I promise to be your voice
Shivol Shoko
They cut you and you bled
Your family was blamed for all the evil in the world at the expense of your birth
You were called the curse of the world, an abomination of the land
Just because you were born differently
Many people lacked the understanding of how nature could manipulate and manifest itself in ways they could not even attempt to understand but—
I promise to be your voice
Your parents gave you love and tried to protect you the best way they knew how
Despite the fact that no law of the land was there to protect you
You were left out to dry and wither in the harshest of conditions
You suffered at the hands of those who claimed to love you,
as they continuously violated your rights
and so you gave in and died before you had fulfilled your purpose
I never met you but I know you and—
I promise to be your voice
To all of you who ended your own lives
Because of the lack of understanding of the bodies you were born in
Bodies considered God’s biggest mistake on humanity
Isolated, sad, hurt, evicted and thrown into the wildest of the wild by your own family
Hated by those who should have loved you
Separated, beaten, tortured and murdered for no apparent reason except for being different—
I promise to be your voice
To all of you who have been mutilated
Left with open wounds and dysfunctional bodies in theatre experiments
Left with many rights violated and with no one willing to take responsibility for their own actions
Today and forever—
I promise to be your voice
This piece is a translation of the Shona text – Ndinovimbisa kuva inzwi renyu.