Thabo Mbeki

 

I’m about a third of the way through Thabo Mbeki’s biography, The Dream Deferred, and I’m riveted!

I’m in awe of Mbeki. It’s more than how much he gave up that strikes me. He was so totally committed to his cause and worked tirelessly towards his role. He is obviously brilliant in so many ways. Everyone who knew him well, friend or foe, acknowledge his charm and intelligence. In his early twenties he was leading anti-aparteid initiatives and meeting world leaders.

There’s a sense of gravity and purpose to him that I envy. He seems to have known his destiny from early childhood, and more impressive, how to attain it. Granted, his heritage was such that he always had incredible mentors around him, but they wouldn’t have taken him on were it not for the potential they saw in him. Neither Mandela nor Tambo’s children got the kind of attention that Mbeki received because they didn’t have the qualities he had.

Why has Thabo Mbeki struck such a chord in me? I want my life to have the kind of meaning his has had. I want to help build my country and continent as he has tried to do. I want to spend time with leaders and future leaders and discuss ideas on governance, society, justice and how to make the world a better place. And I want to have a mentor.

Thabo had Oliver Tambo. What I would give for a little time and some direction from Thabo Mbeki…

Blowin’ in the Wind

“How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?” – Bob Dylan

 

Blowin’ in the Wind is a special song. I’m not sure what exactly it means to be honest. Every time I listen to it though, I’m lifted. I’m inspired and filled with hope. It’s the kind of song that can make you feel like David, and leave you knowing that eventually, you win, and Goliath goes down! When I hear Blowin’ in the Wind, it’s as though I’m at an anti – Vietnam rally or a civil rights march or some other significant event in the 60s and 70s. It makes me think about injustice and extents to which people have had to go to have their rights, sometimes their very humanity, acknowledged. And I get inspired.

 

I needed to hear the song over and over and over again today. I needed to remind myself that everything works out in the end. I feel like a blind man on a journey. I know I need to get somewhere. I know there is a destination and I’ll know when I arrive, but I have no idea how to get there. I’m in unfamiliar territory and to be honest, I’m not even sure I’m going in the right direction. I would call it a mid-life crisis, only I’m not old enough to have one of those just yet.

 

I’m frightened. I’m terrified that unlike Dylan and people like him, my life won’t make a difference. It’s not enough to be part of the rat race and to ‘get ahead’. I need to matter. I need to do something significant with my life otherwise what was the point of my having been here in the first place?

 

I think I’ve figured out why Blowin’ in the Wind means so much to me. The song is a reminder of how much still needs to be made right. It’s a reminder of all the ways I can matter.