Over the past few weeks, we've seen Zimbabwean voices speaking out consistently against the Black Caps' plan to tour their country. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has condemned the tour, as has Zimbabwe's Archbishop. Now some of those voices are coming here. The Greens have invited former Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga - who famously wore a black armband to protest the death of democracy in his country, and was forced to flee the country as a result. And Global Peace and Justice Auckland are bringing over human rights campaigner Judith Todd - the daughter of the former Rhodesian Prime Minister and a consistent opponent of both white minority rule and Mugabe's thuggery. Both will be lobbying New Zealand Cricket, the players, and our politicians to do the right thing and cancel the tour. They will also be speaking at public meetings in the main centres - Frogblog has Olonga's itinerary here. Or, if you're in Auckland, you can see both of them at a public meeting on Friday night (details in either of the above links), or at Saturday's demonstration.
It might interest you to know that Sokwanele is also on board and has even circulated the NZ Stop the Tour petition. If Sokwanele is new to you, they describe themselves thus:
ReplyDelete"Sokwanele - Zvakwana is a peoples' movement, embracing supporters of all pro-democratic political parties, civic organizations and institutions.
Sokwanele - Zvakwana will never aspire to political office.
Sokwanele - Zvakwana is a peoples' force through which democracy will be restored to the country and protected jealously for future generations to ensure that Zimbabweans will never be oppressed again."
They have a great website and blog and you can get email updates too. I've been getting them for a few weeks now and they make for good, if grim, reading. Highly recommended.