The Radical Mantate

New media continues to stretch connections and expand conversations between individuals and institutions pushing similar, sometimes divergent interests. These interlocking conversations are inevitably revealing links between traditionally divorced issues and Twitter has not failed to headline this process by providing a platform of convergence on political, social, economic, entertainment and sporting news that impact on the lived realities of Zimbabweans, among other global consumers of online content. This brief article was conceived from a Twitter conversation started by @MantateQueeneth and picked up by @chenesaimangoma. We felt we owed it to the Zimbabwean Netball Team, now fondly referred to as the zimGEMS, to elaborate on the impact that we feel they have made on the nation. They have reinstated our hope in a Zimbabwe that can compete alongside other nations and we hope by archiving these thoughts many more will learn from our zimGEMs. @MantateQueeneth :I do not kn...

Be brave enough-have courage to seize this moment NOW and make a difference. Have courage to stop yourself from thinking that a better place, space and time than this will ever come. Have the courage to say “no” and stand up to what is not right no matter what the stacks against you are. Have the courage to say “yes” to and stand up for what is right even at the face of death. Have the courage to say, “I don’t know.” Have the courage to admit that you are afraid. Have the courage to accept defeat and embrace your opponent. Have the courage to love your tormentor. Have the courage to accept yourself just as you are. Have the courage to say, “I am sorry.” Have the courage to say, “I can be, do and have better than this”, and to go ahead and change yourself for better. Have the courage to let go, no matter how attached you had/have become. Have the courage to forget/lose yourself for the sake of others. Have the courage to say, “It’s my time or it’s my turn now....

I oftentimes admire my own strength. I ask myself just how on this earth I hold myself together, because it has no doubt been a bumpy ride. The craziest, yet frequent highlight of my growth is how confidently and easily people tell me, ‘We know you are strong and will get through this,’ whenever I tell them I’m going through a low. You would think it is automatic, that Mantate will pull through it, because well, she always has. Sometimes I get frustrated, and would prefer to hear someone tell me that I am not the first nor the last to hit a low, and that this is how I can retaliate. I could do with a bit of specifics in the advice department, because I am this little girl trying to get a hang of things too. I almost always laugh when someone asks me how I do it, probably because I also wish to understand just how I have to this day managed to stay afloat- not that I have an alternative choice. You see, there are pros and cons to being my kind of young women- the supposedly strong, a...

By far the most aggressive of my fights for the empowerment and recognition of the dignity of women is the encounter I had today with a woman I have known for well over four years. It all started when she asked a group of us if there was a problem with this particular lady's make-up, as she appeared shiny and spooky on the camera. I argued to say that her make-up, or the choice of which she had on, was not a problem, but rather, an issue of probably the camera and lighting. I further argued to say that having worked non-stop for the past weeks, with an undoubted few days without sleep for the task she had at hand, to deliver a major announcement on television, the camera was just not kind to her. It only made sense to assume that the eye-bags and seemingly tired face were a results of a tedious week for her. I could easily have brushed aside the difference of opinion the lady  and I had on the issue, but her statement,  "What kind of make-up is that, she looks like those pr...

“Go on and talk, isn’t you are the man!” Those were his words, When I explained my principles. Not that I owed him an explanation, For the standards I allowed to define me, But because I thought maybe, If I gave a clear definition of who I am And have him do the same, Then maybe, we could see how We could become more compatible, But nah, He didn’t see that, Or even try to understand me. He jumped to blame it on masculinity My apparent choice to man the talk That was the deal breaker, A man intimidated by my opinion Is a man insecure in his abilities. And the best I could give him Was space to discover himself! Looking at things now, I realize that society is blinkered, And sadly too often, Socializes men to that conviction, That the opinion of a woman Should be validated by a man How much more patriarchal can it get? The worst of its format Is its scorn of women empowerment As an attempt by women to be men! Unknown to t...

I’m tired! Tired of the old men  who tell me they want me, When it’ s point blank  that I’m old enough to be their daughter, How does a father tell his daughter? That no, I don’t just like you, I like the idea of ‘an us’, you know Me and you together! Good riddance, kneel down and  repent  old man , the devil is using you. While you blind yourself thinking you’re  being a  B lesser , You  don’t  realize that you are  cursing my body. For how can it be a blessing that I allow my  body To be defiled in the hands of a selfish man ? A man blinded by lust to the innocence of my body, Shaming me in the self-righteous comfort Of the tho ught that his money makes it oka y To sleep with a girl the size of his own daughter! I am overly disgusted, By a messed up society that tells a girl that “men will always be men” Is that supposed to make it okay for men to prey on her? I fear because that thinking ju...

I loved him I swear! But not in the way he wanted, That I tried but dismally failed. I lost him, and that obviously hurt, But it helped me realise, That it’s not love I felt, But merely a conviction, A hope, that if I tried hard enough To alter my standards and expectations, Then maybe, he would see me, In the light of a woman to love Because all he ever said Was that I was too intellectually masculine a woman A pint too radical, a bit intimidating, That he could not picture me submitting, Because to him, love from a woman Is reflected in the authority with which He can handle her!!!! That about him, broke me! But for just a moment, Because I pinched myself to the reality That no woman is too intimidating For the man who truly loves her. And submission, is about respect, And respect is earned. It took a while, to let go Of one who was asking me To be less of the woman I am And aspire to be. I wanted so much to love But not ...