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A protestor in one of this year’s Black Lives Matter marches made an a black power salute sometimes this year. What struck me about it is that it mirrored a 1985 iconic photo of the then-25 year old Nzindzi daughter of Winnie Madikizela and Nelson Mandela. This was in Soweto shortly after she had read a powerful speech that had been written by her then-imprisoned father and addressed to the apartheid regime.
Of late, Nzindzi had been serving as a SA diplomat, and also a super-fine momo. Sadly and unfortunately, she died this year – maybe as a COVID statistic. She is survived by 4 children.
While we fete freedom fighters for the suffering they have endured, we often forget the children. If you have ever interacted closely with any of such, it is possible to see that something is amiss. As children they would have suffered from abandonment where parents because of popularity and organization would spend more time outside the home with strangers. Children of freedom fighters often become ostracized by ‘good’ and ‘upstanding’ members of society. There is little child-parent warmth as freedom fighters are by nature very secretive supposing that this would help insulate from the same danger they face. From a young age, such children have lived with an absentee parent due to long periods of detention. It is likely that they could also face harassment on themselves and more-so their mothers. They could grow up paranoid because of being regularly spied upon. Very often when the struggle ends and the former freedom fighter returns home a hero, very pressing engagements keep them from their children and a fresh cycle of abandonment would start.
As adults, children of freedom fighters may become alcoholics. They would become vichwa ngumu seeming to disagree with anybody about anything, which would make it difficult for them to hold a regular 8-5 job. Besides liberation heroes, we must spare a thought for children of freedom fighters and give them honor befitting the sacrifice of their own childhood.