Go Home and Vote

I am always keenly aware of what it means to be one in the diaspora, our presence outside the country is a double-edged sword. On one hand we are essential to those still at home because we send the much needed forex for them to eke out an existence. Without the thousands of dollars sent into Zimbabwe by the diaspora to relatives, who knows what would happen. On the other hand our staying away from Zimbabwe contributes to the further entrenching of Robbie and his crew. We lose touch with reality and to an extent our connection to the home country; we can no longer truly empathise with those left behind.
This morning I read a very short news blurb on VOA Zimbabwean Nongovernmental Group Urges Exiles To Return For Elections , and the guilt overwhelmed me. In 2005 I remember watching Ukraine's Diaspora gather on Michigan Avenue in Chicago in a show of solidarity for Yuschenko and democracy. It was so inspiring to watch and once or twice I caught myself getting choked up as I imagined Zimbabweans doing the same. Named the "Orange Revolution" this show of support by the diaspora for the resistance that was ongoing in the Ukraine I believe was powerful enough to allow some transparency in the democractic process and the eventual election of Viktor Yushchenko. That summer I remember writing passionately for a class about the power of the diaspora and how those outside who are maligned by ruling elites as traitors and defectors could really be instrumental in the fragile democratic process in Zimbabwe.

So here were are in 2008 awaiting the next round of elections and I really cannot see myself marching down Michigan avenues waving the Zimba flag nor do I see myself purchasing a plane ticket to go and cast my vote in March.
So my rhetorical question to self is two-fold....
What does it mean to be a citizen?
How do I exercise my citizenship from thousands of miles away?

Honestly we in the diaspora whether you support the ruling party, the opposition or no one are all spineless. It's great isn't it to sit here with a full belly, electricty, running water, and spew my pathetic rants about saving Zimbabwe when really I wouldn't have the guts to endure the life in Zimbabwe. I am ashamed of myself. Yes I contribute I suppose by being outraged everytime I read of some injustice or the other. I e-mail the news link to friends, I blog, I "spread awareness" but this awareness I am spreading doesn't seem to be a very catchy disease. Heck I seem to recover from every bout.

So what do I do? Man I wish I was one of those revolutionary types, the ones who don't just read books and newspapers but the ones who actually act. Like my beloved women of WOZA who remind me everyday that I am nothing but a candy-ass nose brigade.... and I am shamed.