So I will admit I am a big fan of radicals and it is also safe to say I have some political soft spots that McCarthy would call seditious; but that being said I really am not a communist (totalitarianism isn’t really my thing). So under that pretense I use to be a Mugabe fan and I think it is beautiful that he was able to do so much for Zimbabwe in the 60’s and 70’s but then it sort of got old. Somewhere between then and now the whole radical leader of liberation became a radical leader of corruption, convenient huh? The problem is Mugabe became greedy, he became obsessed with power and as a result he is now being sworn in for his 6th term as president of Zimbabwe. Not that there is anything wrong with tyrannical dictators or anything after all why win elections with votes when you can win with bullets.
Okay, so maybe my sarcasm isn’t appreciated, after all we are talking about the well being of an entire African nation. However, my conscience isn’t terribly troubled… Matter of fact I feel good about being sarcastic right now because perhaps my failed attempt at humor will at least have you thinking about Mugabe and the situation in Zimbabwe right now. Society stresses so much on the conscience of people it seems taboo to be conscious and aware of what’s going on. After all why should we be concerned about what is going on 8,000 miles away in sub-Saharan Africa when the Angelina v. Brad Pitt conflict is becoming increasingly hostile? I am not saying we have to give up our trashy tabloid culture; but, at the very least we could be a little more conscious of what is going on in the world.
This weekend at my sister’s adoption reunion I had the greatest conversation regarding apathy and our nation’s awareness. I was talking with a mom who is a high school history teacher and to hear her experiences and opinions was really eye opening, especially since she works at Ida B. Wells, a continuation high school. Not often do you have a conversation like this one in the sense that she was so genuinely interested in what I had to say. I don’t know if I learned more from her or visa versa; regardless it was one of those conversations that was worth having. As a teacher you could tell she is in a difficult position regarding how to teach the curriculum with a certain emotional aspect you can only achieve when students have a true connection with the material, something she has found through working with current events. Oh and she was pro-Obama!
While in the past I have berated our country’s response to global humanitarian crisis, such as the conflict in Darfur, I do not believe it is solely up to western nations like the United States to respond proactively to such conflicts. I am tired of the inaction on the behalf of African nations to intercontinental conflicts. Just today was the African Union summit and while there was some talk of Mugabe and his actions pertaining to last week’s election it was not enough. It is time the global community as a whole begins to collectively and proactively address and respond to current events. Whether it is the African Union stopping Mugabe, the US reaffirming its post-Rwanda promise of “never again” or even just a teacher augmenting the textbook curriculum with current event assignments, people need to be more conscious even if it may challenge their conscience.
