If you were having coffee with me I would ask you to picture this a stadium filled with jubilant people and the legendary Bob Marley belting out the lyrics to Zimbabwe:
Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny
The year was 1980, the occasion was independence day 18 April
That was then…. this is now 37 years later and a 93 year old president who has been around from then.
If you were having coffee with me I would ask you, if you know when a coup is not a coup?
A coup is not a coup when the citizens rally behind their defence forces when military helicopters fly overhead and people cheer, shake hands with soldiers on their armoured personnel carriers and take selfies with them.
18 November 2017 history was made in Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans took the streets to march to the State House and protest an end to the Mugabe Dynasty. Zimbabweans throughout the world joined marching to Zimbwean Embassies in their respective countries.
If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that the euphoria is contagious, its hard not to feel a certain elation when suddenly you can say something you have always wanted to say but did not want to be charged with treason….
Our dear president why don’t you rest?
I will confess once upon a time he was my hero he came to our school with Prince Charles and Princess Diana, he told us he drank tea with the queen, our class recited a welcome poem…..
but you know the cliche:
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
So we marched
Of course there are the analysts and the woke crowd who will rain on our parade, tell me that we are being used to make the army look good, tell me how the same army has kept Mugabe in power, tell me that the ruling party will still be in power tell me, how its unconstitutional, how we need to push for democracy, how to think, how to act, what to stand for……
Well I dont know what tomorrow will bring but today I will enjoy my participation I will tell my story I was there when history was being made.
If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that I dont think anyone has ever seen what we witnessed here what a time to be alive.
This is not a coup its cool party let me have my moment in the sun
~B
PS throughout this no one was forced, no one was harmed (as far as I know) and it could easily have been mistaken for the biggest street party ever themed flags and uniforms….
Credits for the images Doug Coltart, Buhle, The Guardian, Reuters
Becoming The Muse 
guess he has one year more to do to end his term as President or? Why are Zimbabweans not waiting to the end of his tenure?
The legacy of Robert Mugabe should not be thrown into a ditch.
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It does not have to be this way, he could have been Africa’s greatest statesman…. but in this story he becomes the villain
~B
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Well, pushing him to resign this way makes him look weak as a leader. He still is a great statesman bro.
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Only a child knows how the father behaves when the visitors have left………
~B
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Thank you for reporting from on the scene. This is how social media should be used, to convey information, not to manipulate. And I am so glad that people in Zimbabwe, including you, appear to be safe and even seeing this as a positive development. But I have to admit to some reservations about the military — the whole thing seems a bit reminiscent of the Arab Spring transformations that hit a wall pretty quickly and now have deep problems.
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For the past couple of days my social media been over run with all sorts manipulative posts not to mention downright misleading posts.
I am thankful that for now its been calm and peaceful hoping it gets resolved into an amicable situation
To be honest I have the very same reservations as well, if we not substituting one tyrant for another form of tyranny, but after waiting for change for 17+ years we will take what we can have and hope for the best…….
Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts
~B
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My immediate reaction to learning of the past week’s events, there, was positive. I am hopeful.
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Thank you Lizl ♥
sometimes hope is all we got
~B
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Omy this was a whole painting it evoked emotions ,to want what the end holds without knowing what but rather that than what now is.
This was so beautiful.
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It was historic. I have never seen anything like it.
~B
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Thank you it truly felt that way
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Did you march?
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I was there
~B
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Never been one to watch much news. But the past few days have kept me glued on the screen because I never saw a coup that peaceful. Zimbabweans have proved that it’s possible to say no to a regime without it getting messy.
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I have somewhat stopped watching the news lol
I cant stand the waiting
~B
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It can be frustrating sometimes
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Historical moments taking place in your country. I truly hope that Mugabe’s “retirement” will clear the way for Zimbabwe to prosper and that politicians will lead by example and resist the temptations that come with these powerful positions…
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Very valuable!
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Thank you….
I guess that old adage rings true about how power corrupts and absolute power Absolutely.
Hopefully lessons have been learnt
~B
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Good post 🙂
A heads-up, though: the first video is now ‘unavailable’. I guessed from the surrounding text that it was of Bob Marley singing ‘Zimbabwe’, and found this one:
Interestingly though – well, to me, anyway – you say it was on 18Apr1980; this video is titled ‘Bob Marley and The Wailers – Zimbabwe, Live 19th April 1980’, yet the caption in the video itself says 17 April. I guess that he must have sung it several times 😉
While on the subject of ‘unavailable’ videos, I’ve had a few on my blog that other ‘Raiders’ have pointed out. In some cases it’s been a struggle to find a suitable replacement (I have a tendency to include videos that only bear on the post topic in a tangential way). I’ve taken to including the video’s title as its caption to try to combat that in the future.
This comment was brought to you courtesy of ?Random Raiders! 💥 🙂
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Yes the video was the full live version of Bob Marley performing the track Zimbabwe, which started from the part when the first words spoken in independent Zimbabwe after the Union Jack was lowered were “ladies and gentlemen, Bob Marley and the Wailers!”
The Union Jack was lowered on the evening of the 17th of April 1980 and they tried to time the independence with midnight, which would be 18th of April and of course the independence celebrations ran for two days till the 19th ….
and on the issue with unavailable videos I usually try to use the links from the more official looking sources and hoping that at least those wouldn’t get removed for no reason, I know others can get swept away in the copyright infringement dragnet and in the past years Youtube seems to have taken a more aggressive stance to combat infringements and protect intellectual property.
Thanks for the heads up
~B
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My strategy is to look for videos that were uploaded the longest ago, like this one. It’s survived since 2014, so I figure it’s got legs.
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I think the one I had linked was an excerpt from the later version you shared zeroing in on that particular Zimbabwe song and it had been over 10 years old and still it … went the way of things that stop working lol
But yes going for older uploads sounds like the better bet
~B
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Just did another search: this one’s billed as ‘full version’, uploaded in 2017:
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