I have learned a lot in the past week. I have been reading but before that, I think I would just have to say that I knew nothing. I learned of South African history but it wasn’t through the subject of history itself. It was through social studies and arts and culture. So, the only history that I really can say I only know is apartheid.
Over the past years, the issue has been that the Southern African Liberation History (SALH) has not been well-known by the young generations in the way it relates to their present life, and speaks to the future. And yet, when in his iconic speech “A Luta Continua”, the young Samora Machel rallied the peoples of the region “against Tribalism, Ignorance, Illiteracy, Exploitation, Superstition, Misery, Hunger and Lack of clothing”, was he not talking into our future?
The book “Youth in the Liberation Struggle and Beyond” recently co-published by UNESCO and the Southern Africa Research and Documentation Center (SARDC) precisely aims at filling this gap. The book is Module 1 of a Series called “Respecting the Past, Building the Future” launched within the UNESCO’s National Liberation Movements Heritage Programme designed to use the History of Independence to Promote Inclusion, Cultural Diversity, and Civic Education in the SADC Region.
This Module 1 is undeniably one of the most excitingly informative books for young people to read and have an appreciation of the youth’s participation in Southern Africa’s historical moments, where solidarity and universalism have been central values among the peoples of this region
Creatively, the plot narrates the last struggles of independence in Southern Africa as a single story that was anchored on unity and regional solidarity across borders. The regional dynamics are particularly highlighted to demonstrate the importance of solidarity and cross-border movements then, which also speaks to the necessity to fight and overcome the xenophobia that is affecting the youth in the region today.
We used to throw stones at each other in Salisbury (Harare). We cannot pass this on to our kids. We are going away and we must leave a stable Zimbabwe to the new generation…Let’s have a rally united Zimbabwe. I don’t want to see my kids throwing stones over these minor divisions. I think they will laugh at me because I did.
The Module examines and describes events that unfolded during the liberation struggles in the different countries, and how they relate to one another. The sometimes saddening and heart-breaking stories as that of Peter Katjavivi’s journey from the west into exile in Tanganyika are part of the many inspiring adventures of the youth who often went to live in neighboring countries and worked together across borders to remove colonial and apartheid from the region in the 1970s.
Many of them (liberation warfighters) were young adults and today’s young people can learn from those experiences in the current struggle for economic development and equality.
Presented in a short messaging format including stories, poems, and proverbs a taste of regional linkages and values of the community as expressed in Ubuntu (A person is a person through other people) are deeply felt. This module is associated with a documentary that uses the archives to recall the role of youth of the region in the Liberation movements.
A spirit of Ubuntu which characterizes the language and culture of Africa is deemed to be the foundation of consciousness of a common destiny and common values.
The Module serves as a very good training material as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers responsible for Education and Training, Science, Technology and Innovation adopted the Roadmap for the integration of Southern African Liberation History (SALH) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in the Member States curriculum in June 2021, on the basis that the teaching of the SALH can “promote social cohesion and regional identity”, and “contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4 Target 7 about ‘promotion of cultural diversity and culture's contribution to sustainable development". This work also contributes to the contextualization of the General History of Africa in the Southern Africa Region, and will be used to advance the UNESCO’s Global Call against Racism.