Joined by an international panel of presenters and an inspired audience, the old men and women of African struggle brought a symbolism to the enduring human spirit that rejects all forms of oppression, one that defines what it means to be human.

It emerged that Africa as a continent has a continuing legacy in the history of liberation

However, it was clear that freedom fighters have not been entirely visible in the annals of history written by the powerful West.

The speakers were able to speak about a diverse range of issues related to resistance ranging from slavery to contemporary forms of social resistance in the world. The session dubbed Memories of Struggle and Contemporary Resistance freedom fighters like Field Marshal Muthoni of Kenya, Matilde Ribeiro (Brazil), Martin Shikuku (Kenya), Prof Haroub Othman (Tanzania) Mireille Fanon-Mendes — daughter to acclaimed writer Frantz Fanon (France), Rev Timothy Njoya (Kenya), Leila Khaled (Palestine), Gitu Kahengeri (Kenya), Rashida Bi (India) and Nelson Mandela who sent a 10 minute video presentation that served as a keynote speech to the session.

The memory of Mau Mau struggle that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1963 reflected the need to speak of history in the present-time and use the facilitation that the living legends can bring to younger audiences. The veteran fighters lamented on the absence of their voices and histories of the struggle, which they saw as heralding the loss of history for the new generations of Africans.

Calling themselves the poor of the poor, the Mau Mau veterans decried their invisibility even in their own country where some of them live next to destitution. This does not augur well for future generations who might be discouraged that their struggles will be in vain.

To struggle is to commit oneself to community and the community needs to recognise the intrinsic importance of maintaining the memory of struggle in various ways.

The freedom fighters noted that the struggle for land, which is what the veterans bequeathed Kenya.

This theme was picked up by Professor Haroub Othman who took the occasion to introduce a new book titled Sites of Memory: Mwalimu Nyerere and the Liberation of Southern Africa.

The book celebrates the contribution of the late Julius Nyerere, who was Tanzania’s first president and whose most enduring contribution to Africa remains his steadfast support to all the liberation movements in Africa.

Brazil’s Matilde Riberio who is also the Minister for Culture and Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality spoke of the historical importance of slave resistance movements to world struggles. Speaking about the Haitian and Jamaican slave rebellions she reminded participants that slavery took a great toll on the African continent but that the struggles of the slaves and African liberation movements were conjoined by the factor of African pride and resilience.

“African culture lives across the South American landscape reflecting the long history and memory of struggle,” Ribeiro said.

These memories of historical struggles were sources of inspiration to many of the contemporary forms of resistance across the globe.

This was the common factor discussed by representative of the Palestinian Liberation Movement, Leila Khaled who reminded the audience of the painful decisions of taking up arms.

“Taking up arms is always the last resort for any human community,” she noted, adding, “There could never be peace in the world when racial discriminations and poverty still reigns.”

The representative of the Saharawi Democratic Republic and a member of the Pan-African Parliament, Ouaddadi Ahmed El-haiba reminded the audience of the struggle for sovereignty of the people of the Saharawi from the current Morocco monarchy. His impassioned speech afforded closure to the plenary session to which many of the young people who attended said was inspirational.

The young people present saw in the spirit of the freedom fighters a social commitment and a resounding acknowledgement of the spirit of change that the World Social Forum stands for.

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