Transmitting political ideas from one mind to another

21 Jun, 2020 - 00:06 0 Views
Transmitting political ideas from one mind to another Instead of meeting Dr Nkomo we were introduced to the toyi-toyi, chanting of slogans and being made to climb that hill several times

The Sunday News

Pathisa Nyathi
Following the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP) on 1 January 1960 and the staging of Zhi-i in July of the same year, the course that the political campaign was going to take to dislodge the colonial settler regime in Southern Rhodesia was never in doubt. Violence was the trump card.

That violence started in earnest in 1962 when sabotage was embarked upon. Sabotage included hurling of petrol bombs on targeted government installations and personal properties of those perceived as sell-outs. That was followed by use of timing bombs, explosives and crude home-made guns before infiltration of more sophisticated arms as from 1962.

Be that as it may, there was always scope for the political route. Recourse to use of arms of war always came after politicisation so that individuals acquired a new political consciousness. Individuals underwent mental transformation in readiness for mobilisation when they were ready to use force of arms to achieve political objectives. As indicated in last week’s instalment, levels of political consciousness were not evenly distributed among individuals’ minds. Some possessed it in greater amounts than others. To use the parlance from last week, there were cases where there was higher concentration and lower concentration of political consciousness.

Given that scenario, former Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, then leader of the NDP and later the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) called upon Zimbabweans to heed the call to rally behind the struggle. Indeed, his call was heeded when he and the likes of Sikhwili Khohli Moyo and Thenjiwe Virginia Lesabe (late) began deploying some political activists from Bulawayo to rural areas where their mission was to politicise individuals so that they rallied behind the struggle. That was going to be feasible if those deployed struck the right political chord — by harping the tune of rural grievances alluded to last week. Indeed, rural grievances lay at the heart of burdens that peasants had to shoulder. That became the veritable way to get information moving from one mind to another, from person to person so that a more uniform level of politicisation was attained.

It is just how ideas relating to cultivating political consciousness were transmitted which is of interest to this article. Before we can begin to talk about transmission of political ideas, we should, very briefly, seek out the source of those ideas in the first place. It seems, from research carried out over a long period of time, that there were individuals who were exposed to political literature. There were books already available that asserted independence for blacks.

Kwame Nkrumah, the Ghanaian Prime Minister was one such individual whose political books inspired many and exposed them to new political ideas. There were some that read about Maumau that took place in Kenya in the 1950s. We do know about Mishek Velaphi Ncube who got exposed to Maumau literature from persons such as Munjaranji and Solomon Mutsvairo when he was training as a teacher at Howard Institute. It is known too that at his home at Seula he had a trunkful of similar literature, as witnessed by his younger brother Qunye.

Some of the literature was inspired by politically crusading Afro-Americans in the United States of America (USA) and the Caribbean islands. The following individuals come to mind: WEB Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr. Their political ideas gave some sense of consciousness regarding oppression and repression that blacks or people of colour endured the world over. There were continental Africans who had been to the USA where they were exposed to ideas of such men. They had rubbed shoulders at some universities in that country.

Newspapers were another source of political ideas that were transmitted from one mind to another. Television was also making some inroads into the electronic media as a vehicle for exposing what was happening in various parts of the world. However, there was also the school of concrete experience where individuals were exposed to the social and political situations that changed their thinking and made them view things differently. That way, individuals acquired new political stances and dispositions. It has to be realised that individual mental makeup vary. The same political conditions may impact on different minds, and yet the results may not be the same. It is a situation which may result in differentials in concentrations of political ideas.

Movement, of whatever commodities, ideas, properties, happens where there is some difference in potential, be it gravity, electromotive force or whatever. There has to be some gradient, as it were. When that condition exists, movement is initiated. That is true also of ideas, including those relating to the political realm. Those individuals deployed on politicisation missions, it is assumed, possessed higher levels of political consciousness. The differences were not visibly observable. It was a mental state, differences in information and ideas pertaining, in this particular case, to political ideas.

Deployment entailed movement from towns to rural areas by some political activists. Bodies of individuals were ferried in cars, buses and other means so that distances were bridged. However, what was critically important was to close mental distances. That was done through holding of meetings where deployees addressed rural folk. Oratory was an important asset that was summoned to capture the attention of listeners and hope to get them on their side. What was to be won over were their minds and hearts so as to get their conviction, commitment, resilience and requisite political predisposition.

Person to person oral intercourse was important. Where deployees were sent there were already individuals in those areas who were already politicised. The presence of such persons was important if the targeted masses were to be won over. Familiarity was important to ensure the masses were relaxed and ready and willing to give their ears to those addressing them. Strangers coming from faraway places were not likely to inspire confidence and trust. Local activists had to be at hand to convince villagers that the visitors before them did not mean harm.
Political structures were important for dissemination of information at local level between office bearers and the rest of the members of a political organisation. The structures, through meetings, provided necessary links between masses and higher political authority so that a common political culture was adopted and common ideological position mediated.

Singing has always been viewed as inspiring in that songs are characterised by rhythm, melody and harmony which appeal to human minds.

Equally important were messages and ideas embedded in the songs. The repressive situation and the movers and practitioners of same were highlighted. There were songs about white leaders such as Ian Smith and the brutal white policemen in rural areas. Songs carried messages of the repressive situation or conditions. There were songs about the various taxes levied on Africans. Dog taxes were some of the taxes brought out through political songs.

At the same time, there were songs about leaders of political parties. Songs rallied support for them and inspired resilience and unflinching commitment to the struggle. Some of these iconic figures represented and symbolised certain ideas which many sought to emulate. Messages in the songs transmitted ideas which were sources for politicisation and rejection of conditions of oppression, suppression and subjugation.

A case is reported where soccer matches were arranged as a pretext for holding political meetings. The colonial government acted against free assembly and association. Clearance to hold meetings had to be sought and given, but more often than not, they were denied. Various means, some clandestine and others subtle, were resorted to in order to get people sharing those ideas. In the Semokwe District, stretching from the Shashe River in the south to the edge of Matobo Hills in the north, Sydney Joseph and the likes of David “Sharpshoot” Mongwa Moyo arranged soccer competitions so that they took advantage of the popular occasions to meet and discuss political ideas in order to craft plans, strategies and tactics under the guise of soccer matches which were crowd pullers.

Political attire was designed with a political message. For example, in the NDP days fur hats were in vogue. Both the leadership and membership alike wore fur hats which, it was thought, was symbolic of the resurgence and return to the days of African independence and freedom. Such attire was complemented with the use of African vessels during meetings. Gourd cups, inkezo/mikombe, were used and calabashes were used for water storage.

Both these measures were calculated to generate and transmit messages with a political thrust.
Some political strategies were rather painful but all the same sent messages. Some individuals identified as sell-outs or tshombes, so named after Katangese cessationist leader Moise Tshombe, had their homes petrol-bombed. Such tactics instilled fear among the community and more importantly the messages were sent across that to pander to white interests could invite upon themselves wrath on a painful proportion.

Meetings were attended by security agents from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Special Branch (SB) and the regular police. The CID and SB in particular, recorded in writing what political activists were saying against the government. Information so gained, considered to be seditious, was used against political activists to press charges against them. Often times, brutal torture methods were applied to extract implicating admissions to secure convictions before the courts which were sometimes fighting from the same corner as the colonial regime.

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