The Sunday News
Micheal Mhlanga
I have been rehearsing an article about heroism in the Land of Zimbabwe for over a week now with an ever changing dimension of what I want to question, conjecture and to prompt in the minds of all who have either written or participated in the ever going “heroes in Zimbabwe” debate.
I think I would have had an intriguing niche had the tragedy I am undergoing never prevailed. Although it unfolded at an coincidental moment of my penning, it really affected all my inspiration and projection of what I wanted to write.
Nevertheless, it is a blessing in disguise to all whom I have had this discussion about Heroes Day with, heroes in Zimbabwe and the (un)making of them in this our land.
Normally I would be sobbing uncontrollably, trembling with solemnity at the loss of the great man to ever traverse this world with his artistic craftiness through comedy, music and satire. As many of you might have heard, the world was on Thursday raided of one of its son of the soil, Richard “Mikha” Phiri, a hero.
To many of you, you remember him as “Mikha” from the popular drama series-Amakorokoza, the ever memorable advert — “Iyabhalansa” and of course to the multitude who are reading this piece; as the comedian who acted in our primary schools with another late legend; Michael “Madlezibabayo” Moyo. The duo is so popular with its shows which pronounced the prologue of a dreaded school term, sometimes, the much anticipated school holiday.
Most, if not all of you who learnt at any Bulawayo primary school remember them; that is the hero whose life we should celebrate as the inevitable has cast the darkest and meanest cloud over us. Rest in Power.
To me, Richard “Mikha” Phiri is still an uncle. A man I grew up inspired by. He was more than the man people saw on the stage and on the then black and white television set and on radio, he was living flesh whose voice, wisdom and charm engulfed me from kindergarten till this day. His influence dominated my life such that his death is a jubilation of the better man I am today.
I cannot take away how his advice and life experience shares modelled and have ripple influenced a multitude I have met in my trod of this world. It is such attachments with him which makes him more a hero to me than any I know.
From this tragedy, one thing rang in my mind — what makes a hero? Is it the land on which one is buried or it is the people who emulate the “late” who define and describe heroism? I reckoned that my discussions with my colleagues for the past two weeks are more relevant now than ever.
We questioned if the monumental hill in Harare, colourful and decorated as it is (un)makes a hero. I was convinced more by my contributions in all discussions when I acknowledged that our Heroes Acre is sacrosanct and monumental but it does not make a hero, it is the people who make the “late” a hero”.
If there is anything to go by, heroism is a social construct, no different from any stereotype hence if it is (un)made by people then it eliminates the burial space as the (un)maker of one.
The common narrative is a bit narrow, don’t you think?
For over 37 years, queries about heroism in Zimbabwe have been centred on who is buried at the Heroes Acre and what are his or her credentials.
That discourse has limited our scope of thinking and appreciating great man and women such that our perceptions about them become reliant on the decision made in the ruling party Politburo which if its outcome is otherwise we shove our previous appreciation of the great man and women to the graves of lost memories.
I think we are all guilty of this because we always question or confirm heroism on the space one is buried.
This is wrong — why — because a dependent opinion and perception can easily be influenced if the result is not favourable.
Mind you, this is inverse — assuming that the Politburo decides to bury me at the heroes acre most of you will immediately regard me as a hero even if I don’t deserve it and you don’t know me and I do not have or had impact on your lives.
We have been so consumed by how the burial space confirms, not how it is memorial and monumental for those who played a pivotal role in the second Chimurenga.
It is an undeniable fact that if one liberated us from the fangs of colonisation and all its forms of oppression and was defensive of the national ideology till his or her last breath they are laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre.
That is what that space represents — a slide-show of how you lived till you lived no more. If your morals of the liberation struggle, its interests and its contemporary defence are questionable, you do not deserve to be laid to rest in that space — there is no space for you, however, it does not take away your contributions to who and what we are today.
I really don’t think that when you choose not to defend the liberation gains today the past is fast erased, No! Your contribution remains but what is most important is if we can quickly and appreciatively remember you for that “good” you did. This brings me to the next subject — What makes a hero?
Who is a Hero in Zimbabwe?
On 5 August 2010, the Independent published an opinion piece questioning who qualifies to be a national hero. The conclusion was nothing amazing than the common narrative which concludes that “anyone who is loyal to Zanu-PF” which I think is tired in all its overtures. There are many Zanu-PF loyalists who have passed on but are not “national heroes”.
The problem is that as a nation, like the Independent publication, we have mistakenly made a conclusion that National Heroism is determined by the space one lies in and if not conferred to lie at the National Heroes’ Acres, your contributions are null and void. I contend that.
National heroism is a popular acceptance by the masses confirming that your contributions to the betterment of their livelihoods should always be remembered and celebrated.
When the people cherish what you did to improve their well-being such that they want to emulate or subscribe to your lifestyle and preserve your legacy — that is national heroism.
Jesus is a national hero, why, we quickly remember how he died for our sins — so they say and we want to live like him. We preserve his legacy and are keen to defend his lifestyle and teachings. Martin Luther King is a National Hero — why, we strongly believe racial equality is the pivot of humankind’s co-existence that is the reason we fight racism even through football campaigns before soccer matches.
Lookout Masuku is a National Hero-why — we immediately remember him when we talk of our liberators and tactful war champions to ever walk on this planet — so it’s not about where he is buried, but it’s about how influential he is to our lives even up to today.
Although we have corrupted the good and wonderful memories of Khalisabantu by associating his burial space to the (un)making of heroes and made it a political chorus and currency I still think it’s a broken record, he is more powerful as a memory than physiological remains which we clamour should “have been buried” elsewhere.
Of all these heroes, my uncle is a national hero, why — because he is the first person I think of when you mention great artistes to ever come out of Zimbabwe and how his art impacted many living and long lost souls.
So my lovely readers, it is not about the space but about memory. The space signifies what you did till your last breath and that is important but it does not miraculously construct your past and stitch it to our minds to make you a hero.
If spaces necessarily make one a hero, how come Lobhengula kaMzilikazi, Nehanda and Kaguvi whose skulls are at a museum outsides this land are heroes? Are we saying the museum, which does not house those we regard as heroes, made them heroes?
With a lot of things I want to write this week about heroes day, I shall reserve them for next week, but remember this, the National heroes Acre is a place of rest for those loyal to the liberation movement until their last breath.
It becomes conniving and inconsistent of us to mix those loyal and backsliders in the same monument.
We should be able to visit the memorial site and say “here lies the remains of all who have been loyal to the liberation of Zimbabweans” not to peruse words specifying that “however there are some who were no longer who they were in their last days but we thought their past defines them bla bla bla . . . ,” that makes a mockery of us.
Those who miss “gwara reZimbabwe” along the way can still be cherished for their past good but can join the rest of us eWestpark or Luveve.
Long Live My Hero Uncle.
Follow @mhlanga_micheal
