By Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza
It is of course a gross understatement when asserting that in the contemporary, comradeship is a precarious and treacherous activity. Whenever the abundant love in our hearts transcends conventional societal confines, the price to pay is incredibly heavy. Yet this attests to our formidable steel character, for this heavy price takes a toll on one’s mental balance. If anything, the trials and tribulations faced - which we have gracefully embraced as an indispensable part of our existence - motivate us with profound intensity: we are propelled to lofty morality where we are unflinchingly loyal to priceless human virtues that can never be bought by money or material wealth/possessions. Honesty, discipline, empathy, kindness, loyalty. In essence, true love. Revolutionary in nature. Altruistic. Not the versions of love inculcated in us from the moment we are born - popular/mass culture; that poison. Ours is a love that worships the bizarre phenomenon of being born into this wretched world without ever having asked for such - and being able to make the most out of it; leaving indelible imprints of empathy and respect for the sanctity of human life. With a passionate work ethic for public interest. We have been told that other human lives are dispensable. As if we are in apartheid South Africa where the lives of black African women, children, the elderly, and the disabled who did not slavishly contribute to the proliferation of white capital and profits were branded as ‘superfluous appendages’. No. We firmly reject this. Every human life matters. Regardless of class, race, ethnicity, gender, and faith. My soul was thus exceedingly joyful when I visited the much-maligned cde whom we can only identify here as Patrick - we also affectionately call him Tunechi because of our urban cultural biases as influenced by commercialized versions of American hip hop. Hegemony. And this was after [agonizing] months of not being in communication with each other. Because of certain transgressions via commission & omission our comradeship is still regarded as villainous. Which is the whole point of it anyway. Mine was a painstaking exercise to prove that his life was not expendable as some campus security, hostel wardens, lecturers, and even fellow students had implicitly declared. Seeing his lively soul - one that is chronically misunderstood by those who know him superficially - provided priceless elation, comfort, and respite to me and other fellow cdes [of villainous branding], particularly Slim G.
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