining social relations, but have we stopped to asses how it is developing narcissistic personalities amongst individuals?

Morden communications have drastically altered the ordinary terms of experience and consciousness, the ordinary structures of interest and feeling, the normal sense of being alive, that of having a social relation– James Carey.

With the same embrace of technology, we are becoming more techno-centric beings embedded into the scientific world where people are slowly losing the mastery control over their lives. The advancement of technology has brought the world so much closer together; people are now much more vulnerable to scams, cons, identity theft and sexual violence. People, especially in the Western world, have their privacies tempered with by their home governments.

Techno-literacy is what is required now, but it is expanding at a cost. Physical conversations are no longer the motor for social interaction, but rather finding an individual staring at his smartphone, laptop, or tablet without paying an attention to the surrounding social world. Can this be some kind of escapism? Maybe yes, maybe no. We are gradually becoming embedded in this new virtual world with a growing affinity and of course, with a disparaging affect in our social circles; among families and friends, a reality we seemingly have to accept despite all the scepticism.

Technology has become more of a cultural artefact, turning individuals into cultural aesthetics. It’s now the number of likes and views that validate beauty. This has encouraged narcissistic behaviour.  A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs. You may be generally unhappy and disappointed when you’re not given the special favours or admiration you believe you deserve. Others may not enjoy being around you, and you may find your relationships unfulfilling.

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Bulawayo citizen’s Insights on the Shortage of Roller Meal

By Mightyman Nsingo

The Government is set to increase the price of roller meal at a time when there is serious shortage of the product. This comes after they reviewed the price from ZWL$ 50 to 70 last month.

We went out to around the city to hear their thoughts on the issue. The citizens expressed concerns on this issue, labeling corruption to be at the center. They noted that no matter the price increase shortages of the product on the shop will continue.

Find out more on this issue on:

GMB suspends Bulawayo managers

Subsidised roller meal price to go up

Govt owes us $120m in roller meal subsidy: Millers

Mealie meal shortages persist

NUST JMS Department lends support to Matopo Mission’s proposed Radio project