This evening, through a series of coincidences and a thoughtful friend, I stumbled upon what is known as “Lloyd Time” at the always bustling Lloyd Hotel, here in Amsterdam. Although the name reminds me of the NYC cops that long ago declared it Giuliani time as they violated a man with a plunger, Lloyd Time is ACTUALLY a weekly night of art, culture, and education, at the hotel restaurant. With invited speakers and a pretty decent audience.
But before any of that, the reason I originally went there, was to be introduced to two special individuals staying at the hotel: two representatives from the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU). It was an honor to meet them, as I have read and heard so much about their struggle for basic rights and legitimate democratic governance.
There will be a podcast this week, featuring an interview I did on the topic of the ZINASU and the state of the struggle in Zimbabwe. But tonight I just wanted to share with you a very simple, but for me, a very poignant thing that one of the brave students told me.
I asked about the problem of having a corrupt and brutal group of people in charge of her country, and if she ever thought a good solution would be for another country to come in with military force and push that government out of power. (as is so often preached and practiced these days)
She replied something like:
“The solution to the problems in Zimbabwe and the movement to push for real democracy and a true constitution, will come from within the country. And it will come not by coups or the use of guns or war, it will come through direct action and democratic means.”
Of course she said it much better than my quote, and she said alot more than that, so look forward to that on a podcast this week. But keep that in mind next time a politician tries to sell you a war.
And if you ever find yourself in Amsterdam on a monday night and you don’t want to come play frisbee… head over to Lloyd Time.
It is the 25th of April, although I may be far from Portugal, here in some corner of Ulan Bataar, Mongolia, I still wanted to pause from the travel posts, videos and audios and pay my respects. To the countless who stood up to fascism and repression in the name of liberation and social justice. They marched and sang in the streets of Lisbon, after so many decades of suffering and war without end. They kicked out a tyrant and in doing so took great steps to improving the quality of people’s lives in Portugal. For all these reasons and more, today I pause and say thanks to all those who helped make it possible.