Father, Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing
How am I to forgive when my offender has never sought my forgiveness? How am I to forgive my oppressor when the sins of my oppression is always swept under the carpet by my oppressor? And also... It's not out of ignorance. They know EXCATLY what they are doing. They Build Systems of oppression to build themselves an earthly paradise, but the yoke that paradise is my pain.
Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise
What is this paradise that you promise of? I have no idea what it looks like. Perhaps it is filled with luscious lawns that resemble the lawns I maintain at my boss's house. Perhaps in paradise there is plenty of water and children splash themselves in swimming pools to cool off from the scorching African sun. Perhaps paradise looks like me waking up, taking my kids to school, having brunch before doing the afternoon school run. If this is the paradise you speak of, I can assure you that I know nothing about it. Where I live the streets are dusty and there is not much water, save for the overflowing municipal drain. I know not what it is like to take my children to school for I leave the house at 4am only to return at 8pm. I want to know what paradise is like.
Woman here is your son
I truly understand why you left your mothers to the care of their sons. Maybe it's because I don't know my father. My father was a stranger that came home for a few days in December. The most time I have ever spent with him was when my mother nursed him through silicosis, shortly before his death. Some of my peers call me fortunate because I knew of my father. They tell me that when they ask their mothers about their fathers the responses are riddled with broken promises, disappointments and the pressures of raising a child alone. They all tell me that the only man that doesn't leave a woman is her son. I truly get you.
Eloi Eloi Lemasabachtani
God of my forebears, why have you left us? Why have you left us to be conquered by the god of colonialism? Was the god of the colonizer so superior that it could even conquer you? I may not know the reasons why you have forsaken us, but all I know is that it has been over 500 years of being forsaken.
I thirst
I, too, thirst. I thirst for water. Plain old Water. Amanzi la ka nonkala! The last time we saw water coming out of the community tap was when the councilor came for a ribbon cutting ceremony, 7 years ago. I struggle to teach my children basic hygiene like washing your hands after the toilet because, if they don't drown in the pit toilet, there is no clean water to wash their hands. The rivers and dams of my childhood swimming and cattle herding have dried up. Some say it's global warming, others say there's no such. All I know is that I thirst and the river are dry!
It is finished
Is it really finished? Is colonialism finished when all of Africa's wealth still finds its way into Europe? Is it really finished when the slaves were never reparated but the slavemasters were compensated for their loss of stock when slavery was declared over? Is apartheid really finnished when the face of poverty is a Black woman? Is apartheid really finished when the place of a farm labourer is still the back of bakkie when the boerboel is seated comfortably in front? Is Bantu education finished when rural and township schools continue to be under resourced? History has taught me that it never really ends but that the old always finds new ways of being expressed.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit
My battered and broken spirit is all I can offer. The vicissitudes of capitalism have wrought havoc on my soul! Landless in the country of my birth, I have nothing else to give!
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