{"id":1913,"date":"2018-04-03T07:40:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-03T07:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1913"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:45:44","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T08:45:44","slug":"jenni-williamss-acceptance-speech-26th-annual-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award-23-november-2009-the-white-house-washington-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/?p=1913","title":{"rendered":"Jenni Williams\u2019s acceptance speech \u2013 26th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, 23 November 2009, The White House, Washington, DC"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

Good evening Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen.<\/p>\n

I would like to add my thanks to that of Magodonga\u2019s to the Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and friends here present for the recognition given to Women of Zimbabwe Arise.<\/p>\n

WOZA was formed to give voice to ordinary women and men and to demand social justice for all Zimbabweans.\u00a0 We did not set out to seek recognition beyond that of our own government respecting us as citizens and recognising our concerns as legitimate.\u00a0 We are mothers of the nation, longing for the award of dignity, and a bright future for our children. It is unfortunate however, to note that our activism \u2013 demanding our rights as citizens\u00a0 \u2014- comes at a cost. I personally find WOZA members constant courage inspirational and would like to take this opportunity to salute their dedication.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although some have paid the ultimate price \u2014\u2014\u2013 their lives sacrificed at the hands of police harassment, or due to a health crisis, brought about by a government, that prioritises power over human life.\u00a0 As I stand here in the White House, I pay tribute to them \u2013\u00a0 Tembelani Lunga \u2013 Julia Chapeyama \u2013\u00a0 Fungai Chabata \u2013\u00a0 Douglas Magwaro \u2013\u00a0 Maria Moyo and others.<\/p>\n

Maria\u2019s story is an example of how life is cut short in Zimbabwe.\u00a0 A veteran of the liberation struggle, Maria looked after her six orphaned grandchildren, struggling to educate them by selling tomatoes.\u00a0 Finding that the country\u2019s hard-won independence had been squandered, she once more engaged in struggle and became an active member of WOZA. It was upon her tenth arrest and two nights in filthy police cells, Maria contracted the flu.\u00a0 Her condition steadily worsened as she had insufficient food and no access to medicine.\u00a0 The final straw came when she was abducted from her sickbed by police early one morning and interrogated in the bush for hours.\u00a0 Maria died days later, never recovering from the trauma of her torture.<\/p>\n

Maria embodies the spirit that drives us.\u00a0 WOZA was formed to turn a victim mindset into the one of a survivor \u2014 determined to finally realize the promises of the liberation war \u2013 for the ideal of \u201cone person-one vote,\u201d for equality and for the right to education.\u00a0 Blood has already been spilt for these ideals.\u00a0 WOZA leads a nonviolent struggle and we are committed to giving it a chance to complete our long walk to freedom.<\/p>\n

To help us, we draw inspiration from the work of Martin Luther King Junior.\u00a0 He challenged us to \u2018make injustices visible\u2019 and to work so that \u2018fear can be turned into hope.\u2019\u00a0 We modelled our training programmes on his advice, and today, we have a membership of 75,000 strong to show for it.<\/p>\n

We are not fighting a revolution in Zimbabwe, we are leading an evEolution.\u00a0 And civic education is our tool to evolve the hearts and minds of Zimbabweans, to build a strong, new, African democracy, where respect, tolerance and accountability are key.\u00a0 The building blocks of this democracy are being laid in cattle kraals, tiny two-roomed houses and church halls across the country.<\/p>\n

Mr President you know how invaluable community mobilising can be \u2013 We have learnt that knocking on doors, talking with and listening to people is the way\u00a0 WE CAN rebuild our nation. We call on you, to support community mobilizers who are organized to knock on doors, and empower Zimbabweans to deliver change from the ground up.<\/p>\n

Magodonga has already appealed to friends here present, I would like to add my plea that Zimbabweans be allowed to develop their democratic voice without harassment.<\/p>\n

The constitutional reform process is currently stalled in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Little has been done under the Global Political Agreement to ensure there is a secure environment for people to participate in this process and that they can freely say what they want to be included in the content of our new constitution.<\/p>\n

We are extremely worried that the structures of violence organized during the presidential run-off last year are currently being reinstated, to intimidate us into silence, and allow the fast-tracking of the so-called \u201cKariba Draft\u201d of the constitution, endorsed by the political parties. Why is this money being spent for violence instead of funding the constitutional reform?\u00a0 We want to be able to express our views and still live to see the new constitution working.<\/p>\n

We ask for help in establishing a Southern African Development Community monitoring mechanism of the GPA, that would focus on individuals\u2019 security, and the constitutional reform process.\u00a0 WOZA can take care of the speaking out, and the freedom to express, but we need help to make sure there is freedom after expression.<\/p>\n

I thank you!<\/p>\n

\t\t \n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good evening Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to add my thanks to that of Magodonga\u2019s to the Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights and friends here present for the recognition given to Women of Zimbabwe Arise. WOZA was formed to give voice to ordinary … Continue reading Jenni Williams\u2019s acceptance speech \u2013 26th Annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, 23 November 2009, The White House, Washington, DC<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wozazim.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}