{"id":152,"date":"2021-01-26T19:17:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T19:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2021-01-26T19:17:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T19:17:48","slug":"no-comrade-must-weep-for-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"No comrade must weep for Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found myself blinking away tears and choking while watching the televised buria of South African Prime Minister, Jackson Mthembu on Saturday morning<\/p>\n

My boys were having breakfast. I did not want them to see me shedding a tear for a man. Tigers dont cry.<\/p>\n

Thoughts of Jackson crossed my mind today. And this poem came out. I was haunted by his soul and what it represents.<\/p>\n

The Soul of the Nation<\/p>\n

(For Jackson Mphikwa Mthembu)<\/p>\n

You know our deepest fear<\/p>\n

is not Covid or death<\/p>\n

We must die some day<\/p>\n

We have always been prepared to die<\/p>\n

though we know not the hour or day<\/p>\n

Our deppest fear is a life empty of purpose<\/p>\n

It is to stand for nothing that frightens us<\/p>\n

Being blown about<\/p>\n

by fleeting winds of factions<\/p>\n

Not to know who we are<\/p>\n

or what we represent<\/p>\n

We doubt ourselves, now<\/p>\n

After all that Mandela, Biko &<\/p>\n

Sobukwe have done<\/p>\n

We have lost our bearing<\/p>\n

are overwhelmed by blind fear<\/p>\n

Thus the absurd questions<\/p>\n

we ask of ourselves<\/p>\n

‘Who the hell are you, to think<\/p>\n

that you can challenge<\/p>\n

the abuse of power?”<\/p>\n

Actually, who will stand up<\/p>\n

or power the Truth if we do not?<\/p>\n

Do not look beyond the man in the mirror<\/p>\n

to do what needs to be done.<\/p>\n

History and destiny chose us<\/p>\n

and have long clarified our roles<\/p>\n

It does not help to<\/p>\n

live up to other people’s expectations<\/p>\n

or to please the boss<\/p>\n

or seek approval of fake comrades<\/p>\n

We now know there is nothing<\/p>\n

better than being true to self<\/p>\n

He who wants to be the greatest<\/p>\n

must be a servant to all<\/p>\n

We remain the foot soldiers<\/p>\n

of the aborted revolution<\/p>\n

the custodians of our people’s hopes<\/p>\n

We were not born to be lackeys<\/p>\n

or money bag boys<\/p>\n

We are the manifestation of<\/p>\n

the the true spirit<\/p>\n

of the glorious movement<\/p>\n

born of warrior kings<\/p>\n

who were beheaded alive<\/p>\n

for fighting for the ancestral land<\/p>\n

It is not everyone who can do this<\/p>\n

except those chosen by history<\/p>\n

And when we die<\/p>\n

we unconsciously know<\/p>\n

what we have failed to do<\/p>\n

It is unfinished business this<\/p>\n

Death is a political thing<\/p>\n

Our souls should not be glorified<\/p>\n

through comfortable lies<\/p>\n

but uncomfortable truths<\/p>\n

Our flesh and bones shall be buried<\/p>\n

in the ground<\/p>\n

But our souls must liberate this country<\/p>\n

It is not yet Uhuru<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found myself blinking away tears and choking while watching the televised buria of South African Prime Minister, Jackson Mthembu on Saturday morning My boys were having breakfast. I did not want them to see me shedding a tear for a man. Tigers dont cry. Thoughts of Jackson crossed my …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sandilememela.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}